Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“I used to dream about taking over after Papa passed,” he admits softly, and I hear the clink of ice in a glass. Which means it must be sometime in the evening over there. Rian’s a lot of things, but someone who drinks before five in the afternoon isn’t one of them. I admire my brother’s self-restraint.
“Did it ever look like this?” I ask.
“Not once, not ever. I figured Papa would pass one night in his old age after weeks of saying goodbye and laying his final plans. I assumed I’d know what to do. Instead, I’m groping around, struggling to hold the whole thing together, and dealing with the Costa nightmare. You don’t understand how much it means to me what you’re doing.”
“I’m sure.” I clear my throat. More guilt hits me then. When I hurt Jayson, will it blow back onto Rian? Will I make my brother’s life harder? “I have to tell you something.”
“What’s wrong?” He’s on alert now. My tone must’ve tipped him.
“It’s fine, Chim, I really am fine. But it’s about that plan I mentioned.”
He’s quiet for a few beats. “You’re still going through with that?” He sounds skeptical. Not that I can blame him. I keep pushing the slot button while peering around to make sure nobody can hear. There’s only one old woman, smoking away, not paying attention to anything but the lights in front of her.
“I found documents in our flat. A bunch of them hidden away in a locked room. I made copies.”
Another silence. This one painful. Why’s he not cheering? Doesn’t he know what I went through to get this stuff?
“That’s dangerous,” he says. “Are you being safe?”
“Safe as I can. The originals are back and there’s no way he’ll know I accessed anything. The copies are hidden away.”
“Don’t tell me where. You shouldn’t even be talking about this on the phone. Did they give you the device?”
Paranoia rubs at the back of my neck. “It’s fine. There’s no reason to monitor me.”
“Fallie, come on, there’s a million reasons to monitor you.” He sighs and I hear the ice rattle again. “Alright, look, sit on the documents, okay? I know you probably want to put it all to use right away but hang tight. We’ll wait for a good opportunity.”
“When’s that going to happen? I could mail them out to you tomorrow. You can give them to our people and let the big brains figure out what they all mean. I’ve only scratched the surface too, there’s a lot more—”
“Don’t,” he says, a little too hard. “Just hold off, okay?”
“What aren’t you telling me, Chim?”
“I’m telling you to wait. This thing with the Costas is too new. I don’t want you doing anything to blow it up, not yet anyway. Wait until we’re integrated more.”
“Wait how long? A few weeks? A few months? It could be ten years before you finally tell me to pull the trigger. He killed our father.”
“I know that. Just hold off.”
“I don’t want to wait forever.” I close my eyes and picture living as Jayson’s wife. Sleeping in his bed, his mouth pressed to my neck—
“Two weeks. That’s all. Then call me again and we’ll talk details.”
“Fine.” I stand up, pushing my stool back. I lean forward to cash out of the game, but there’s no money left. All donated back into Costa pockets. “But I don’t like it here. I don’t know anyone, I don’t have any friends, and I miss home.”
“I know you do. I’m sorry. I really am.”
“Yeah. I know you’re sorry, you keep saying it, and it doesn’t do me any good.”
I hang up. Frustration rolls down my spine. I want to kick this stupid Buffalo machine until it cracks in half but I manage to hold myself back.
Rian’s sorry. He’s so fucking sorry he sent me off to live with strangers. And it doesn’t do me any good, him feeling sorry, because he’s not sorry enough to let me send him the documents that might ruin my damn husband’s life. Documents that might get me out of this mess.
Because it would hurt the family if the war started again.
And in some part of me, I know he’s right. I don’t want the war to start either. I want my family to stay safe, which means I have to stay here and smile and swallow my pride with these people for as long as it takes.
Not forever. One year at the most. And at the end of that year, no matter what Rian says, I will release those documents and make sure the man that ordered my father’s murder will pay for what he did.
The phone in my hand vibrates. I nearly drop it—I didn’t know anyone had the number—until I look at the screen.
Jayson’s name stares back.
I raise the phone to my ear. “Hello?”