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Chapter Thirty-Seven

Gracie

F elix was our protection for today, and he took us to the community center.

Throughout the entire car journey, I could feel Hazel’s eyes on me, watching, scrutinizing as to why I was so quiet.

I was going through the motions, hiding my true intent with barely held restraint.

A thin thread threatening to snap at any moment, but I couldn’t allow it, not when there was so much at stake.

Once we arrived, I made drinks as usual and gave Felix his. Guilt lances through me as he takes sip after sip.

After Vinny left this morning, I hatched a plan to distract our chaperone today, and everything else was already in place.

I never expected following through with it would be so difficult.

I thought I’d be excited at the prospect of getting what I always wanted, but instead, I feel the pointed end of a blade digging into my heart at the thought of losing the man I’ve grown to love .

Felix takes another sip of the coffee laced with the laxatives from Vinny’s dungeon, and I close my eyes as I imagine never seeing him again. A tear slips down my cheek, and I swipe it away. It doesn’t matter how I feel about him; he will hate me when he finds out the truth.

“Are you okay, honey, you’re awfully quiet today?” Hazel asks, scanning me as she places another tin of fruit into the box.

I clear my throat. “Hazel, would you mind lending me some money please?”

She rears back before her features soften. “Sure, hun, but can I ask what for?”

“I want to buy Vinny a thank-you gift.” I swallow back the lie before continuing on. “For letting us stay with him.”

She pats my hand and giggles. “You really are a sweetie. He wouldn’t want anything.

” She shakes her head, and panic ripples through me.

“But I think he’d love the gesture. I don’t think he’s ever received a gift before.

” My heart twists on her words, so I close my eyes momentarily to distract myself from the trauma of what I’m about to do.

She reaches beneath the table and grabs her purse, then she slides fifty dollars into my hand, closing my palm around it.

Her gaze suddenly catches onto something over my shoulder. “Oh, dear lord, you don’t look so good, Felix.”

I glance over my shoulder to witness Felix holding his stomach. He winces, then darts toward the restroom.

This is it; this is the moment that’s going to change our lives .

The moment we’re free.

So why does the anxiety thrumming through my veins make it feel like the ultimate betrayal? And why does my heart feel like it’s being torn from my chest as I stroll toward Bonnie with one thing in mind?

Freedom.