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“Good girl,” he murmurs eventually, a hint of approval in his voice. It should feel patronizing, but instead, it sends a warm shiver tracing down my spine.
We eat in silence, yet chewing and swallowing feels forced after a while, like a task I’m growing tired of. I set my fork and knife down, unable to eat anymore. Milo nods toward the plate, but I reach for the water bottle instead, undoing the cap and taking a sip.
“I can’t finish it, I’m full.” However, if he forced me to in order to ring my father, I would make myself sick if needed. Milo watches me for a second, and I sigh, forcing myself to pick up the fork. I feel on the verge of bursting, and I have to drink more water to force myself to swallow.
“You can stop,” Milo says, satisfied I’m not lying.
Milo gets up and grabs his phone next to the lamp. He picks it up and then wanders back over to me. I reach out for the phone, but he retakes his seat instead. I press my lips in a line, knowing he was playing me.
“I’m giving it to you, but first, I want something in return,” he tells me. I glance up at him, and he pats his knee. My eyes widen slightly.
“I’m not fucking you for a phone call.”
“I never said you had to,” Milo answers quickly, and I glare at him but reluctantly get up from where I am sitting on the floor. Hesitantly, I move toward him, stopping in front of him when he jerks me onto his lap so I am straddling him.
“Wasn’t so hard, was it?” he asks, and I clench my teeth when he suddenly holds up the phone. I wait for him to snatch it away as I reach for it, but he lets me take it, his hands falling to my thighs. Yet, I don’t care where his hands are at the moment; I’m too excited about being able to call my father to check on Emma and find out how her surgery went. I turn the screen on only for Milo to rattle off the four-digit pin, which allows me to unlock it.
My fingers move quickly over the keypad and I place the phone to my ear, only for Milo to tell me to put it on speaker. I do not want to refuse in case he refuses the call. The phone rings a couple of times before I finally hear his voice. “Hello?” he asks, a tremble in his voice.
“Dad,” I say before bursting into tears at the sound of his voice.
“Fallon?” The relief in his voice is evident as he, too, breaks down, barely able to talk between sobs. “I thought they killed you,” he croaks.
“No, no, I’m fine…” I begin to say, but Milo squeezes my thigh gently. “I mean it, I’m fine… what about Emma? Is she…” I trail off, unsure how much to share since Milo has me sitting on his lap and can hear every word we say. A beat of silence passes before my dad speaks again.
“Emma is fine; she’s a trooper, you know that,” he says, his voice trembling slightly.
“I know,” I manage, glancing at Milo, who nods, gesturing for me to continue the call as if nothing happened. “I uh… I just wanted to check in on you two. How is everything?”
“It’s alright, kiddo… the surgery went well,” he starts. “What’s happening there? They haven’t, um…” he doesn’t finish.
I’m fine… Leone is making…”
But Milo clears his throat, and I know he doesn’t want my father to know. How could I even communicate this to my father anyway? Hey Dad, you know the guys you stole from? Well, they own me now, in fact, Leone is planning to force me to marry him. Anyway, hope you’re doing well!
“Listen, Dad, you um…” I start, but my voice trails off as I can’t bring myself to end the call with him. Just hearing his voice has me thinking I’m fine, that everything will be okay. But I am far from okay.
“Fallon, are you okay?” my dad asks.
“I’m fine, Dad,” I say, my voice shaking. “They haven’t hurt me,” I reply but don’t elaborate.
“Listen to me,” he says, his voice suddenly stern. “I swear I’ll find a way to pay them off.”
“No!” I exclaim, cutting him off. “Dad, I can’t let you-”
“This is all my fault,” he interrupts, his voice strained with emotion.
“Dad- I’m fine. Just take the money and look after Emma, please,” I tell him when what I really want to say is for him to get Emma and flee the country the moment she is able.
“Fallon, I can’t just leave you there; you wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for me,” he tells me, but that isn’t true; he wasn’t the only one who tried to rob Leone. I was just more subtle about it.
“Either way, this would have happened. Great minds think alike, right?” I tell him, and he falls quiet.
“What did you do?” he whispers, hearing what I’m not saying.
I chuckle. “Besides, hold him at gunpoint, same as you, only you went all in; I was more subtle. I played and cheated at Verdigris.”
My father sighs heavily. “Oh, Fallon, why would you risk it,” he chokes.
