"Akari? What's happened?"

Sofia took one look at me when I walked in the door and rushed over, worry etched across her features.

"Everything. Linc lied. Everyone lied."

"Huh? Linc lied? What about?"

I fell backwards onto the sofa and blubbed the whole story out. The way the man I'd fallen in love with only gave me a second glance in the first place because Emmy had paid him to. How I didn't know which of his feelings were real. The awful way I'd found out the truth this evening.

"All these little things keep falling into place. Like him not knowing his way around that apartment, and always being happy to take his bike even if it was raining. He couldn't admit he had his own expensive cars on a janitor's salary, and he must have realised that if we took mine, the driver would report everything he saw back to Emmy."

I bet even as we drove to Linc's real home, Clint had tried to warn him. Too bad he'd been in the shower. Otherwise what new story would he have come up with?

"Men suck. You know what doesn't suck?"

"What?"

"Wine. And chocolate cookies. You hold still and I'll get both."

This was why I'd heard women say a good girlfriend was worth two of a man any day. Sofia knew exactly what to say, and she didn't pry, just kept my glass topped up and listened to the ramblings that spilled from my mouth.

"Sho what should I dooo?" I slurred an hour later, staring into my grape juice as if it held the answers to all my problems.

"Difficult to say. For what it's worth, I think he really does love you. When you went to school the other morning and we ate breakfast together, he wouldn't stop talking about you. Kept asking me the sort of things you liked, and what you didn't like. I think he was planning to take you to the opera next weekend. He asked if I'd mind looking after Hisashi."

"Linc likes opera? He never told me that."

"I'm quite sure he doesn't, which is the whole point. He was going to go because you like opera."

"Oh. This relationship thing's complicated." Confusing, just as Emmy said. My head swam with unanswered questions and half-thoughts. Or maybe that was the wine.

"Love is never easy," Sofia said softly. "But if you find the right person, I'm sure it's worth putting the effort in."

Was Linc worth the effort? I needed to have a serious think about the answer to that question. But in the meantime, there was more wine.

"Are you okay in there?"

Sofia's voice floated through my door in the morning, permeating my brain with the subtlety of Thor and his hammer.

"Head. Hurts."

"Give me a sec. I'll bring aspirin."

A few seconds later, she came in, balancing Hisashi in one arm with a glass of water and a packet of pills in the other hand. She put Hisashi down next to me and he crawled into my lap, waving a toy giraffe at me and chattering excitedly.

"It's too early," I groaned, reaching for the water. I swallowed the pills Sofia popped into my hand and sipped. My throat felt as though someone had taken a nail file to it.

"It's almost eleven."

I sat up straight. "Shit, shit! I'm late for school."

"No, you're not. I already found the number and called in sick for you."

"But I have a recital on Friday. I need to practise."

"You've got a piano here, and you can play it later if you feel up to it. Right now, you're staying in bed." She smiled. "I'll lock you in this room if I have to."

I laid my head back on the pillow and groaned. She was right. No way could I sit through class feeling like this. Every time I moved, someone took an ice pick to the back of my eyeballs.

A knock at the door sounded, and we looked at each other.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Sofia asked.

"No."

She got to her feet. "I'll go see who it is."

Voices came from the hallway, and despite the hushed tones, I recognised one of them as Linc's. I prayed Sofia wouldn't let him in. Not only did I have no clue what to say to him yet, but my mouth also tasted like tar and my hair was sticking out all over the place.

"Mama's a mess," I muttered to Hisashi, laying my forehead against his.

He pinched my nose, then giggled as though it was the funniest thing ever.

The voices stopped, and a door slammed. After a moment, Sofia appeared in my doorway alone, her face clouded.

"I told him today wasn't a good day."

"I'm not sure I'll ever have a good day again."

She sat down on the edge of the bed and patted my hand. "Of course you will. It'll just take a bit of time for things to get sorted out. You'll see."

"Do you think he'll come back?"

"He seems kind of persistent."

Another unwelcome caller followed shortly after, this one by phone. Emmy. I'd have hung up on her, but if I did that, I bet she'd be on the next plane from Virginia. She had a private jet and she knew how to use it.

"How are you feeling today?"

"I have a headache."

"Do you want me to get someone to bring pills?"

"Sofia's here. She's looking after me. At least somebody cares."

"Ouch. So you're still at home?"

"I didn't wake up until half an hour ago."

And I sincerely wished I hadn't.

"Are you going to school tomorrow? I'll organise a bodyguard to come with you if you are."

"Who this time? Are you going to send in a commando disguised as a student?"

"Tricky. That was actually my original plan, but do you know how hard it is to find someone who can shoot straight and play the piano? The janitor thing was a last-minute solution. Linc can play about four chords on the guitar, and he only sings when he's been drinking."

Great, she knew my so-called boyfriend better than I did. "I spent weeks with the man, and now I've got no idea who he is."

"And you told him everything about you, I suppose?"

"He already knew."

"That's not the point."

Was she right? True, Linc had been more open with me regarding his time in Afghanistan than I had with him about my nightmare in Colombia, but I didn't have a secret life as a covert agent I'd conveniently forgotten to mention. That was a fairly big sticking point.

"So is there anybody else undercover at the school that I should be aware of?" I didn't expect her to give me a straight answer, but I figured I might as well ask.

"No. I'll send three bodyguards with you tomorrow. When you're not in your building, you need protection."

"No way. I just want to fit in. Is that too much to ask?"

"They can wait in the corridor."

"Car park."

"Lobby."

"Fine." That was as close as anyone ever got to a compromise with Emmy. "At least they can trip Jansen up if he behaves like an asshole."

"You want me to arrange that?"

Chikushō, did I say that last bit out loud? "Forget it. He's just an irritation I could do without."

"I've been made aware. I'm dealing with the problem, but it might take a couple of weeks. He's not quite as stupid as Brigitte."

Did she mean with the "art" film?

"So that was you? You got her expelled?"

"Of course. Linc alerted me to her bitchiness straight away. Believe it or not, I'm only trying to help."

Deep down, I knew that was the truth. Emmy had done a lot for me, including saving my life and Hisashi's too. She went above and beyond in her quest to look after her friends and family. But sometimes, just sometimes, I couldn't help wishing she'd stop.