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We’re playing games now. This is all but out there. She had no money. Iris got paid. Now, she has money to fix her car. And there’s the club comment from yesterday. But there’s still a small chance I’m wrong. I don’t want to go behind her back.

That’s why I chose this park.

I park, then offer her my hand. She gets this excited look in her eyes, like we’re about to do something dangerous. It’s never been like this for me before. I’ve never felt, hell, butterflies in my stomach. I almost died and almost killed a few nights ago, and it wasn’t the first time. And yet I feel like a kid right now.

Maybe this is a bad idea then. My plan was to subtly find out. But I need to know if Serena is in danger. My system didn’t account for this. Caring. Wanting. Fucking feeling.

We walk slowly, looking at the flowers. There are faded gold plaques explaining each breed of flower in the garden. When we come to the purplish blue of the iris flowers, I pause. I study them and wait for her to register the name.

“I’ve always loved the iris flower,” I murmur, glancing at her.

She bites down, glances at the flower, then at me. Finally, her shoulders slump. “Are you trying to torture me or… Do you know?”

“I suspected,” I tell her. “But no, I didn’t know.”

She laughs, wrapping her arms around herself. “Is this why you brought me to this park?”

“Yeah,” I admit. “If you weren’t Iris, I didn’t want to tell you about some criminal conspiracy. And Iris didn’t want to tell me. And I didn’t want to go behind your back.”

“So you figured you’d make the decision for me,” she murmurs.

“No, it’s not li⁠—”

“Well, wait a second.” She holds up her finger, cutting me off. “Let’s focus on what actually happened. You didn’t want to go behind my back. You knew Iris – AKA me – didn’t want to tell you. So, you set up a situation where I was basically doomed to fail. How the hell was I supposed to keep a straight face when you sprung this trap?”

I’m annoyed at first, but the more she talks, the more I find myself agreeing with her. She’s right. Dammit.

“I… didn’t think of it like that,” I admit. “But this is getting real, Serena. If Rafael finds out⁠—”

“Wait. No. Call me Iris if you’re going to talk about this stuff.”

I laugh, wondering if she’s serious. I’m amazed at how easily we can laugh with each other amidst the chaos. We’re similar in that way. She has her secretive smile and I have mine, but now we’re in on the same joke.

“You’re not kidding,” I say.

“I am so not kidding. It’s the only way I can keep my wits about me, if I shift into another mindset.”

“Ok, Iris,” I go on. “If Rafael learns it was you, he might get reckless. There are things at play you don’t know about. I know I crossed the damn line, but this is why. I have to keep you safe.”

She turns away from me. “Because we fucked like wild animals? Now, I’m your damsel in distress?”

How can she be so sexy and gorgeous when she’s giving me such a hard time?

“He won’t know it was me. He probably doesn’t even remember what he said. And he doesn’t know I speak Spanish.”

That takes a second to hit me. “That’s the trick you mentioned.”

She beams proudly. “I just lied to him for the sake of it, to get back at him, I guess. He’s such a jerk. That’s how I learned about Price. Rafael gets off on talking to me in Spanish when he thinks I don’t understand, insulting me.”

My hands curl into fists. Fucking Rafael, insulting a woman just trying to do her job? A mother trying to build a good life for her kid?

“He shouldn’t be doing that,” I growl. “Keep up the act.”

And we need to pray that he doesn’t find out she speaks Spanish. That might make him wonder why she lied.

“And I don’t want you working as Iris. No sneaking. No listening. In fact, I’d rather you weren’t there at all.”

She rushes up to me. Prods me in the chest hard. “You’re really not getting this. You don’t get to tell me what to do. I’m good at this job. I need this job. I need the cash for school. For Zoe. You don’t get to tell me no.”