Chapter 289: Against All Odds
{TYLER}
(Days later...)
"Are you trying to trick me into reading?" I ask Sasha suspiciously. He’s got me stationed in the library upstairs, next to his study.
"I would never dare," he replies drily. "Now, stay there a second..." He uses the secret door between the rooms to go into his study, and shuts it behind him. I wait, arms folded, slumped on the sofa. He told me he had a surprise for me.
There’s a click somewhere overhead. "Can you hear me?" Sasha’s voice asks.
I sit bolt upright on the sofa. "Holy shit, I can. What—"
"I figured an intercom would be easier for you than listening at doors from now on." I charge through the secret door as Sasha continues, "This way, you can sit comfortably in the library while you eavesdrop."
He’s sitting behind his desk, and indicates the new ornament sitting on the right-hand corner—a small black marble bust of Julius Caesar. He shows me how pushing at a discreet button on the pedestal makes the intercom go on and off. "And I can make it one-way, so no one will accidentally overhear your nasty comments about them."
"I don’t make nasty comments! That’s totally untrue," I protest, but I crack up at the disbelieving look on his face. "So does this mean I’m officially your consigliere?"