“How do I know these are even real?” I say through clenched teeth. “You’ll do anything to scare me back into giving you information, won’t you?”
She tilts her head as I lean back slowly, trying not to show the sickening realization on my face, but it’s too late. She sees that I’m rattled. “How is your boyfriend doing this morning? Must be pretty pissed that we broke up the deal he was making with Abate.”
So. She did know all along. I don’t know if that makes things better or worse. Especially since she didn’t get this information from me.
“Well,” I say, “You don’t really need me, do you? How did you find out he had a meeting with someone?”
“Little bird told me.”
“Inever told you about it.”
“I didn’t say the little birdie was you,” she says with a laugh. “You poor, naive thing. You were very clear in your position. You no longer want to help us, and as it turns out, that’s just fine by me. You asked to walk away and you can. Turns out, we don’t need you anymore.”
I just stare at her in confusion. “What are you even talking about? You said?—”
“You didn’t think you were theonlyperson we tapped, did you?” she asks with a little laugh. “Oh, dear. Planting a honeypot for a gangster is only one way to skin a cat. Informants come in all shapes and sizes.”
Someone else. Someone else ratted him out. “Who? Who was your informant?”
She sips her coffee in silence, still staring with an all too pleasant look in her eye.
“Who was it?” I hiss. “Tell me.”
“Why would I tell you that? To save you from the certain prosecution you’re going to face when your boyfriend finds out that you’ve been having these little chats with me?” She leans into me and sneers. “I don’t have any obligation to you, Ember. You quit.”
My knees are starting to shake with either fear or rage. I can’t tell in this moment. “If Roman finds out one of his people is the actual mole, do you know what he’ll do to them?”
“Yes. I know exactly what he will do and that’s why I’m not about to let you run back and tell him. You’re the enemy now, honey. You got yourself dickmatized and decided to align yourself with the devil. And how this works is that I protect my source… not the criminals we need to lock up. Sorry, my dear, but you’re going to have to fend for yourself.”
I can’t believe this. I have nothing. As I sit here in angry silence, she finishes her coffee.
“This place is pretty full,” she says. “Lots of people who might recognize one of us, right?”
A cold fear runs through my body as she says that. I glance around quickly. I don’t see anyone from Roman’s Bratva. Then again, I haven’t met every single one of them. I don’t know what Kostromo’s numbers really are or how far his reach is.
“You look scared,” she says, her face in all seriousness. “I can’t blame you. I would be terrified. I guess that’s the price you pay for choosing the wrong side, isn’t it?”
I don’t respond. What a bitch. What a horrible, horrible bitch. And she’s just sitting there with this fake sympathetic look on her face. Fucking Psychopath.
“I’m not completely cold hearted,” she says with a sigh. “Listen, all jokes aside, we can still protect you if you want. If you leave with me, right now, I can put you under witness protection. All you have to do is?—”
“No,” I say simply.
She blinks, stunned by my response. “No? Seriously?”
“You’re a vile, awful person,” I say, my voice shaking as my eyes start to burn with tears. “Even if I was stupid enough to actually take you up on that, I can’t trust you. Roman was right. The law is filled with vipers. You’re the worst one.”
“You really should learn who you can trust in this case, Ember.”
“I’m just supposed to trust you?” My voice is high and wild and on the verge of yelling or laughing hysterically. “I’m just supposed to believe that you suddenly have my best interests at heart? What if someone actually sees me today and runs back to him? I’m fucked, and nobody knows that better than you do.”
The façade drops. She’s no longer sympathetic or motherly. She’s not even sneering evilly anymore. She just stares at me with dead eyes as if someone’s pulled the battery out of her back. “It would be a real shame if word got back to him that we had met today,” she says blandly. “But if you’re insistent on staying on that side of the line, what can I do?” She pulls out her walletand pays for her coffee, then she gathers up all the photos and puts them back in the envelope. “Oh, well. Best of luck to you, Ember. Try to take care of yourself, hmm?”
She leaves and suddenly, I feel like I’m hanging off the edge of a branch, twisting in the wind and waiting for the one big breeze to push me off and into oblivion.
What do I do? How do I do this? I just bolted from the house. They’re all bound to be looking for me. What do I even tell Roman when I get back? Can Ievertell him the truth?
I’ve asked so much of him in terms of being honest with me, and now I have to hold onto the biggest lie I will ever tell. This is not something he can ever forgive.
