The drive back was quieter than the ones before it. It was just different.
Ava sat in the passenger seat, her hands folded loosely in her lap, her gaze fixed on the road ahead. The city blurred past the window, storefronts and intersections bleeding into one another, but she barely registered any of it. Her mind was still caught somewhere between the file Damian had handed her and the places they had just left behind.
Across from her, Damian drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting calmly against the console. His posture was relaxed, but Ava had learned enough in the short time she'd known him to recognize the signs that meant otherwise. His jaw was set more firmly than usual. His eyes flicked to the rearview mirror a fraction more often.
He was thinking. She didn't know about what.
The phone rang suddenly, cutting through the silence in the car.
Damian glanced at the screen once before answering when he saw who the call was from "Yes."
