AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He’s going to help me,” I explain to Crina as I slide my student MetroCard through the turnstile and push the metal bar forward. Passing through the turnstile, I turn around to catch Crina’s reaction as she follows me onto the subway platform.
Her eyes are wide, eyebrows high. “You went to him? Gabby and I could’ve helped you, ya know. You didn’t have to go to anyone else.”
The local subway rattles into the station with its green luminescent number 6 in the front. A gust of hot air swishes my hair off my shoulder. We don’t get on since we’re waiting for the express train to Grand Central Station, where we’ll transfer to the subway heading toward Queens.
As the silver-colored train rolls out of the station, giving us a moment of blissful quiet, I continue, “No you couldn’t. You and Gabby will be the first suspects and they’ll break you down. Believe me, the less you know, the better.”
“I know you want to leave,” she points out. “But getting help from him isn’t smart.”
“Yes, it is. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. There’s nothing to trace back to him. After the cafeteria incident, no one will link us together. You read mysteries. No one would believe my bully helped me. And Lucian won’t come forward and sabotage his chances to becomeconsilier.”
“In Agatha Christie mysteries you look for the guy who no one suspects,” Crina points out, leaning against a cobalt-blue-colored column. “That would be him.”
Getting frustrated, I ask, “Why are you being so negative? I expected you to be more supportive.”
“I am supportive, but I don’t see how this is going to work. You’re a softie. How are you going to do this alone?”
The number four express train pulls in. We take a couple of seats at the end of the car, which is relatively empty at this hour in the afternoon.
“I’m tougher than you think,” I reply stoutly.
“I thought I was rebellious just thinking of convincing my future husband to let me go to college like Cat, but you’re giving me a run for my money.”
I let out a sigh. “I have nothing keeping me here except my mother. Gabby’s going to leave. You know her sister’s only hanging on until she graduates.”
Her voice sounds forlorn. “What about me?”
The conductor’s garbled voice comes on the speakers in the car as the train pulls into the next station.
I wait for the racket to stop and declare, “You’ll be married, and to a good man. Your father will make sure of that. What am I supposed to do here? I won’t be shackled to a husband. While you live a happy life and have children, am I supposed to watch until I die an old maid with my drunken mother?”
An older woman sitting across from us looks up from her hardcover book and frowns at me. I boldly return her look. She quickly schools her face, drops her gaze to her book, and scrunches her forehead together as if concentrating on what she’s reading.
Reading my ass.
She was eavesdropping, not that I can blame her. In a city as big as New York, people eavesdrop all the time. Calling my mom a drunk wasn’t a nice thing to say, but I’ll never see her again. I don’t care what she overhears or what she thinks about it.
“I hear you…” Crina replies hesitantly.
The difference between Crina and me is that she has a father who has her best interests at heart. She may have ambitions beyond marriage, but regardless of whatever happened between her and Marku, her father will make sure she marries a solid, decent man. Well, as much as that’s possible in our world. He’d have to be a made man, of course, to be able to protect her. And her father is all about protecting her.
Do I feel jealous?Not exactly, but I have to put myself first. Crina will be fine.Me?Not so much.
“There’s no hope for me here. I’ve got to go,” I repeat. “And he’s going to help me.”
A surge of determination—a pure victorious wave of power—sweeps over me. I’m going to use Lucian to get my way and get the hell out of here. I’m going to treat him the way he’s treated me—like I’m disposable.
Crina’s not convinced, though.
Canting her head to the side, she gives me a speculative look. “I don’t know…this could turn into a nightmare. What if Roxie finds out? What if she thinks you two are fucking?”
“What if she does? It’s not like she doesn’t know he has sex with other girls.”
“Yeah, but you’re different.”
I shake my head vehemently. “I’m not.”
“You are,” she argues. “He’s had a thing for you for years.”
