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She turns toward a large mirror leaning on the wall, adjusting her dress self-consciously. “I really don’t like how that guy looks at me. I wish I could just disappear,” she responds quietly.
I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her. “If he does so little as look at you funny, I’ll knock out his teeth and make him wear them as a necklace,” I whisper in her ear.
She giggles a little, shying away from me. “Okay, okay. As long as you can promise me that you’ll do that, I’ll be okay.”
When we arrive at the club, the bar and dance floor are already busier than usual, but it doesn’t take long for me to spot Luka sitting casually on the corner couch.
“Akim! What took you so long to get here?” Luka says as he rises to hug me.
I dodge him, glancing at him questioningly. “We’re three minutes late; what the fuck do you mean?” I ask, already feeling the burn of impatience gathering under the collar of my shirt.
“Hey, hey, no need for you to get angry. I was just making a joke,” he replies, shrinking a little bit as he sits back down.
“Jokes are supposed to be funny,” I reply flatly.
He laughs a bit nervously. “Okay, so anyway, I’ve obtained some documents proving that this girl here, Delilah, is actually my missing sister,” he begins, handing me a folder with a collection of state-issued papers.
“What is he talking about?” Delilah asks as I skim the papers. I can’t answer her because everything I see here points to exactly what Luka is implying. Delilah is his sister Madalene.
“Akim, what the fuck is he talking about?!” she shouts, slapping the folder out of my hands in fury.
I pause for a moment, remembering all of the times I caught Luka speaking with her. Could it be possible that this was a set-up? Could Delilah have been a part of this the whole time?
“Maybe you should tell me,” I reply, turning to her with a questioning glare.
Her expression changes from annoyed and curious to hysterical and defensive. “Are you accusing me of something? I’m so fucking lost right now that I don’t even know what you’re accusing me of,” she responds angrily, picking up the folder from the floor and collecting the papers.
“Turns out you’re Luka’s sister by blood. That seems like a really strange coincidence, especially since you were spying on me last night. What were you two talking about the other night in the alley?” I ask, choosing to confront her right away.
I figure that if she’s caught off guard by being interrogated, she’ll at least answer semi-honestly. At the very least, her lies will be easy to see through. I can work with that.
Delilah’s mouth drops open in horror. “Why the fuck do you think I was spying, Akim? Because you’ve been acting so fucking weird and I was scared for my safety. Why else would I spy on you?”
I turn away from her, shaking my head at Luka. “Damn, Luka, I knew you were desperate and greedy, but I didn’t think you’d sink so low as to throw your sister into my bed,” I say to Luka, who has completely lost any professionalism he’d had. He smiles awkwardly to himself as I turn back to Delilah.
“Delilah, or Madalene, whoever you are, you need to leave right the fuck now. Both of you need to leave, and you’re banned for life from this club. Sorry, I can’t take any risks,” I say to Delilah, who seems more confused and heartbroken now than angry.
She stares at me in complete disbelief, and for a moment, I almost buy it.
When I glance back at Luka, my empathy dissolves. “You’re both a fucking disgrace. I don’t ever want to see either of you again, and I’ll make sure everybody in this place knows who you are. I can’t fucking believe this,” I continue.
Luka glances over at Delilah with pity. “Hey, you can always just come back with me. You have no idea how much I’ve missed you all these years,” he says to her.
I can almost feel how creepy his words are; his inflection is too sweet, emphasizing the insincerity of his statement. He’s opportunistic like a snake.
“Akim, I need you to believe that before I worked here, I’d never seen this man in my life, and I’ve only ever spoken to him when he cornered me,” Delilah pleads, trying her best to hold back tears.
I want so badly to believe her, but I know that my whole empire could be hanging in the balance if I let the wrong person in. It’s the cost of doing business, and I’ve been gambling ever since I met Delilah.
“You really should just go with him. It’s obvious that’s where you’ve belonged all this time,” I reply, trying to suppress any emotion in my voice.
“He’s right, sweetheart. I’ve been looking for you for years. It’s time for you to come with me now,” Luka adds, and I almost want to punch him for interjecting after me.
Delilah glances at both of us, waiting for me to change my mind and take her back, to admit that this is all just a stupid setup to test her loyalty.
But it never comes.
Luka moves to walk out the door, beckoning Delilah to follow him. She looks at him, then looks back at me as she follows him out the door.
