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I nodded.
”Use your words, Sofia,” he said. ”I need you to tell me what you want me to do. Always.”
”Why?” I said, looking into his eyes. They reflected the city skyline, his pupils dilated as he looked at me.
”You’ll feel better if you talk about it. It’ll start to feel real more quickly.”
”Okay…”
”And you want it to feel real. Because then you can figure out the situation. You seem smart. I know this has to be a lot, so own it,” he said. ”And use your words.”
I swung my legs so I could turn my body to look at him.
”What did you bring me?” I asked him, my gaze scanning him for anything he might possibly want to give me. I didn’t think he was going to drug me; it seemed unnecessarily cruel to drug me like this, if that was what he intended to do. At least for now, I didn’t think the gang was particularly interested in hurting me.
He stuck his hand in his pocket, the sound of keys jingling in his jeans. ”Here,” he said, handing me a small silver key attached to a metal bottle opener keyring. ”Take this.”
”What is it?”
”The door locks from the inside,” he said. ”Standard lock. All you have to do is turn it. But obviously, we could open it if we wanted to.”
”This is a key to the room?”
”It’s theonlykey to the room,” he replied. ”You can turn the lock and we won’t be able to open the door. You won’t need it, to be clear, we’re not animals, and we intend to protect you. But I know you’re not here because you want to be and Teo can be…scary.”
”Yes,” I said under my breath. ”I noticed that.”
”This isn’t for your safety,” he said. ”It’s to give you peace of mind. Maybe you’ll even be able to get some sleep tonight.”
I took the key from his hand, feeling the cool metal against my skin.
”Do you want to test it?”
I shook my head. ”No,” I said. ”I’m choosing to trust you.”
”Good call,” he replied, a small smile on his face. ”I know you’re scared, but if you help us, and you let us help you, this could be great. Think about what we could learn from each other.”
”I, uh,” I blinked, unsure of what I could say to that. ”Yeah, I guess that’s true.”
He sighed, his shoulders slumping. He opened his mouth to say something but seemed to think better of it before his gaze found my eyes again. ”I don’t think Teo wants to hurt you, Sofia,” he said. ”But trust me on this: don’t do anything to piss him off.”
And before I could figure out what the fuck that was supposed to mean, Grayson was gone.
Chapter Ten: Teo
Iwasaprettybad sleeper at the best of times, and this was not the best of times. Every time I closed my eyes, I could see Sofia, lying on the cold concrete ground with a chair still attached to her, bruised and bloodied.
I didn’t bother going home. I made my way to the balcony instead, where I lit the one cigarette I allowed myself every night, and stared at the traffic zooming past me. I normally found the sound of the city soothing, but I couldn’t focus on it that night.
The sliding door opened and Grayson walked up to me, leaning his weight against the banister of the balcony as he walked out on the balcony too.
”It’s so hot tonight,” he said.
I nodded, looking at him only from the corner of my eye, taking a long drag of the cigarette I was too distracted to enjoy.
”How are you doing?” he asked.
I felt the smoke fill up my lungs as a car zoomed past a light below us, prompting the other drivers to start honking their horns. I stared at the scene for a little while before I shrugged. ”I’ve had better days.”
