My eyes flick to Damien who is glaring at his business partner.
“I’m leaving,” I announce, “I’m not going to be involved in this.”
“Let me walk you out,” Damien stands with me.
“I’m fine,” I hiss at him.
“I insist,” He steps away from the table, moving closer to me.
“Let her go,” My brother groans.
I grab my purse and scoot out from the table, sickness churning through me. I have to tell River; I have to warn them. There has to be something we can do.
“Marly,” I hear my name called, “Marly, wait!”
Damien grabs my arm when I get outside but releases me quickly, holding up his hands in surrender.
“What?” I snap at him, feeling the burn of tears. This is so much worse than I thought it was.
I hurt for them; I am angry on their behalf.
Deep down, I hoped it wasn’t as bad as I thought, that my family weren’t as evil as I believed them to be, but I was right. Theydon’t care. They don’t care about these people, not even a little. And the fires? How are they not public knowledge!? Why has this news been buried!?
“I’ll try and stop it,” Damien says to me, “If I can, I won’t let the deal go through.”
“Why?” I swat at the lone tear on my cheek.
“Because the southern district is similar to where I grew up,” He tells me, “It was home.”
“This is your business,” I remind him.
He laughs but it’s humorless. “No, this isn’t what I started. I started this to help people like those here; to modernize and bring them income, I didn’t start this to destroy homes.”
“My brother and my father will make sure it happens,” I tell him, “You won’t win.”
“No,” He lifts a hand and waves down a car, “But you might.”
A blacked out Audi pulls up to the sidewalk.
“Take my car and go, Marly.” He tells me, “My driver will take you wherever you need to go.”
He doesn’t wait for me to reply, he just nods and turns around, heading back into the restaurant. It’s hard to trust him, how can I be sure he won’t report back where I go?
I decide that I’ll take the ride, it’s easier than calling an Uber and just head back to the house to get my car. I can’t stay at home; I have to get to River. I need to tell him everything.
I run upstairs the moment I’m back at the house and grab a duffel from my closet, stuffing as many items inside as I can. I don’t want to stay here; I certainly don’t want to be here whenmy parents return in a day or have to deal with Liam when he’s finished with that dinner.
When my bag is packed, I rush to my car, throwing it into the back seat before I get behind the wheel and reverse out of the spot. Then I’m gunning it down the driveway, stopping only for a minute while the gates open and then I’m on my way, going too fast as I make my way across town.
I sigh in relief when the familiar road leading to River’s garage comes into view and turn into it, the lights on the Mercedes cutting through the dark. I’ve no idea if he’ll be here. It’s only nine PM but he could be at the track or out somewhere else.
All the lights are turned off when I come to a stop and cut the engine.
Stepping from the car, I pull out my phone and dial his number, but the call goes straight to voicemail. I try again but again get his voicemail..
Giving up, I put the bright light on and start to make my way through the trees toward the track, but I know by halfway that no one is there, it’s much too silent, there’s no roar of an engine or music but I continue anyway, just in case, coming to the track ten minutes later to find it completely deserted. Chewing on the inside of my lip, I make my way back, stopping when I get to my car as I stare at the empty garage.
Where is he?
