Before I can talk myself out of it, I use the burner to dial my father’s number.
It rings a few times before disconnecting.
“Goddamn it, Dad,” I mumble, with a scowl. “Why aren’t you picking up?”
My heart is pounding uneasily as I try him a few more times.
By the fourth try, sweat is pouring down my back and neck, and I can’t shake the dread.
I cross over to the window, push the curtain aside, and fling the windows open. Early afternoon light warms the bridge of my nose, and the rest of my face, and I inhale deeply. Then I close my eyes and clench my hands into fists.
A loud bang pierces through the silence, and my stomach drops.
I look down at the phone.
My mother answers on the fifth ring, her voice subdued and uncertain. “Hello?”
“Mom? Thank God. I’ve been trying to reach you for a while. Are you okay?”
“London, is that you?”
Some of the tightness in my chest eases. “Yeah, it’s me. Have you heard from Dad at all? We got into this fight—”
“He told me all about it. What have you gotten yourself into, London?”
“I know what it looks like, and I’m sorry the two of you got dragged into my mess, but I’m—”
“Your father thinks you orchestrated the kidnapping just to make him forget the fact that you spent months lying about where you are.”
A laugh falls from my lips before I can stop it. “What?”
“He thinks it’s an elaborate scheme to get him to forgive you. Honestly, London, I don’t know what to think.”
I grip the phone tightly and begin to pace. “How about giving me the benefit of the doubt, Mom? You haven’t even heard my side.”
There’s a voice in the background, and it takes me a minute to place it.
I stop pacing. “That’s Dad, isn’t it? I can hear him.”
“I wanted to surprise you with a visit, and when I stopped by the house, I thought it was strange that your dad wasn’t there—”
“You didn’t go into the house, did you?”
“I was only there for a minute,” she interrupts. “I called your father, and we agreed to meet up because he’s worried about you.”
I exhale sharply. “I’m fine. It’s you two I’m worried about.”
“Are you fine? Based on everything your father told me, you seem far from fine, London. Who is this guy you’re involved with, and how could you lie to your father like that? After everything he’s done for you.”
“After everything he’s done for me?” I pull the phone away from my ear in disbelief. Then I press it to my ear again and count backward from five. “What about everything I’ve done for him? I only lied to save him because of that ridiculous loan he took out. I had to… I made a deal to work off his debt. I did this for him.”
What other choice did I have when they threatened to take the diner away?
Entering into a contract with Mason to pay off my father’s debt was one thing.
I had agreed to work at Mercy, an exclusive underground club that operated in the shadows, because I saw no other way out.
It’s not like I planned to fall in love with Mason and stay.
