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“I’ll have the money transferred by five,” he said. “I trust that will end this.”
“So long as you give me no reason to return, yes. You’ll never see me again.”
He nodded, his shoulders slumped. The sight of a broken person rarely did anything for me, but I didn’t much mind it from him. I left the room, leaving the papers there for him.
Kenz followed me, neither of us speaking until we got into the car. The questions in my head swirled until I couldn’t keep them in anymore.
“Why did you side with me?” I asked as I pulled the car into the street.
“I don’t have anywhere else to go,” she said, the words quiet.
“You’re a terrible liar. You should really stop trying it, especially with me. Why go along with my plan? Why do as I asked? Why tell him no?”
She didn’t look at me, her gaze locked outside instead. “He said you were a conman and a criminal, and you know what? He wasn’t wrong.”
Ouch.The words wounded me in a way I wasn’t used to. I knew how people saw me, knew what I was, but somehow hearing it from Kenz hurt in an unexpected way. I pushed that aside, slid on a fake smile to hide how I felt. “That’s right. So again, knowing that, why side with me?”
“Because you might be those things, but I’m not. If I betray those around me, how am I any better?”
My hand tightened on the steering wheel until my knuckles ached.
I knew what I was, so why the fuck did I hate it so much when Kenz saw what everyone else did?
* * * *
Kenz
What I really wanted to do was go home.
The strangest part was when I thought that, I didn’t think about my apartment. Instead, I saw the house in my head, the open living room, the flowers in the backyard, the room that I’d made my own.
I’d lived in so many places that I hadn’t thought any would ever really feel like home, but somehow, so quickly, this one had.
However, that didn’t seem likely.
After helping Char with his job, after watching as he’d extorted millions from a man, he didn’t seem quite done with me yet. The sour taste of the entire thing lingered in my mouth.
Mr. James was a piece of shit, no doubt about that. He probably deserved some karma for his actions, but how did Char getting rich off it balance the scales at all?
It made Char just another user, just another bad person taking advantage where he could.
Why did that bother me so much? I’d known he was a conman, but somewhere in my mind, I’d foolishly thought he did it for good, that he didn’t hurt others, that he wasn’t just a scavenger picking the flesh from the bones of other creatures.
I hate being wrong.
We arrived at an unassuming building of a drab gray color. It wasn’t a house, but didn’t strike me as a business, either. Greenery lined the building, with large dark windows all over the front. At the corner was a small sign withOak Hills Senior Living Facilitywritten on it.
Thinking we must have taken a wrong turn, I frowned and looked over at Char. He didn’t look at me even though I’d bet he knew I stared at him. He hadn’t said a word since I’d told him how I really felt, after all.
Instead of pulling back out of the lot and into the street, he parked the car near the front.
He said nothing as he got out of the car, so I remained inside for a moment. Did he want me to follow? Or was I just a pet that he’d leave in the car unattended while he did what he wanted.
What if he’s here to take advantage of these people, too?
That idea got me leaving the car and rushing after him. While I wasn’t about to betray him for a fistful of money, I also wouldn’t stand by while he swindled little over ladies out of their retirement funds…
We reached the front door, and when I glanced to the side, I found his mask firmly in place.Ah, he’s being the sweet, charming Char, huh?
