“That was in the contract. Duties subject to change.”
“That can’t possibly include slinging glass!” I cry out, and Ransome laughs. He actually laughs. It’s a sound I have dreamt about and yet, right now, I don’t love it. “What?”
“First of all, get it straight. It’s cocaine, not meth, and we aren’t slinging it.”
“And I don’t know that because you won’t tell me shit!”
Ransome studies me for a moment. I half-expect him to slap me. Or hogtie me and toss me back in the trunk.
But he doesn’t. “Fine,” he says. “You want to know the truth? I’ll give you the truth,dorogoya.” His smirk widens. “But whether you can handle it or not, you will still hold up your end of the bargain by the time I’m finished.”
And before I can say anything to that, he begins to tell me everything.
He tells me about the territories. About the family feud between the Rozanovs and the Chadovichs and how the drug war between them is just the tip of the iceberg. The blood runs bad and it runs deep.
Then he tells me about their recent deal in El Paso and what that looks like in comparison to what they’re already doing.
By the end of it, my head is spinning and my nerves are tingling.
I pinch my lips together and study the brick before looking at him. “So… Why am I involved? You could have kept me as your assistant at Apex and even contracted me as your girlfriend without actually telling me any of that. I could have stayed in the dark and never been the wiser.”
“Surely you don’t believe that,dorogoya.” His voice is scaly and I can’t decide if I want to lean into it or pull away. “You have a knack for involving yourself in places you don’t belong. An itch for uncovering. You would have backed yourself into this corner eventually.”
He’s not wrong. Annoying, but not wrong.
“So as your girlfriend… the girlfriend of apakhan…what corner do you have me backed into?”
“I’m not thepakhanyet. My dad has that title currently. And he is so caught up in chasing dollar signs that he forgets about the Chadovichs and the bad blood between us.” He scoffs. “He thinks me marrying Jenica will actually suffice. It’s a distraction at best. If they knew we were running this much blow, they’d want to get a hold of it. They might even turn us over to the police.”
I frown. “I thought you had the police paid off.”
“We do.” He does not so much as blink as he says it. “But if they knew how much of this is in that building, how much more there is about to be, they’d want to be paid a lot more.”
“Oh, no. A pay cut. How will you ever pay for your next Rolex?”
He shoots me a withering look. “The bottom line is, things are about to get very dangerous, and my dad is in over his head.”
I think about that for a minute. “So, if it’s not about saving Apex’s Christmas bonuses, where do I come in?”
Ransome surprisingly chooses to blow around my sass. “Your job is to be distracting.”
“You mean look pretty and keep my mouth shut.”
“It’s not as negative as you’re making it sound.”
“Arm candy. You want me to be your arm candy so the media doesn’t see you tossing this stuff all over the streets.”
“You’re more than arm candy, Amara.” His gaze on me turns intense. “You’re what is keeping me from marrying into the contract that would put Tristan Chadovich in the passenger seat of this operation. And if you think I’m bad, Tristan is worse. He’sout for himself and he will stop at nothing for power. If I marry Jenica, he has an in. Intel. And I can’t risk that.”
If I am being honest, I don’t know what to say. All of this just got way more complicated. But as usual, I have no idea how to say no to him.
So I don’t.
“Alright,” I say. “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.”
It’s not like I have a choice. It’s not like I signed a contract and didn’t comb the fine print.
I do feel a little gaslighted, though. I didn’t ask to be brought here or to see any of this.
