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She laughed. "It's all over the Internet. It's not like you two are hiding it."
"Do we have an Internet connection, all of a sudden?" I asked.
Lila cleared her throat. "No, but my dealer does. He's the one who showed it to me. He recognized you."
My stomach fell. "Great. That's just perfect." My sister and her dealer were a little too close for both my comfort and her health. Once I got paid, I was moving her across town and away from him. "But listen—you can't tell anyone I'm your sister. Or about the escort service. You can't talk to anyone about this—not even your dealer. Not another word. I mean it." I could hear the pleading tone in my own voice.
She paused for a beat, probably calculating her options and how much they could earn her. "Why not?"
"Because it's a secret." I swallowed hard. Fucking Lila. I'd sacrificed so much to keep a roof over her head, and still, I couldn't trust her. There was only one person that Lila loved, and it wasn't me.
It was herself.
"If you do," I said, trying to stay calm, "I'll lose my job. I won't get paid. On top of that, I signed a confidentiality agreement. If that gets breached—by me or by you—they'll come after us for damages."
"Good luck collecting," she said.
"Still, it could ruin us." I desperately searched my brain for something that she cared about, something that I could lord over her. "This is a big deal. Chase Layne is a big deal. If we hurt him, we'll become local pariahs. It could get us banned from everything—shops, restaurants. Bars, even," I babbled. "Your dealer might even drop you." I crossed my fingers that the threat of any one of these things might be enough to convince my sister to keep her mouth shut.
"You really think I'm that dumb, Ave?" she asked, then paused for a beat. "Wait—are you actually that dumb? That I would believe…"
"Just stop it," I hissed at her. "The point is, if you mess this up for me, we lose. That I work for the agency and that Chase's people hired me has to stay confidential. If I finish the job, I'll get paid. A lot." I winced. This was going to come back and bite me later. I knew it.
"How much?" she asked.
"More than we have," I said.
"We don't have anything," she sniffed. "But listen. I'll make you a deal."
I groaned. She was always making deals. "What?"
"You get me enough money for some nice new clothes and a pocketbook—a nice one, not like that plastic thing I have from TJ Maxx—and pay for me to get my nails done, and my hair colored, and stuff like that, and I'll think about it. Plus the money you were hiding from me. Okay? Sound fair?"
"No, it doesn't sound fair," I said. I was turning fucking tricks to keep my sister off the streets, and she wanted a pocketbook?
I knew her. As if she was a child, she wanted the new and the shiny, and she wanted it now.
And if I didn't give it to her, she was going to throw a massive temper tantrum.
"Okay," I said, hating both myself and her. "Take that money for now. I'll send you more when I can."
"That's my baby sister coming to her senses," Lila cooed. "I'll be in touch. Soon. I have a feeling this assignment's gonna work out great for both of us. Chase Layne's a fucking goldmine. Things are finally looking up. The sky's the limit now, Ave. I know it."
"Don't use this number again," I warned, my voice hoarse.
"Whatever." She hung up before I could t
ry to reason with her.
I put the phone down and hung my head. Lila doesn't want a pocketbook from TJ Maxx. Lila wants a nicer one. Lila wants a manicure. Lila wants, wants, wants…
After a minute I sat up and pulled myself together. What I wanted right now was to pretend my sister didn't exist. The fact that she'd learned about my assignment didn't bode well for me. Or for Chase, for that matter, and his large piles of money…
I winced. He didn't deserve to be infected by my problems, by my poverty…by my sister. He was an innocent bystander who also happened to be the key to me never having to hook again. I vowed, right then and there, to keep him safe.
I just had to figure out how.
Chapter Eleven
