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“No, it is. Because there’s no way in hell you’d walk out of here if it wasn’t.” He carries my gaze. “So, what is he having you do?”
“I can’t talk to you about this,” I mumble, my muscles raveling into tight knots. “I already said no one’s supposed to know about this. I’m not even sure how you found out.”
“I hear things,” he replies evasively. “And the bandage on your wrist confirmed some of the stuff I’ve heard.”
I frown. “Okay … So what if you figured it out? I still can’t tell you what I’m doing.”
“Yes, you can,” he insists. When I make no effort to say anything, he heaves a dramatic sigh. “Look, I get that I screwed you over and that our newfound friendship has only been going for about an hour, but I promise I won’t rat you out. Because it’d be really messed up. And also, like I said earlier, I fucking love the idea of knowing things my father isn’t aware of.”
I set my phone on my lap and sigh. “Even if I did trust you, I still need to go. There’s no way around this.”
“There’s no way you can know that for sure.” He waits for me to tell him, but I’m still too uneasy. Sighing, he leans closer to me. “If you tell me, I might be able to find a way to get you out of it, and then you can stay here with your sisters and look like a good little parent for the officer. Plus, you can be here when it’s time to go see Payton. Don’t you want that?”
“Of course I fucking want that,” I say in a shaky tone, my emotions getting the best of me. Taking a deep inhale and exhale, I get my shit together and say in a calm, Hadley-style tone, “I just don’t trust a lot of people. And you’re you, so …” I shrug.
His lips quirk as he rests his arm on the armrest. “I get where you’re coming from, but you’re going to have to make a choice. Either you can take off and hope everything with the officer works out, or you can tell me and hope that I can come up with a solution that’ll let you stay here. Either way is iffy, but at least one might let you keep guardianship of your sisters.”
Dammit, when he puts it that way …
“Fine.” I grimace, hoping to God I’m not making a mistake. “I’m supposed to drive down to the docks with this box your dad gave me. I don’t know what he wants me to do. He just said to wait for further instructions. And that I needed to drive my car and to take the plates off it.”
He rubs his lips together, contemplating. “Where’s the box right now?”
“In my room, under my bed … Why?”
He lifts a shoulder then rises to his feet.
I stand up, too.
“Where are you going?”
He pulls out his phone then wanders toward the exit doors. “I’m getting you out of this.”
I stare at him stupidly. “I … How?”
He winks at me. “By doing what I do best.”
“Okay, that really makes me wary,” I tell him with a frown.
He grins. “It’s fine. All I’m going to do is manipulate my father.” Then he walks out the door, leaving me completely confused and extremely worried.
But all I can do is hope.
Hope that Alex Porterson will come through for me.
55
BLAISE
I'm parkedat a storage unit with Rhyland, sitting in one of my dad's cars, waiting for the go ahead to start the heist. The engine is on, but the headlights are off, leaving the lampposts lining the street as the only light source.
We're supposed to remain parked here until one of my dad's lackeys picks us up. Then they'll give us a ride over to the docks and drop us off so we can sneak onto the boat to get the items my dad wants us to steal. Afterward, we'll go back to the dock where a getaway driver will be waiting for us. A lot could go wrong. It's always the risk with heists, and if I had my way, my brother and I would be home, hanging out and playing video games.
But I rarely get my way.
As we sit there, waiting in silence, my mind wanders to the file my dad gave me earlier today that contained information on the woman who owns the items we’re going to steal. I think I saw her at the diner today, and I have an unsettling feeling that something could go wrong. Part of me wants to back out of this, but the other part of me knows if we do, my dad will punish Alex, and his punishments are what have left scars all over my body.
Rhyland is being extremely quiet as he stares out the window at the night sky.
