“I could be better. How are you?” I squeeze his hands, and he drops his face to a half-grin.
“Could be better.” He lightly laughs, and I try to blink away my tears.
“Look, I’m sorry I haven’t come to see you in a while. Things have gotten… Complicated.” He tenses his brows and leans in.
“What do you mean?”
“Um.” I clear my throat and swallow hard. “The boss.”
“The jerk.” He rolls his eyes, and I nod.
“Yeah. Turns out… and- and this is pretty funny… He’s apparently the Sicilian Mafia’s son. So, that’s, that’s uh….”
“What?! No shit? How did you find out?” He’s inching closer, and I am too.
“The FBI wants me to get intel on him.”
“Why would you help them?” He curls his upper lip in disgust.
“Because, if I don’t, they’ll put me in jail for what I did.”
He lets out a breath and stares out into the distance.
“Bastards. All of them.” He closes his mouth so hard I hear his teeth click, then looks back to me.
“And…”
“And?”
“And, um… we sort of hooked up.”
“What does that mean?” He is definitely a moment away from blowing up.
“We had sex….”
“That’s it?”
“And I may have met his family, but only because he needed me to help get his father’s approval to take over the family business.” I plead, biting my lip and not looking directly into his eyes.
“Lilly. Are you fucking crazy?! I’m not wasting away here for you to get locked up, so you can protect a fucking mafia prince.”
“Jessica.” I remind him through grit teeth. “And I never said anything about protecting him.”
“Yeah, but you don’t have to. I’m your brother, remember? I know when you care for someone.” I don’t deny it because even if I can lie to myself, I can't lie to him. He lets go of my hands and begins to massage his temples.
“I need to know what I should do,” I beg, and he remains silent, continuing to look down at the table.
“God. You’re asking me what to do? You already know what you have to do. Cut it off and get the hell out of here. They can’t use you if you’re not close to him.” I shake my head. That isn’t a solution I’m willing to entertain. I'm not leaving until I’m sure he’s safe. Even if he doesn’t want me like that and even if I shouldn't care for him that way, the least I can do is keep him alive.
“Jess?” I realize I haven't given him a response.
“Yeah.” I meet his narrowing eyes.
“Time’s up.” The guard cuts him off.
“Bye!” I tug on his hand as they lead him out, and his face is grimacing with worry.
After he is out of sight, the guard at the door steps toward me and places a finger on the cold metal table.