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“How can we believe that when every word out of your mouth is a lie?”
“I don’t lie to you,” she says, offended. “Sometimes I don’t tell you everything right away, but let’s be real, we’ve known each other like two weeks, and I didn’t know I’d be tracked down. I was keeping you safe by keeping you in the dark. This was supposed to be a retreat. Not one big, long confessional. Yes, we had sex, but nobody asked anybody any questions. You could both be married for all I know. I figured what happens in the jungle, stays in the jungle.”
She’s right.
She’s also wrong.
But really, ultimately, she’s right. It’s not like we’re officially dating, and it’s certainly not as though we’ve discussed anything to do with formalizing our relationship. We’ve all acted as though we’re in our own personal Eden, as if nothing from the outside world would ever impinge on it.
It’s not like she asked to be here, not after the first day, anyway. We’ve kept her here up until this point, with no knowledge of what’s really going on with her. I’ve claimed her in my mind and my heart, but I have not gotten to know her yet, no matter how much I have tried.
“If you want to get this over with, take her back to Luca, and get his money back to him. Otherwise, we’ll be heading out here at dawn and Big Dick will be grabbing her. I wanted to give you a heads up. Let you do the smart thing on your own,” Barry says.
“No,” Aslin says. “I’m not going back, and it’s not his money anyway. It’s mine. Possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
There is a lot to wrap our heads around here. Aslin is married. Aslin is a thief. Aslin has to make amends to the man she seems to have either fallen victim to or conned. Regardless of the complexities, we have a mobster with a global reach about to send armed men in again. This has to be dealt with. Now.
“Thanks for the heads up, Barry,” I say. There’s enough tension in the air to indicate it’s time for him to go. I’ll make sure he’s well compensated for saving our asses later.
“Good luck,” he says in a tone that suggests we’re going to need it.
I turn to Aslin, who of course looks the very picture of elegant moonlit defiance.
“You can decide to trust me, or you can decide to keep running. Either way, it sounds like your husband is coming for you. Do you want us by your side when that happens? Or do you want to be on your own?”
She twists her mouth one way, and then the other. “Well. When you put it that way, it feels like I should definitely have you with me.”
“And we should do this in a location with actual police.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“Let me guess, you’ve got warrants,” Jason sighs.
“I’ve got a lot of things,” she says.
He practically snarls at her. I see the corners of her lips turn up. She enjoys making strong men angry. That’s a pathology that must have gotten her hurt many times before. I am worried for Aslin. And I am beginning to be worried for us all.
“You lied to us, Aslin. You misled us. And in the beginning, that might have been reasonable, but it wasn’t an hour ago. Not after armed men showed up here. You’ve put your life at risk, and ours along with it.”
I see tears leap to her eyes. Is she sorry? Or is she just pissed off that she’s been caught?
“Absolute psychopath,” Jason growls.
“I’m not! Not even close! And no, I’m not telling you everything. I’m sorry about your lives and all, but I’m prepared to leave and go on my own. Nobody asked you to get attached to me. I was supposed to be here for a few weeks and then never see you again.”
“Is that what you want? To use us as cover, then split?” Jason’s accusation is harsh, but potentially accurate.
Aslin
No. No, it’s not what I want at all. I wish I could tell them the truth, but the truth is more dangerous than the lies, and it would only get in the way. I feel the same thing I’ve felt since I got here. Guilty. Guilty I dragged them into this, and even more guilty that I really don’t want to leave them. I thought it would be easy to cut ties, but it’s not. I’m attached to them, but I can’t tell them everything. Not yet. Not unless I absolutely have to.
I’ve lived my life as a secret, never being able to trust anyone. People use information against you when they have it, and maybe Soren and Jason wouldn’t, but they might. They might hate me or be disgusted by me. I can feel my web of lies collapsing around me, and it’s freaking me the fuck out.
