Page 255 of Sexting His Assistant

For one awful second, I think she knows.

Maybe she does.

I say, “I don’t want to make a big thing of it. If Luka comes back and you’re not here, he’ll lose his mind.”

Yelena says, “He loses his mind often.”

Despite everything, I almost smile.

“I know,” I say. “But please. Let me just go, get checked, and come back.”

Yelena’s eyes stay on mine.

Then she says, “Pavel will take you. Two guards. No more, unless you need them.”

Pavel looks like he wants to object.

Yelena does not give him the chance.

She takes my hands. “Call me after Mirov sees you.”

“I will,” I say.

Another lie. I hate myself a little.

The car arrives five minutes later.

Pavel sits in the front passenger seat. I sit in the back with one guard beside the driver and another car behind us. I keep my face turned toward the window and try not to look guilty.

At the hospital, Pavel gets out first and opens my door.

“We’ll go straight to Mirov’s office,” Pavel says.

“I need the restroom first,” I say.

He pauses.

I look at him. “Pavel, I have a concussion, not a tracking collar.”

His face gives nothing away. “The restroom near Mirov’s office is more secure.”

“I’m not walking across the hospital looking like I’m about to be escorted into witness protection because I need to pee.”

The guard behind him looks uncomfortable.

Pavel says, “Fine. This one.”

He gestures toward the restroom near the side entrance.

A woman with a child walks out as I go in.

I look around quickly.

Two stalls. One sink.

And a one narrow, frosted window high on the wall.

No exit. Damn it.