“Do you have something you want to tell me?” I ask, wondering if they’ll admit that they have instructions for me. Maybe Young-gi was right, maybe the brothers are the blackmailers, and I can end this right here and now. “Spit it out.”
Impatience burns through me, making my words terse and rude. If I can take care of this, wrap it in a bow and toss it in the trash for him, then there won’t be any more trouble around me. And there won’t be any reason for Young-gi to get tired of me, to reject me. Maybe, if I can just shut these two fuckers up and solve this, I’ll feel braver. Maybe it will be easier to tell him how I feel.
Maybe.
Gregory’s disbelieving chuckle is hard and angry. “Are you serious? You want to pick a fight? Yeah, fine, whatever you say. Follow us and we’ll tell you exactly what you need to hear.”
I scowl. They aren’t saying anything specific enough to be linked to blackmail, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t them.
To go, or not to go?
“Where?” I ask. “Why should I bother?”
“Oh, I think you’ll want to hear what we have to say,” Leonard sneers. “Or we could just tell Kira. I wonder how she’d react. Or worse, her uncle. You’ll be out on your ass before we even finish talking.”
That’s interesting.So they think they have something over me. Something that Kira and Young-gi don’t know about yet.
This could be it. It could be them.
“Fine,” I concede. “Let’s go, lead the way. We’ll talk.”
Gregory smiles, excited and cruel. Leonard pats my shoulder roughly, too roughly, and leads me toward the far wall, opposite the overlook where Kira just went. I expect them to be taking me to some side exit, perhaps to an alley or out to the street. But instead, they duck under a dusty rope and start to climb a set of old, creaky stairs. Without hesitating, I follow them.
As we climb, my confusion and chaos percolates into determination. Whether or not these fools are the blackmailers I’m looking for, they’re threatening to disrupt what I have with Young-gi. Which means that, no matter what they have on me, I need to take care of it before it becomes a real issue. I’m already enough of a problem; I don’t need Young-gi to realize I’m more trouble than I’m worth.
The door at the top of these darkened stairs is marked for employees only, leading to the rooftop. I can hear the storm much more clearly up here, raging outside, but Gregory pushes right on through, leaving me no choice but to follow. Leonard shuts it behind us, and clicks the lock, a quiet sound in the loud storm that I only hear because I’m listening for it.
My shoulders tense up and I look around, taking in this battlefield.
It’s pouring rain, but we’re under the old belltower roof. Three of the four walls are open to the air, pillars at each corner, but the final wall is rough brick with the door set into it, blocking at least some of the wind. The tower is open over the front of the church building, so we can see out onto the street. The floor where the ropes used to hang on pulleys is boarded up with rough, unfinished wood. The bell is long gone, leaving just this rickety shelter from the rain. Dust and old pigeon nests are getting soaked in the corners where the rain is spraying in despite the roof over our heads.
The thunder and rain is tremendously loud, the darkness up here impossible to see through from below. We might as well be a million miles from any witnesses.
Perfect.
“What do you want to tell me?” I ask, stepping to the side and leaning against the brick wall, making sure they can’t get behind me. Leonard ends up right beside me in the cramped space, because he’d been hovering at the door, and he backs up quick.
He’s nervous. Good. He should be.
“We know the truth about you,” Gregory smirks, pulling a pair of brass knuckles from his back pocket. “You’re nothing but trash. And a fraud. We looked into you, ‘Claremont’–” he puts air quotes around my name, then slips on the knuckles. “You’re a grifter. I don’t know how you managed to pass the Sokolov’s inspection, maybe you’re just that good, or maybe you bend over for whoever takes too close a look.”
My heart speeds up with adrenaline and I fixate on the present moment. I feel predatory, deadly, and they have no idea that they’re the ones in danger here.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I bluff, even-toned, as unreadable as the bricks behind me.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Leonard scoffs. “But we did our digging. Ghost accounts, fake paper trails. The works. You put a lot of effort into hiding who you really were, but any real investigation turned up a whole lot of nothing.”
I don’t show my confusion, but I try to process what he’s telling me. Because ghost accounts? Paper trails? What the fuck is he talking about?
And then it hits me. Young-gi must have made those for me. He knew I was nobody, but he wanted me to stay and did what it takes to make that happen. Even if it was just when he wanted me to play pretend with Kira, even if it was before he and I ever becamemore, it still makes my lips twitch with the urge to smile.
“So, this is blackmail?” I ask, trying to get a confession. Because this sounds like blackmail, but not thesameblackmail. This isn’t about me being gay; it’s not even involving Young-gi at all.
“Nah,” Leonard laughs. “This is payback.”
I thought so. Being right is usually satisfying, but this is just annoying.
The brothers try to corner me, and I straighten to my full height, square up against them. “You fuckers are wasting my time.”
