Page 37 of The Devil's Embrace

“I’m actually here on business,” Calix said.

“If you’re here to meet with Doctor Solace, you’ll be forced to wait anyway. He’s currently in the middle of surgery.”

Cal’s shoulders tensed before he could help it, mind going to all the horrible things that might have happened to him at that party after he’d justlefthim there.

Titus laughed at him again. “He’s conducting an operation, Detective. He’s a heart surgeon, if you recall.”

“Yes.” He cleared his throat then forced himself to smile self deprecatingly, knowing people liked that shit. Liked it when they felt they had the upper hand and thought you knew it. “I apologize. Apparently I’m destined to play the fool in front of you.”

“You can make it up to me by accepting my lunch offer,” Titus motioned with the expensive leather briefcase in his right hand toward the hospital entrance. “Shall we?”

“Yeah, sure.” Not seeing any reason to refuse, Cal followed the director into the building. “I’ve been hoping to meet with you, so this works out.”

Not.

“Did Inspector Troya leave our interview unsatisfied?” The cafeteria wasn’t far from the entrance, and he moved them off to the left and down a single hallway.

“No, nothing like that,” Calix reassured. “I just like to speak with everyone personally, as the detective on the case.” That was a bold-faced lie. He’d been glad the job had been given to Troya and he’d been spared, but now that they’d run into each other like this, the need to save face was overwhelming.

Cal had always struggled with that though. With how other people perceived him. He’d been a loner through most of school because it’d been simpler than letting people in. It wasn’t like he was going to invite them over to hang out at the orphanage, and even with his part-time job in high school, he’d never had enough coin to spend frivolously.

It’d been easier to keep to himself, to not draw attention so the old taunts from when he and his classmates had been younger didn’t start up again. Many of his childhood memories were of him crying in Sister Grace’s arms, her reassuring him that the other kids were just being cruel, reminding him that his parents hadn’t left because they’d wanted to.

Then there was that whole thing in the locker room that Nero had walked in on. One mistake, one slip, had led to another.

Had led to his foot on the gas.

“You don’t seem like the chatty type,” the director said as they entered the cafeteria, leading him over to the selectionstation. “Perhaps you could teach Doctor Solace the importance of silence.”

Calix quirked a brow. “You two don’t get along?”

“Oh, on the contrary, Aodhan gets along with everybody. That’s the problem. Nurses, patients, even members of the cleaning staff, he’ll talk their ears off if they let him.” Titus selected a sandwich and moved down the line.

“Sounds like you guys should switch positions,” Cal replied, reaching for a salad, only to hesitate when an uncomfortable feeling he couldn’t identify settled in his gut. Maybe he was hungrier than he thought. He grabbed one of the sandwiches from the tray Titus had gotten his from instead.

“Here.” Titus held out a zip berry soda, one already set on his tray.

Caliz opened his mouth to reject it, originally wanting water, then changed his mind when the soda suddenly seemed appealing. He took the can and added a cookie to his tray for good measure. Maybe he needed sugar.

Without asking, Titus paid for both of them at the end of the line, scanning his multi-slate before Cal could even think to stop him.

“Thanks,” he said. “I’ll get it next time.”

The director merely smiled and brought them over to a table set in the corner of the large cafeteria, away from the more crowded areas. He took a seat and waited for Cal to do the same before asking, “What makes you think we should switch jobs?”

For a moment, he was blank, then he remembered what they’d been talking about and he shrugged. “Aren’t directors supposed to keep everything running smoothly? Seems like there’d be a lot of socializing involved with that.”

“Ah.” Titus popped open his soda can and then offered it to Calix, taking the one off his tray when Cal frowned butaccepted. “That’s true. Most of my day is spent dealing with one problem or another. Alas, I was never very good with hearts.”

Cal took a sip from the drink, setting it down to open his sandwich and decided to overlook the kind—yet weird—gesture. He’d never had anyone open a soda for him before, and it was becoming more and more apparent that Titus was good at the socializing part of his job, even if he didn’t particularly enjoy it.

“Just brains, right?” Calix quipped.

“You have no idea.”

“Why’d you give it up?”

“You mean why stop if I was so good at it?” Titus shrugged. “I still do the occasional surgery. Was that not in your report?”

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