She sighs and takes it, tucking it into her bra. "Thanks." London checks out my bag next, examining it and turning it over. "It's beautiful." She gives the thing back to me and meets my gaze. "Miller buy it for you?"
I nod, unsure of how much I should say.
"He seems like a nice guy," she adds.
"Yeah." But then I'm reminded of the paperwork I found before I left Silver's apartment. Is he actually a nice guy or does he have some weird ulterior motive? Am I a pawn in some sinister plan I'm not even aware of?
"Are you two dating?" London brings her glass to her mouth, and for a moment it's like the two of us are just two girls gossiping about boys.
"No," I tell her. "I mean, not really. I don't know, it's complicated." I pause before saying, "Are you dating anyone?"
London chuckles as if I should already know the answer to that question. "Yeah right, Daddy would kill us both." A sort of sadness washes over her, and her expression darkens. "Literally."
"Why haven't you left?" I blurt out.
Her intense gaze meets mine. "You don't get it, do you? Once he stakes his claim, there's no escaping him. He'd hunt me to the ends of the earth. There is no getting away from him. Not ever. Not really."
London's words sink in and only solidify what I already knew as truth, and I wish desperately that there was a way to turn back time and change the fateful course I set myself on when I stumbled into that conversation between him and my dad.
Instead of mourning my future, I'd be mourning the loss of my parents, and without the knowledge of the situation, would that have been worse or better than life as it is now?
I guess I'll never know.
"Do you at least get a say in who he marries you to?" I ask her.
She fidgets with her glass of whiskey. "No. Not unless I find someone wealthy enough that he would approve." London exhales. "The likelihood of that is slim to none, though. Any decent man won't co-mingle with Daddy's shady business practices. The few prospects that have even considered it didn't have a strong offer. Although, he's getting rather desperate. I wouldn't put it past him to settle just to get rid of me and line his pockets sooner rather than later."
"I'm sorry," I tell her, the two words falling flatter than I'd hope. I can't imagine what she's going through; I can only compare it to my experience, and that alone is nothing I'd wish on another person.
It's fine," she lies. "I've grown to accept it."
"What did you mean by shady business practice?"
London crosses her legs and licks her lip, sucking the bottom one between her teeth. "Well." She turns toward me. "How much do you know about the industry?"
"Um, assume I know nothing." Because let's face it, the only bits and pieces I've gathered have been wild guesses with no evidence to truly back them up.
"Wow, hm, let me see." London takes another drink of her whiskey. "You're friends with June, aren't you?"
I nod. "Yeah, why?"
"Her partners are head of the West Coast. Well, Dominic is. Coen is their security lead. Magnus is an advisor. Simon is well, Simon." She chuckles and continues. "He's a pretty face but is in charge of operations. They handle the ins and outs of all illegal activity on the West Coast. If someone has their hand in something dirty, they have ultimate control. It's like they have their thumb on the pulse of the entire coast. Obviously, there are sub-sectors and the occasional turf war, but they hold the most power. Daddy is part of the old-school formation. He still has significant authority and a great deal of influence, but it's different than theirs. And the shit Daddy deals with goes against the new way."
"Like what?"
"Imagine any type of crime that could be profitable, Dominic benefits from it. But he has his limits. Nothing involving women and children, no human trafficking, no prostitution, no harming animals." London laughs again. "They'll torture and kill a man any day of the week, but they draw a line for certain things. Daddy does not. He doesn't care if it's his flesh and blood, if he can make a penny off it, he'll do it. He has no moral compass."
"So, drugs, extortion, loan sharking, tax fraud, murder, corruption..."
"Yep. They do it all. Stock manipulation, gambling, protection, art smuggling, they even have their hand in many legitimate businesses around town. And obviously now with their alignment to the East Coast, it's only strengthened their foothold."
In a matter of minutes, London has told me more than June has during our entire friendship. And nothing has changed, not my feelings towards them, not my safety. There's no reason she couldn't have sat me down and had this very same conversation.
"June played a huge role in them securing their position," London adds, almost like she can read my mind.
"Really?" I down nearly half the liquid in my glass.
"Yeah, she almost died a couple times if I'm not mistaken."
