Chapter 4 - What Adrien Voss Couldn’t BuyNoah stabilized at the hospital.
She opened the door to her apartment and stopped.
A tall man in a black suit stood in her tiny kitchen.
Adrien Voss.
Noah sat at the table eating cereal.
Clare stared.
“What are you doing in my apartment?”
Noah raised his spoon.
“He brought groceries.”
“You let a stranger inside?”
“He knew your name.”
“That is not the safety standard I taught you.”
Adrien cleared his throat.
“I knocked.”
“That doesn’t improve this.”
Noah looked between them.
“Is this the guy from the restaurant?”
Clare dropped her bag.
“How do you know about that?”
“The internet.”
“Oh, great.”
Adrien pulled out a chair.
“You should sit.”
“This is my apartment.”
“Then you should feel comfortable sitting.”
Clare glared at him.
Noah whispered, “I like him.”
“Please don’t.”
Adrien glanced toward Noah.
“Your sister is difficult.”
“She gets worse when she’s worried.”
“I’m standing right here.”
Noah grinned.
For the first time, Adrien saw Clare as something other than the woman on the restaurant floor.
She was the center of this home.
Every bill was stacked neatly.
Medicine bottles were arranged by schedule.
A handwritten calendar covered the refrigerator.
Everything in the apartment seemed built around keeping Noah stable.
Adrien noticed an envelope.
FINAL NOTICE.
Clare saw him looking.
She turned it facedown.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“I was about to ask whether you’ve eaten.”
She blinked.
“That wasn’t what I expected.”
“I’m learning.”
Noah laughed.
Clare finally sat.
“What happened to Victor?”
“Fired.”
“That quickly?”
“The restaurant owner reviewed the footage.”
“And Marcus?”
“In police custody.”
Clare watched him.
“No mysterious disappearance?”
Adrien’s mouth twitched.
“No mysterious disappearance.”
“Good.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
She pointed toward the door.
“Stop sending things.”
Adrien frowned.
“What things?”
“Groceries. Medicine. A driver downstairs.”
“That driver is security.”
“I don’t need security.”
“Marcus knew where you worked.”
“He’s in custody.”
“Other people may know you helped Lily.”
Clare fell silent.
Adrien leaned forward.
“This isn’t charity.”
“What is it?”
“Responsibility.”
“No. Responsibility would be protecting Lily. I’m not your responsibility.”
“You became my responsibility when you protected my family.”
“I made a choice.”
“So am I.”
Their eyes locked.
Noah slowly carried his cereal toward the hallway.
Clare looked at him.
“Where are you going?”
“My room.”
“You always eat here.”
“Not today.”
“Noah.”
“I suddenly feel like you two need to argue privately.”
He disappeared.
Adrien almost smiled.
Clare rubbed her forehead.
“You cannot solve everything with money.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Because from where I’m sitting—”
“I couldn’t save Lily.”
That stopped her.
Adrien’s voice was quieter now.
“I was two feet away.”
Clare said nothing.
“I had money. Influence. People who would answer my call at three in the morning. None of it mattered. You were closer.”
“You couldn’t have known.”
“I should have.”
“No.”
Adrien looked at her.
“You took your sister to dinner for her birthday. That’s what brothers are supposed to do.”
“I lowered security.”
“You tried to give her one normal night.”
He looked away.
Clare softened.
“Adrien.”
It was the first time she had used his name.
He looked back.
“You’re allowed to be her brother sometimes.”
For a moment neither spoke.
Then Noah yelled from his bedroom.
“Clare?”
She stood immediately.
His voice sounded wrong.
Adrien followed.
Noah was sitting on the edge of his bed, pale and struggling to catch his breath.
Clare knelt.
“Look at me.”
Adrien reached for his phone.
“I’m calling an ambulance.”
Noah grabbed Clare’s hand.
She leaned close.
“I’m here.”
Adrien froze.
The words.
The same words she had whispered to Lily.
Don’t be afraid.
I’m here.
And suddenly Adrien understood.
May you like
Clare hadn’t saved Lily because she was fearless.
She had saved her because caring for frightened people was the language Clare Bennett had spent her entire life learning to speak.
