Rodion’s head tilted toward me. When Calla offered her hand, he didn’t bother to look at her.
“Bring us coffee,” he said. “Black. And a cappuccino for my girl.”
My girl? I nearly choked on air. Calla lowered her hand, eyes wide as she gave me the full ‘what the fuck’ look. I gave her an apologetic shrug.
“Yes, sir,” she said, and before she left, I told her to bring two chocolated bread, my favorite bread.
Rodion rested his elbow on the table and leaned close. “Artur?”
“I didn’t know what to say,” I muttered. “No one calls you anything. You barely let people talk around you. I couldn’t just say ‘Rodion’ and have her go tweet it.”
He didn’t get the chance to answer. Someone called my name from the window behind me. I looked and saw four employees we used to work with, waving and whispering among themselves. They looked shocked, curious, and a little too excited to see me. I waved back, and they disappeared.
Calla came back with our order. “Black coffee for Artur. Cappuccino for his girl and chocolated bread, her favorite,” she said, and I laughed.
“Thank you, Calla,” I said, taking mine. “I missed this.”
“Enjoy, and everyone’s waiting for you to say hi. Don’t you dare sneak out.”
“I won’t,” I said, grabbing a serviette and lifting the roll in both hands as if it were made of gold.
One generous bite and warm cream burst on my tongue. I moaned softly, savoring every bit. Rodion was already halfway through his coffee, his fingers wrapped around the cup as he spied the building. I followed his gaze, shifting my eyes back tohim almost immediately. He looked calm, and I didn’t like how unreadable he looked behind those damn sunglasses.
“Try it,” I said, pushing my plate toward him. “You won’t regret it.”
He hesitated, but pulled the plate closer. Picking up the bread roll up like it offended him, he took a clean bite. I watched his lips, the sharp line of his jaw, the way his throat moved, and heat crawled to my neck. To hide the blush, I blurted out a random question.
“Did you give the dog the name?”
He finished his coffee before answering me. “Yes.”
“Why Artur?” I asked, leaning into the question. “Is it a name you liked?”
“My mother used to call me that.”
Nodding, I took a small sip, watching the steam curl up to my face. The silence between us wasn’t heavy, but it held something beneath it, like we were both circling something deeper.
“Your mother…”
“She is dead.” He cut me off before I could finish. I gulped, already regretting the question. “Murdered. Which you probably know.”
No, I didn’t. I knew little about his situation.
“I’m sorry.”
He chuckled quietly before pushing the bread roll towards me. “Go ahead. Ask.”
“What?”
“The question you want to ask.”
I took another bite and chewed slowly. He was patient, watching and waiting for me to ask the question. But I didn’t just have one, I had way too many.
“I ended up here because I was dating Marco. He knew my father, and it turned out he had only dated me to get close to him. I know a little about the situation, but… was Marcoinvolved in the murder?”
Rodion looked at me as if he were deciding whether I deserved the truth. But he answered. “Luigi did it. He is mysterious. Most people want to get close to him for power. But I want to kill him.”
“So Renat wants Luigi because he wants to be powerful.”