46
MIA
The second we step into StarTech’s R&D floor, Eli tugs himself free from my hand and hurtles towards the glass cases. “This issooocool!”
I have to agree. This place is, in fact, pretty damn cool. Like waking up in the year 3000. A whole floor tiled in seamless black, with overhead lights shining down in cold, classy hues on the prototypes on display. Every glass case contains a different gadget, all sleek and high-tech.
Predictably, Eli starts zapping from one glass case to the other. “Slow down, honey!” I caution, but to no avail.
“It’s okay,” Yulian promises. “We take extreme precautions to make sure safety measures are always in place. No one can get hurt in here.”
“But won’t he bother the engineers?”
“They’re on the upper floor.” He nods towards the sleek gray ceiling. “Key readers in front of every lab door. He couldn’t stumble in if he tried.”
The weight on my chest immediately lifts. “Thanks,” I exhale. “Seriously, I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you. First for the trip, and then this.”
“The trip tanked because of me.” He shrugs. “This was the least I could do.”
I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to this—Yulian’s softer side. The warmth he radiates, like the sun itself, reserved for the few privileged ones he lets close enough to feel it.
We should talk. About your contract.
I shouldn’t let myself hope. I know better than that. But the way he said those words, the intensity of his gaze as he spoke them—I can’t get them out of my mind. What if…?
What if he doesn’t want to keep this up anymore? The farce, the charade?
What if he wants somethingreal?
“Hey there!” Tikhon’s voice crashes into my thoughts. “Nice seeing you back here, Mia! Wanted to check on the PulseCheckr?”
“The, um, what?”
“Your idea!” His eyes light up. “I’ve been tinkering with a prototype; you should see it! Such a beauty. Smaller than a fingernail.”
“Oh,” I blink, trying to process the mile-a-minute speed of Tikhon’s speech. Warmth spreads in my stomach at the idea of having been useful—to him, to the company, toYulian.“That’s amazing. I’m glad I could?—”
“So far, ingestion hasn’t proved to be a problem,” he continues, completely unaware I’ve spoken at all, “except for Dave. But you know Dave, always choking on his food?—”
“Tikhon,” Yulian cuts in impatiently. “Not now.”
“Yessir! Sorry, sir!”
“And stop poisoning your coworkers. You’re one HR complaint away from me having to transfer you to Siberia.”
Thatseems to actually terrify him. “Not Siberia! They’re still looking for me there!”
“Then I guess you’ll have to leave the break room fridge alone.”
His shoulders slump. “I should’ve taken the job with Neura.They’dhave let me put chips wherever I liked.”
“Go on, then.” Yulian says it with the confidence of someone who knows it’s never gonna happen. “See what they offer.”
“No way. Last time, the HR gal threw up when she saw my BGC. Besides, they wanted me to work forsixfigures. What am I gonna do, starve?”
“Then go dig up whatever you stuffed in Dave’s pierogi.” Tikhon starts to trudge away, but Yulian puts a hand on his shoulder, spinning him back where he was. “But first, you’re going to give someone a tour.”
Then he points to Eli, whose face is currently plastered against a glass pane.
