“I can try, but I’m not a priest,” I whisper, then sniff. “I’ll listen though. I’m very good at that. And we have plenty of time. No one knows where we are.”
He nods. “My friend was … not pleasant. Much like your father.”
“Oh?”
“His wife and I grew up together. I loved her. The love didn’t stop because of another man and I … I do not know if her child is mine or if he belongs to my friend. He named him a horrible name.” He snorts. “Stefan.”
I nod but try to note that. Stefan, the name sounds familiar. Where do I recognize it?
“When my friend died, he begged me to protect his son, to show him how to survive in the world, but our world is not so kind. Italian and Russian, making a place for ourselves in this country … not easy. Take work where found. Do a good job. Survive.”
“Not the American dream this country sells,” I confirm. “You’ve done well for yourself, though. I can tell. You’re here.”
“So who do I owe? The man who may be my son and knows only privilege or the man who gives me job? Gives me good life?”
“You owe yourself, sir,” I whisper. “You know what’s right and you know what you need. If you live in service of someone else forever, then you’re no better than a dog, right? And you’re not a dog. You’re a person.”
He thinks about that for a long while. Then shrugs then raises a gun at me. He cocks it and shakes his head. “Such an idealist. So American.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s true. You’ll never be free if you live your life serving someone else, even if they pay you.” I sniff. “That’s why I had to leave my house. I didn’t want to leave my mom. I wanted to be a good daughter, but there comes a time for you to define yourself. Who do you want to be?”
He considers it, lowering the gun. I continue. “You know who you want to be. If you didn’t, you would have already killed me. You lowered the gun. So talk to me. What am I going to say? Huh? Who am I going to talk to when I’m stuck here? You already said I’m not leaving.”
“I do notwantto kill you, girl,” He says simply. “Needs and wants are different. My choice – you go free. Perhaps I keep tabs, make sure you don’t talk. But I do that, I die. The boy dies.”
“Or I could speak in your defense. That you did what you were ordered to do. You got me! You kept me quiet!” I insist.
He shakes his head. “Doesn’t work like that.”
“Says who? Your master? If he’s so weak that he can’t fight his own battles, then why don’t you just take his job? You’re clearly capable.”
He pauses, the gun wavering in his hand. That’s right. Let me in. Think about it. I’m not just some bitch. I’m a person. I have to make myself useful.
“Or you can pretend to kill me. I’ll dye my hair. Change my name. I’m very good at disappearing. But I’ll keep helping you,” I offer.
“Why?”
“Why not?” I ask. “You didn’t hurt anyone. You were doing your job. You don’t want to kill me. I don’t want to get involved with the police. Why would they believe me anyway? I want to help people. People are messy.”
He does something with the gun, adjusting something. I sit up straighter in the chair and he sighs. “If you run, I will shoot.”
“No running.” I agree, but I can already taste the salty air, feel the sun on my skin, feel the circulation coming back to my fingers. I’ve got this.
And I did it myself. Now I can disappear. I can get away from Lief, Hunter, and Chase. I can escape this bullshit and keep my life in check. It doesn’t matter that I want to be around them. It doesn’t matter that I still crave their touch. That I want to wrap myself up in them and never feel this vulnerable or scared again.
They only bring trouble and I can’t be the kind of girl that runs blindly into the worst-case scenario just to chase men who …
I sniff and hide my phone in my pants as he reaches for my bindings. All at once, the door opens. The man, who’s name I still haven’t gotten turns, reaches for his gun, then is on the ground after an ear splitting crack.
I fling myself over, trying to break the chair and manage to finish pulling one arm free, then the other. I run towards the back, only to have two arms wrap around me. I’m jerked against a hard body, smelling like old books, sweat, and … Hunter.
He turns me and crushes me against him, his fingers in my hair. “You’re alive.”
A sob rips from my chest and I grab his shirt as I bury my face in his chest. My legs threaten to give out, but another hand cups my face and I see Lief over Hunter’s shoulder. Then a kiss to my neck and Chase is behind me.
It’s too much. Being taken. Having a gun pointed at me. Witnessing murder, and realizing exactly how fucked I am, even with the three men I thought I could love wrapped around me …
A low ring echoes in my ear as everything goes black.