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“Only when I find them searching restricted offices.” He moves aside and gestures toward the hallway. “You need to return to the pavilion while I decide whether you’ll be leaving the property.”
Fear cuts through the absurdity of my explanation. If Drew removes me now, I lose the chance to ask Andrei about Connor, and whoever used the shredder may destroy every fragment before morning.
“I need to speak with Mr. Dragorin first.” I stay beside the desk instead of moving toward the door. “There’s been a misunderstanding, and I can explain it to him.”
“You can explain it at the gate,” Drew replies. His calm voice makes the refusal more final. “Please come with me.”
“She stays.”
Andrei stands at the end of the hallway with one hand in his trouser pocket. He has removed his suit jacket at some point, leaving his dark shirt fitted across his chest and the sleeves folded over powerful forearms. His expression reveals nothing, but Drew lowers his hand from his earpiece when Andrei approaches.
“She entered a restricted building and was searching the waste in Accounts Payable,” Drew says. “No one authorized her to leave the pavilion.”
“I understand.” Andrei stops beside him, his eyes passing over me before taking in the office. “Return to the event and tell Tessa that Miss Brewster is with me.”
Drew’s jaw tightens. “We have an unidentified person moving through the administration wing, and she was found near financial records.”
“Which is why I will speak with her.” Andrei’s tone doesn’t rise, though authority fills every word. “Check the exterior stairs and review the cameras. Someone else left this office less than a minute ago.”
Drew looks at me again. “Did you see the person?”
“Only from behind,” I answer, abandoning the bathroom story while I still have a thread of dignity left. “They wore dark clothes, and I couldn’t see their face.”
He gives Andrei a short nod and leaves, speaking into his earpiece as he crosses the lobby. The front door closes behind him, and silence spreads through the corridor.
Andrei enters the office and closes the door. The click of the latch changes the room. He doesn’t lock it, but the office feels smaller with him between me and the hallway. Music from the pavilion reaches us only as a distant pulse through the windows, which reflect the two of us facing each other beside a shredder full of secrets.
“How did you know someone else was here?” I ask.
“The camera over the rear stairs lost power six minutes ago.” He looks at the second door, then at the paper bin. “Drew came through the lobby while I approached from the production yard. Neither of us used those stairs.”
“You have cameras everywhere.”
“Not everywhere,” he replies, glancing toward the hallway before returning to me. “You found one of the gaps.”
“That sounds almost complimentary.” I brush a strand of hair behind my ear and attempt a smile.
“It isn’t.” Andrei walks around the desk, forcing me to turn if I want to keep facing him. He stops with the broad wooden surface between us and rests one hand along its edge. “Tell me why you entered this building.”
“I needed the bathroom.” I smooth both palms over the front of my dress, pretending the answer deserves serious consideration.
Andrei angles his head toward the hallway. “The women’s bathroom in the pavilion had no line when you left.”
“Then I received outdated information.” I clasp my hands before he notices them trembling. “A server told me there was another one near reception.”
His fingers tighten against the desk. “Which server?”
“I didn’t ask his name.” I glance toward the door as if the answer might be waiting in the hallway.
“Every server wears a name badge.” Andrei moves around the corner of the desk, reducing the barrier between us.
I take one step back and touch my temple. “I was distracted by the headache.”
Andrei rests one hand on the desk and studies me. Up close, the gray of his eyes holds darker rings around the irises, and a small line appears between his brows when he’s displeased.
“The headache that required aspirin,” he says.
“You heard that part.”
