Page 2 of Bought

“I guess you’re right,” she whispers.

“I know I am,” I confirm. “Happily Ever After doesn’t exist for girls like us.”

A silence hangs between us. A pregnant pause that’s been surfacing between us a lot lately as we both reflect on the hell we’ve endured.

And the risk of what I’m about to do.

Finally, she asks, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yeah. Course I am.” Am I? I’m really scared right now and freezing. I force confidence into my words. “I’ll call you right after.”

“K.”

“K.”

The hollow pause comes back, conveying everything left unspoken…

We have no options left. This is it.

I want to tell Cass I love her, but the words won’t come out. Our family doesn’t show emotions. Feelings are weakness. And in the forgotten corner of Northern England where Cass and I are from, weakness gets you killed.

Parts of this city are no different.

Locking my phone, I grip it tight, my only weapon against Ted Bundy II.

I need to succeed tonight. Everything depends on this meet-up. My future, Cass’s future, and most importantly for both Cass and me,Ryan’sfuture. I pull the coat even tighter to soothe myself.

Remembering my current read, the one that tells me to demand from the universe what I want, I murmur to myself, “It’s a simple plan. Tonight will go perfectly?—”

Something dark darts across my path, and I’m going down. My heart lurches into my throat. I grab the wall, stopping just short of falling flat on my face.

I steady myself, my hand going to my chest. “Okay…what was that?”

Instead of Charles Manson, a small, scruffy, black dog looks up at me from beneath a thick, tangled fringe, as if I’m the one who disturbed him.

Sympathy tugs at me.

“I’d love to take you home,” and feed him, bathe him, brush those knots from his fur, “but Cass is allergic.”

Giving me a dismissive sniff, he scurries off down an alley.

I turn the corner, finally reaching Bachman Avenue.

My feet stop. So does my heart. I stand, staring. The area is nothing like I remember. Where are the stores, the jewelers, the beautiful people? The historical brownstone buildings, the thick gates to keep us out?

The block is…gone.

Just gone.

If an entire block of buildings was wiped out of the Upper East Side, wouldn’t there have been a news story about it?

But these are the Bachmans. They value their privacy and can buy whatever they want.

I’d been told about the attack, but I never imagined the damage would be such complete devastation.

I want to turn around, go home, and not get more involved than I already am.

My phone screen lights up. Cass and Ryan’s faces smile back at me. I need to do this. I know I can.