Page 41 of Two For One

If I answered, that confirmed her suspicion and what else would she think about me? Would she fire me?

“I see that beautiful brain of yours working on the pros and cons of telling me,” she smiled. “I won’t fire you unless you are breaching your contract, which I’m hoping you aren’t.”

I said nothing again, afraid to implicate myself in something that wasn’t happening. If she didn’t have proof of anything I would be safe, but if she did have proof of something, she would have fired me already.

“I can respect you keeping their secrets,” she said getting up. “If they piss you off, I will happily pay you for valuable information.”

I chuckled.

“Hypothetically, what if I know nothing and it's just physical?” I blurted.

“Well, then I would tell you enjoy yourself, but remember nothing is free,” she grinned. “And if you’d like to make some more money, then I would be happy to pay you for it.”

“If…if I gave you information, you don’t think they would kill me for it?” I voiced my worst fear.

Maybe that wasn’t my worst fear. I was afraid they would dispose of me permanently because I might know something they didn’t want anyone knowing.

“I’d protect you,” she said confidently, “Or send you somewhere where no one would dare follow you.”

I nodded, my entire body sagging with the weight of my decisions.

“You are a smart girl, Xiomara,” she said, cupping my face. “Sometimes things are worth the danger, but sometimes you have to be honest with yourself and do something you hate, like giving them up.”

I clenched my jaw, hating that I was feeling emotional about these men who should mean nothing to me.

“You are right,” I said, hating this feeling.

“My door is always open,” she said, removing her hand. “Also, eat before you go back out there and be careful with Senator Cox. He’s⁠—”

“A snake in sheep's clothing?” I finished her sentence.

“Precisely,” she said, walking out of the room, leaving me in worse shape than when she found me.

It was starting to feel like hanging out with O and Ezra had been a mistake. I couldn’t afford to get mixed up in their world. My abuelos relied on me and I couldn’t let them down. Why did the thought of walking away from them hurt so much?

13

Oliver

WE DON’T BELONG IN CLIMAX, COLORADO

The clear tarp we had laid down was still clean surprisingly. Saint’s informant came in with information we already had, but things took a turn for the worst when Ezra found suspicious deposits of money in his bank account.

Turns out he was playing both sides, but couldn’t tell us who he was working for specifically, but there were a few names he had heard a few times and gave us a list. He pled that he was telling the truth, crying and begging for his life. I asked nicely a few times, he never wavered from his answer, and when I threatened his family, he gave me the same answer as well.

So instead of dragging out the questioning, I gave him a bullet between his eyes as mercy for at least being honest. We hadn’t seen Xiomara in a few days, and we were both anxious to see her. We called a clean-up crew and as we waited, I updated Saint. He yelled at me for a minute, getting frustrated we were making no headway. We were to find out about the people he named and if we couldn’t find out anything, it might be time to come home and regroup.

I was so desperate to go see Xiomara, but now…I didn’t mind waiting a few extra weeks if we needed to. As soon as the clean-up crew arrived, Ezra and I took off to Xiomara’s. Ezra and I knocked before breaking in to find her home empty. Something felt off, even though nothing looked different in her home. Ezra checked her bedroom and when I followed, it was still messy from when she had woken up, but nothing felt amiss.

“Late day at the club?” I asked, walking into the living room to find Maleficent weaving in between my legs, purring loudly.

She went in at her normal time. Ezra signed. Maybe she got tied up and had to cover for another girl. Shall we go see?

I didn’t want to go back to the club because we were so close to finishing our job and lately, Valentine Town felt like it might be working against us.

“Let’s wait and if she’s not here soon, maybe we can pass by the club,” I said, sitting at the island.

Ezra nodded like he wasn’t worried, happy to wait here in her apartment and play with the cats. He pulled out a bag of treats and sat down on the floor, hand feeding Maleficent with Merlin watching them. It didn’t take long for the cat who didn’t like us to walk to Ezra who gladly gave him a handful of treats. Maleficent jumped onto his lap where he began to pet her absentmindedly as he tried to win over Merlin. It took another minute before Merlin jumped into his lap as well and Ezra looked triumphant.