Page 19

ABI
“Are yousureyou have to leave? I can get you more jobs, hon.”
I pause packing sweaters into a box and wipe sweat from my forehead with the back of my hand before looking at Kirsten. “It isn’t all about the job. Las Vegas just isn’t for us… Besides, Little Rock has better schools and my parents will be around to watch Zeke. It’ll be better for him.”
Kirsten gives me a funny look, and I go back to packing before she can read my face and know I’m lying.
“I thought you said your parents were dead.”
Shit.
A few seconds go by, and I can feel myself taking too long to reply.
“My biological parents. My foster parents are still alive.”
“Oh…” Kirsten says. There’s remorse in her voice, but she doesn’t say anymore. It only makes me feel more guilt.
I stand and kick the box to the side before pulling another over to my closet. I grab a handful of clothes still on the hangers and toss them into the box.
“This is about the Grucos… isn’t it?”
This time I don’t pause. I stuff more clothes into the box until it’s overflowing. Then I walk across the room to retrieve the last empty one, the one that Kirsten is supposed to be filling up.
Kirsten sighs and touches my shoulder while I’m bent down. The muscles in my back pull taught and ice crystals cover me, the same way it does any other time someone touches me.
“Abi, listen.” I stand and subtly move away from her hand. I roll my shoulders and meet her eyes. “I really didn’t mean to scare you the other night. The Gruco’s are… Well, it’s best to just stay away from them. I didn’t mean they were going to come after you, just that you shouldn’t come into their crosshairs.”
A dry laugh blurts out of me before I can stop myself. “Stay out of their crosshairs? Aren’t you the one who told me to come work with you at Neon Nights, the clubthey own? And then you insisted that the campaign eventforone of these guys was too good of money to pass up. How exactly are we supposed to stay out of their crosshairs if we’re working for them?”
My face grows hotter with each word that leaves my mouth, and it’s only now that I realize I’m angry with Kirsten. I never wanted to work that campaign event. I never wanted to set foot on Colter Gruco’s estate. None of this would have happened if I had trusted my gut and stayed home.
“I’m sorry,” she says, her lips sagging with a frown.
Some of the heat leaves my face, and I let my shoulders fall with a sigh. “It isn’t your fault. I just… I don’t know. I don’t want to live in a city with the freaking mafia.”
“We’re not on their radar at all, so seriously, you don’t need to worry.”
“They think I stole from them,” I say, a bit of annoyance creeping into my voice. I instantly regret it. I don’t know why I’m being a bitch to Kirsten, and I have no right to blame her for this. For once, I was telling the truth earlier. It isn’t her fault.
She shakes her head. “ColterGruco thinks you stole from him.”
My brow furrows. “What’s the difference?”
Her lips part but she looks up like she’s searching for words. She moves her eyes back to me and shrugs. “I could be wrong, but I don’t think he’s really one of them. If he was, there would be way more talk about him running for councilman. It’s surprising that he would even show his face in one of their clubs… but I guess he was pretty pissed.”
He’s definitely one of them.
I don’t voice the words out loud, and I’m not sure why. I haven’t told her Colter broke into my apartment, and I’m not sure why I haven’t told her that either. Or that he ambushed me and forced me into his car.
Or the reason for all of this.
“It doesn’t matter.” I shake my head. “Like I said, Little Rock is better for Zeke… and me.”
She nods solemnly and then finally picks up the empty box I came across the room to get. She walks to my bedside table and begins placing things in it.
“I’m gonna miss you, you know,” she says, not looking at me.
My lips lift into a small smile, and I ignore the sting in my eyes. Kirsten is my first friend since Devin. SincebeforeDevin even. The women I socialized with while I was still going by Mrs. Cole were wives of his friends. They weren’t people I could confide in, people I could trust. Kirstenisand I still haven’t told her the truth. She deserves better than that, better than me.