I’m not sure what to do with everything we’ve seen. Heidi says nothing, listening to my mom and me talk, but she’s nodding the entire time. When my mom finishes speaking, I look over at her, and I want to believe it’s sympathy, not pity, in her eyes.
“Heidi, have you felt the same way?”
Now she appears guilty. “Yes, I know Bastian’s Friedrich’s best friend, but there have been things about Bastian I’ve observed that I don’t like. I’ve tried hinting at it to you, and it’s not like you’ve shut me down, but you seemed oblivious to it and happy. So, I figured you were okay with how things stand. Friedrich and I have even spoken about it and discussed whether he and I should intervene. We haven’t, but I’ll be honest. Last night, we agreed that if Bastian didn’t start helping you out and being more supportive, we would talk to you separately. Friedrich would tell him to pull his head out of his ass, and I would tell you to consider leaving him.”
The weight of the world settles back on my shoulders, and it feels overwhelming to me just as much as everything else has in the past two days. Not only is my father missing, but now my relationship might draw to an end. And not just because of my attraction to Jorge. But because I’m seeing things about my partner I don’t like. Things I’ve been blind to while everyone else around me saw them.
The three of us fall quiet while Jorge remains silent behind us. Another fifteen minutes pass, and I feel my stomach rumble. I run my hand through my hair before turning to the others.
“Should we order lunch? I’m actually hungry.”
“Yes. Will you invite him back over?” I know my mom means Bastian.
“Yes. Maybe including him will calm him down a bit.”
I doubt it. It didn’t work with the first attempt, but I can extend the olive branch. I step into my mom’s room in case he picks another argument. I picture the suite next door. It wouldn’t surprise me if Bastian packed his things and then sulked, waiting for me to beg him to come back. Even waiting for me to apologize on my mom’s behalf.
“Hallo.”
“Bastian, will you please join us for lunch? I really don’t think you should leave right now. You can stay in the suite if you want, or you can come back here, but it’s not safe for you to leave. If you do, you need guards along with you. That’ll take men away from guarding us here as well as Jorge when he goes out today.”
“Whatever, Anne, I’ll take my chances. I’m not staying here to watch you stare at another man and watch him practically undress you with his eyes.”
I know Jorge hasn’t been doing that. He’s been incredibly discreet, so maybe Bastian has picked up on something. Jorge’s certainly not being flagrant or even inconspicuous. There just have been no outward signs.
“Bastian, I’m telling you this is not a good idea. If you leave, I won’t forgive you for this because not only are you abandoning me in a crisis, but you’re now putting all of us at risk.”
“Don’t bother. Nothing’s happened since the day before yesterday. Nobody’s approached Friedrich or me.”
“You don’t know that they aren’t watching you, planning something. Something could already be in the works, Bastian, that we just don’t know about. You really willing to take that kind of risk just because you don’t like that a man is helping me? I thought you were more evolved than that.”
“Well, I guess I’m not because as many ultimatums as you want to issue me, I can do the same. You should call the police. You should call your uncle. There’re plenty of other options foryou rather than having some narco-terrorist on your side. Get him to back off, and we all leave, or else I’m ending it.”
Jorge might not be a narco-terrorist, but he is a narco-trafficker. I have no intention of correcting him.
“You cannot be serious right now, Bastian.”
“I’m deadly serious right now. Either come with me and have your family leave him behind, and we call the police like normal rational people would, or we’re done.”
Rage fills me. If I had something handy, I’d lob it across the room. My death grip on my phone is all that’s keeping me from hurling it at the wall.
“Then goodbye, Bastian. Pack your shit and get out of the apartment before I get home.”
“You don’t mean that, Anne.”
“I mean it just as much as you meant your ultimatum. Or were you trying to manipulate me into staying with you by scaring me? Because I’m deadly serious right now. If you aren’t too, then you played a hand you don’t have. You’ve made your choices just like you said. You can do what you want, and I will too. I won’t put up with your selfishness while I also try to figure out what the fuck is going on with my father and keep everybody I care about safe.”
I take a breath because my voice is rising with each word, and I know the others can hear me.
“If you can’t appreciate the one person who’s helping us, then I don’t need you around. That says too much about your character for me to ignore.”
It’s obvious there were cracks in the relationship already, and this made those fissures open up as though an earthquake ripped through them. We’re two tectonic plates rubbing against each other right now, and the pressure has pushed us apart. I don’t believe there’s any coming back after this without a majorscar in our relationship. At this point it is what it is; it was what it was.
Chapter Sixteen
Jorge
I slipped into the other bedroom to make plans for this afternoon. I could hear Liesel arguing with Bastian. I want to throat punch thecaremonda—face of a penis. I finish my call to my head guard. We’ve hammered out the logistics as best we can. I close my eyes and take a calming breath. I can’t lose my shit in front of the others.
