“I won’t harm you, Lana. Don’t worry. But I need you to quit.”
“Fine. Wait here.” I turn around, but his gun stops me in my tracks. Sweat is starting to accumulate from my forehead, and my heart is pounding.
“I’m coming with you. I’ll have my gun tucked away, but one wrong movement?” He stops himself by making a clicking sound with his tongue. I don’t dare to try destiny, so I’m walking toward my boss’s office. We reach his office, and I knock on the door.
“Come in!” We step in, and Alen is sitting behind his desk. His office is quite large and overlooks a beautiful part of Sarajevo. I sit down in one of the chairs opposite him, with M beside me.
“Your shift ended, Lana, unless you had a question?” Alen asks as he stops typing on his computer. I want to say something, but my boss stops me by holding up his hand.
“And who are you?” he asks M.
“Her husband.”
“Nobody.”
We both answer at the same time. M and I look at each other, and I’m throwing daggers at him. He grabs my left hand and kisses the inside of it.
“Okay. What is it, Lana?” Alen sounds bored, annoyed even.
“Don’t you dare talk to her like that.” M’s voice cuts through the already tense air. Alen’s face is a mask of anger.
“Listen here, asshole, this is my employee. Please butt out.” He redirects his attention toward me. “Are you in danger, Lana?” He is looking at me, but his question is laced with suspicion.
“Don’t worry, I’m not. I actually came to quit. I have found a different opportunity.”
“Really, which one?”
“Me.” M produces his gun with the silencer on it and shoots my boss through his skull. On instinct, I grab M’s hand tighter and stare at my boss who got murdered. I feel myself getting up, and M is following me.
“What did you do?” I ask him as I try to pry my hand away from his. A hand lands on the back of my head, and M makes me look at him.
“Terminated your contract. Now, we are going to go to a very special place.”
***
I didn’t dare say anything, and that’s why we've been driving for over thirty minutes now. I look outside the window to see if I recognize a street, a lamppost, or even a fucking tree. But, no, this place is entirely new to me.
The car is also quiet—M, and I aren’t talking, and neither is any music playing. I’m also not asking him where we are heading, and he is staying tight-lipped. The atmosphere in the car feels suffocating, and I fucking hate it.
Maybe I should start getting honest with him? Because I feel like he is going to pry it out of me. But then again, he hasn’t been truthful with me either, and we both have ulterior motives.
I built my life on survival and lies, and I’m not going to letanyoneupend that.
Before my mind goes into oblivion, my eye catches something. The outside is starting to lookreallyfamiliar. It’s nighttime, and I’m really fucking tired, so my brain is a bit foggy at the moment. Then it’s getting clearer, and my lungs are working overtime right now—I know where we are going.
Hopefully, it’s a coincidence and just a silly little game of tag he wants to play. Why else would we be going to a forest?
“M, where are we going?” I ask him in a hushed tone as I think that I don’t want to know the answer. He doesn’t look at me, and he is keeping his hands on the steering wheel. Yet, his next words could make me bleed out.
“Don’t you remember that beautiful forest? You went to it a year ago.”
Fuck, he knows.
Stay focused, Lana.My dad’s words have never sounded more admissible.
I put my purse on the back seat and my hands on my thighs. They are fucking slipping away because this can’t be happening.
He fuckingknows.
