"Well," he manages, his voice barely controlled, "if Ollie didn't know before, he definitely does now."
"Oh God."I want to disappear entirely."I can never look him in the eye again."
"Hey."Nate tilts my chin up, his expression gentle despite the laughter still dancing in his eyes."We're not doing anything wrong.And Ollie's not exactly the judgmental type."
I know he's right, but the spell is broken.
The moment we'd been building toward has dissolved into awkwardness and interrupted intimacy.Nate seems to sense it too, because he reaches over to turn off the water, then grabs a towel to wrap around me with careful tenderness.
"Alright, get dressed," he says, pressing a soft kiss to my temple that makes me want to drag him right back under the water."We're going for a drive."
I nod, my body still thrumming with unfulfilled need, already missing the weight of him against me.
It’s notthe drive I thought we’d be going on.Seeing the deterioration as we’re driving through South Side is shocking.It’s like someone took an entire neighborhood and drained all the life out of it.
Boarded windows stare back at us like empty eye sockets.Yards that probably once held gardens are now patches of brown grass scattered with debris.Some houses stand completely abandoned, their front doors hanging open like mouths frozen mid-scream.
"Oh my god, what happened here?"I ask, pressing my hand against the passenger window.
This level of decay doesn't happen overnight.
Nate's jaw tightens, his knuckles white where he grips the steering wheel."Scott Sullivan happened."
I've known Scott was involved in shady business dealings all my life, but seeing the evidence laid out in broken homes and displaced families makes it real in a way that financial documents never could.
"He's been forcing people out of their homes," Nate continues, his voice flat with controlled anger."Buying properties for nothing after families have been pushed out.Then he'll tear it all down and build his estates and grow his empire on top of their lives."
"Does Jake know about this?"
"I don’t think Jake realizes what he's a part of."Nate turns onto another street, this one even worse than the last."I met real evil when I was a kid, Nora.Jake hasn't seen the full extent of it yet.He still thinks Scott is just a hardworking, successful businessman who makes tough choices for the greater good."
A figure catches my eye, spray-painting something on the side of a house where an elderly woman sits on her front porch, watching helplessly.
"Stop the car," I say.
"What—"
"Please.Just for a second."
Nate pulls over, and I watch as the man steps back from his work.Fresh red letters spell out "CONDEMNED" across the woman's front door.
She's crying now, her hands shaking as she tries to wipe the paint away with a dish towel.
"We need to go," Nate says suddenly, his voice sharp with urgency."Now."
"But—"
He's already putting the car in drive, pulling away from the curb with more speed than necessary.
"That guy—his name is Monty.”
“Who is he?”I ask hesitantly, afraid of the answer.
“He was my dealer and the reason I overdosed last year."
My blood goes cold."Your dealer?"
"He was supplying Scott with drugs last summer too."Nate's voice is clipped, like he's trying to distance himself from the words."Guess Scott’s keeping his hands clean by getting people like Monty to do his dirty work."
