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"Take your pick, Summer.” I was growing frustrated. "Take any of them and compare it to today. There is only one distinct difference. What is it?"
“Well, we don’t actually have slaves any longer.”
"Good answer, but you're still wrong."
“Fuck you, Rook.” She clenched her hands into fists at her side, a spark of anger in her eyes. It made her blue eyes shine brighter. “You obviously have an answer you’re looking for. Stop playing games and just tell me.”
"Secrecy, little bunny.” I bopped her in the nose, intentionally provoking her further. “Public hangings, dismemberment, witch burnings—these gruesome scenes all played out openly. Now, fortified walls, wired fences, and guards replace the spectacle. Their power intensifies when the world ignores these realities.”
“Who is this ‘they’?”
“Who do you think?”
“I don’t friggin know, the police. Prosecutors.”
“They’re nice little toys but, in reality, they’re nothing.”
“Then who?”
“Men who dispense punishment like mints. Wicked souls deriving pleasure from others' suffering. They wield absolute power in this world. And everyone else—high court judges, politicians, cardinals, and even popes—all yield to that force.”
“What exactly are you saying?” she asked. “You keep hinting at some danger, but you’re not actually?—”
I gripped her chin, my frustration boiling over. “This, all this,” the space where my fingers touched her skin buzzed, “is what I’ve been trying to keep you from. A hidden world exists, right under your nose, and information is the currency of that world.”
“What does that even mean? How does that affect me?”
“Survival in that world—our world, right here in Greybone Island—requires living in the shadows. Information is power. The more they know about you, the more they can use it against you. But you’re here, flaunting yourself about the place. With your innocent face and all your secrets all out in the open, for everyone to see. ”
“Secrets,” Her face paled, her throat bobbing, some kind of realization washing over her. “So the Magnolia?—”
“Shhh,” Cutting her off, I jerked her to me, pressing her face into my chest. My eyes roamed the parking lot, up towards Tucker’s apartment, where there was a movement in his window. A soft swishing of his curtains.
Could’ve been his air conditioning.
Or him, spying on us.
I saw no other eyes on us but still felt a prickle at my back.
One never knew when the Magnolia was watching.
And yet, the smell of her shampoo filled my nose and I closed my eyes, breathing it in, distracted. My fingers sunk into her hair. A buzzing filled my chest.
I hadn’t meant to do this.
No touching.
And yet, the heat blossoming through me was too strong of a temptation to resist. How long had it been since I’d held someone like this? Not fucking but just…holding. Touching.
She was so soft against me. So warm. So sweet. Too innocent.
“I have to tell Callie. Benson,” she said, her fingers digging into the lapels of my suit, her knuckles white, her face nuzzled into my chest. I cinched my fingers tighter, strands of white silk fisted, clutching, gripping. Unable to let her go.
“You will tell no one. No one can be trusted.”
“I can’t just…” Pulling back. Sinless eyes staring up at me. “There are some good people on this earth. Some people worth fighting for.”
So. Fucking. Naive.
