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ABI
“I’m glad you had fun, buddy.”
I ruffle Zeke’s hair as we ride the elevator to our floor. He’s been talking nonstop since we left Colter’s. I’ve barely been able to get a word in. My heart is so full seeing his excitement.
“It was the best birthday ever, Mom.”
A lump forms in my throat, and all I can do is give him an encouraging smile. All his life, all I’ve wanted was to make him happy. That’s it. I can’t even think about all the things I’ve missed out on. College, a career, friends, a life of my own. None of it matters. If my son could just be happy and escape the prison of a future his father designed for him, I’d have achieved everything I set out to.
And I’m about to take that happiness away. The move from Vegas is going to destroy it.
“Could we go back to Mr. Gruco’s this weekend? Please? I want to use my new telescope there. Maybe Charlie’s big brother could come this time, too? His name’s Josiah, he’s nice. He has a turtle named Crush that lives in his room, and sometimes…”
Zeke rambles on, and I try to pay attention, but it’s a struggle. I can’t get out of my own head. I can’t get over the feeling that I’m about to make a terrible mistake.
The election will be over in a week, which means our time here is limited. As soon as enough time has passed for Colter and I to break off our engagement without suspicion, Zeke and I need to move on. It’s too dangerous to stay in one place for too long.
But I want to. And I know Zeke wants to. It isn’t possible, though, even if Devin wasn’t such a threat. There’s no way I’m finding good paying work in this city. Not with how much influence the Grucos’ have in the nightclubs. I’m not able to afford even our tiny apartment working as a secretary or something along those lines, and to top it off, I probably wouldn’t be hired. Not with only a high school diploma and next to no work experience.
Devin really knew what he was doing when he trapped me.
The elevator doors open, and Zeke pauses his ramble to hop out. I follow behind him and hear the gasp of excitement before I even spot Kirsten, sitting staring at her phone in front of our door next to a vase of roses.
“Kirsten!”
Kirsten looks up and smiles at Zeke. She puts her phone away and stands just in time for Zeke to throw his arms around her waist. It bothers me how easily Zeke trusts people. He’s seen Kirsten a handful of times, and Colter he’s only been around for any substantial amount of time once. Yet, he adores them both. As happy as it makes me for him to have people in his life who care about him and vice versa, it scares the shit out of me too.
“Hey sweetheart.” Kirsten hugs Zeke back, then nudges him by his shoulders so she can look at him. “My goodness, have you gotten taller since the last time I saw you?”
Zeke nods enthusiastically, though I imagine he has no idea.
Kirsten smiles and it slowly fades when she turns to me.
I step up to the door and unlock it. “Little Man, why don’t you go put your bag away and take a shower. I’ll be in there shortly.”
Zeke takes the duffle bag from me and steps into our apartment. He waves at Kirsten. “Bye!”
“See you later, Zeke.”
He shuts the door, leaving Kirsten and I alone in the hallway.
“So,” she says, her lips in a thin line. “What the fuck?”
I bite my lip, unsure exactly what she’s pissed about. It could be so many things.
“Hey… How have you been?”
“How have I been?” Her hands go to her hips and her eyes narrow to slits. “We spend a day packing you up to supposedly leave Las Vegas, I go home andcry my fucking eyes out, and you what? Changed your mind and forgot to call me? What the hell, Abi? I thought we were friends.”
“We are! Kirsten, honestly, I am so sorry. I should’ve called you. There are some things going on that—”
“Is it because of the Colter Gruco thing?” She lifts her hands and uses them to punctuate her words. “Abi, if I had known that was going to blow up for you, I swear to God I would have never made you take that gig. There are hundreds of other jobs in Vegas, I can help you find a new one.”
I open my mouth to apologize a second time and tell her that isn’t what this is, but she goes off again.
“God! Is this really something you couldn’t just talk to me about? You had to ghost me with pretending tomove?”
“Keep your voice down,” I whisper harshly, glancing up and down the hall. I haven’t noticed anyone following me the last several days, but Colter insists I need to be careful. This morning especially. I’m beginning to think he’s paranoid with how insistent he’s being, but I’m not going to take the chance of being wrong.
