“Don’t assume this is it, yet,” he said, eyes fixedon the darkened window. “I might have another angle. If I do, you’ll hear from me. For now, just get through tomorrow.”
My chest tightened. “What does that mean?” I forced out, my voice brittle. “You don’t get to give the orders anymore, Hayden.”
He looked at me over his shoulder, something fierce flashing across his face—a smile that wasn’t soft at all. “No, I don’t. But if you’re smart, you’ll listen anyway.”
Without waiting for a reply, he strode to the door, pausing in the threshold—a stark silhouette against the night. Then he was gone, the door’s soft click impossibly loud in the silence he left behind.
I stared at the empty space, heart pounding, breath shallow. Relief never came. All I could see was the look he’d left behind: sharp, unsettling, intensely serious. A cold certainty settled in my core. If Hayden couldn’t help, I was truly on my own. And I had no idea what Anna, or tomorrow, had in store for me.
THIRTY-TWO
“Tani, we have a problem.”It was the first thing Jessie said to me after I knocked on her door. I visited her minutes after Hayden left me despite how drained I felt.
My stomach roiled uncomfortably. “More problems?” I asked.
She stepped back from her doorway and allowed me entrance into her house. A few steps in, I saw Nico and Robert sitting on the sofa, in almost identical positions, their arms crossed.
I looked between them and Jessie, and frowned.
“What's the problem?” I asked.
“I don't necessarily see it as aproblem,” Robert said, eyeing Jessie pointedly. “Although she clearly does.”
Jessie let out an exasperated sigh. “He overheard me speaking with Gerard.” Apparently noting my confused expression, she added, “I asked Gerard to drop me back here because I was feeling sick after... today. And, before he left, he talked to me on the porch. Neither of us realized Robert and Nico were snooping around the corner.”
“We weren’tsnooping,”Robert protested. “We were?—”
“Wait, hold that thought,” I murmured. I looked around, suddenly remembering that this was a shared house. “Where’s your fam—?” I began to ask. But Jessie was already shaking her head.
“Don't worry, they've gone to visit your aunt and uncle,” she said. “They won't be back here for a little while.”
I sighed, returning my attention to the two headstrong males sitting in front of us. “So… what did you hear?” I asked, also crossing my arms.
Jessie pursed her lips and raised an expectant eyebrow at the men.
Nico cleared his throat. “First, as Robert was saying, we weren’t ‘snooping’.” He gave Jessie an offended look. “We were letting off some steam outside, after work. Not our fault these box houses are built so close together. Anyway, what we gathered is that you and Jessie have ‘significantly escalated your work opportunities’, to paraphrase something that guy said.”
“Gerard,” Jessie muttered.
“It sounds like a fancy way of saying you and Jessie are making bank now,” Robert said. “Or are, at least, on your way to it. Sounded like you’ve been recruited to some sort of higher-tier work level, involving some sort of specialized training which provides substantial monetary benefits, and access to greater opportunity of pay?”
I almost wanted to laugh at the discrepancy between his description and what I was actually going through at this moment. I probably should have laughed, because otherwise I was on the verge of tears.
On paper, how Robert described it was how it had been sold to me, too.
“I'm also aware, from Jessie,” Robert went on, “that you'renot allowed to tell us details about it. But it's hard tounhear what we already heard, and we’d like in on this.”
I groaned internally. I didn’t have the energy to deal with this now. Jessie’s expression mirrored my inner state.
“I'm fed up with scraping around those jobs lists, ending up in construction most days, and if I'm lucky bagging a job in the beehives or in a sweltering cavern,” Nico added. Irritation and resentment pulsed in his voice. “I’m sick and tired. I want to speak to your contacts and ask if they’ll let me in.”
I looked at Nico’s face, and my heart cracked a little. I genuinely believed him. He looked sick and tired—of this life at Fairwell, of all of it. He wanted something better, just as I had wanted when I first stepped out of line to grab that job in the submarine. But like me at that time, neither Nico nor Robert had foresight into what they were jumping into.
I took a moment to collect my thoughts and try to steady my voice. It had been an extremely long day, but this was an important conversation. Probably the most important. I had the opportunity to prevent two people I loved from trying to do something epically stupid.
“I know exactly how you're feeling, Nico and Robbie,” I said, taking a deep breath. I moved forward and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, squeezing gently. “But you're going to have to trust me when I say you will be thankful you stayed out of this.” Nico's brown eyes searched me in confusion. “You know I would never say this to you if I didn't mean it. You know that, Nico. I would never, ever, in a million years try to hold you and Zina back from doing the best you possibly can for your current and future family. So, you've just gotta believe me when I say: you’re better off staying out of this.”
I turned my attention to Robert. “And I say the same to you. You know me, Robbie. You know I would never give you anything except the truth, even if you hate it.”
