I’m just lucky he’s paying for this because there’s no way I could afford even one shirt from this place.
When I’m done and there are no more clothes to try on, I grab the ones Nix and I both agreed on and my clutch and step out of the changing room. I stumble for a second as my high heels catch on the stone floor. The clutch tumbles from my hand when I reach out to steady myself against the wall. The contents spill out onto the floor, and I curse under my breath.
Nix chuckles a little before bending to pick them up, and as he does, his hand pauses before grabbing the lastthing. “What’s this?” he asks, pinching something from the floor, standing, and bringing it to my attention.
“Oh.” I grimace as we look at the tiny red stone together. “That’s, um…”
“No lies,” he says, squinting at me.
I take the stone from him as well as the clutch and tuck it back inside. “I found it.”
“Where, Charlie?”
I cringe and look away from him. “In a shipping container.”
I feel more than see him stiffen. “What were you doing at the port?”
Narrowing my eyes to match his, I whisper, “My job.” And by the low growl in his chest, I know he knows exactly what I mean.
“Fuck,” he hisses. “You went looking for the men and women?”
I shrug a little, like it doesn’t mean much, but we both know it does. “Yeah.”
His jaw ticks, and his anger is palpable. At first, I think he’s angry because I found out about the way they’re shipping them in undetected, but then he murmurs, “Do you have any idea what kind of danger you put yourself in?”
“I’m always in danger,” I counter quietly. “I’m in danger right now.”
He loses his composure for a second and swipes a hand down his face. “You could have been caught, and since you’re still alive and nothing has hit the news, I’m assuming the stone is all you found.”
I nod and angrily say, “And the evidence that people had been in there for a long-ass time.”
Nix sighs and closes his eyes for a moment. “You weren’t supposed to see stuff like that.”
“What?”
The anger is back on his face when he opens his eyes and gruffly adds, “I’m trying to protect you from all this, and here you are, searching for it. I don’t want you to see the dark side if I can help it.”
“Well . . . too late.” I raise the clutch and give it a little shake. “And I know who the stone belongs to. I met her last night. There was a stone missing from her necklace.”
Understanding crosses his features. “The woman you questioned.”
“Yeah.” I pinch my lips together for a second. “Is Anya even still alive?”
“Yeah,” he breathes out. “I’m shooting her later today.”
I attempt to cross my arms even though it’s impossible with everything in my hands. “Against her will?”
His jaw flexes again. “Probably,” he eventually grunts.
I look away, my own anger rising until my blood feels like it’s boiling.
“We have to pretend like everything is normal, and you need to come to grips that you won’t be able to save her.”
“The video is to audition her for those interested, isn’t it?”
“Probably,” he whispers with defeat.
“Her corpse, am I right?” I look back at him just so I can see the truth on his face.
