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I nod and walk through the door, pausing momentarily to ponder whether I should tell Tristan that I’m leaving. Talon puts a hand on the small of my back and shakes his head a little.
“He knows we’re leaving. Just give him time,” he says. I sigh inwardly and nod, making my way out of the house. I wonder what Tristan said to Talon, as it seems as if Talon knows something that I don’t. I keep my questions to myself because I know my questions will only open up the door to him firing back his own.
The ride is relatively silent aside from the radio playing soft country music. I’m not sure what I expected my life to look like once I got my money, but I didn’t think it would leave me feeling indifferent. I try to muster up some excitement when we get to my apartment. The landlord is in front of my door, with a box of tools at his feet. When he notices our presence, he scowls at me.
“Unless you have the money to pay me what you owe, I’m changing the locks, and you’re not allowed to come back in here,” he snaps.
Talon frowns and steps in front of me. “She’s here to get her belongings out of this dump,” he fires back. “You can either let her do that peacefully, or I can make a few phone calls to get this place shut down.” He cocks his head to the side. “And I don’t think you want the police to know how you treat young girls who can’t pay their rent on time.”
My landlord glares at him for a long while before he snatches his toolbox from the ground. “You have an hour to get your shit and get lost,” he mumbles and stomps away.
Talon and I go inside. In a way, leaving here is a bit bittersweet. This apartment was my first taste of freedom after branching out on my own in an effort to get away from Garrett. I remember being so proud of myself for getting an apartment and for managing it as long as I have. It’s not the greatest place, but it’s made me the stronger person that I was forced to become in order to survive in it.
“You okay?” Talon’s hand appears on my arm, concerned eyes watching me.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I say with a small smile. I glance around the sparsely decorated apartment. “I just need to grab my clothes, toiletries, and important things, then we can go. I’m not going to take any of the furniture.”
“Good.” Talon cast a disapproving glance toward the sagging couch. “You deserve better things that’ll be comfortable.”
He helps me pack the little things I choose to take with me before we head back out the door. I take one look around the living room and sigh.
“On to better adventures,” I murmur to myself before stepping out of the apartment and leaving for good.
“What do you think?”Talon asks when we get to the new apartment. Even though it’s empty, it’s already leaps better than the last one. It’s so bright, from the large floor-to-ceiling windows that gives a beautiful view of the city. I move over to the window and look down. Everything looks so different when you’re so high up. Cars look like toys from up here, and the moving people on the sidewalk below look as if they’re a part of an ant colony. I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have been able to qualify for a place like this, even if I had the money, so now I’m glad that they offered it to me instead of making me jump through hoops for it.
“It’s great,” I say with a smile. “Thank you so much, Talon. This truly means a lot.”
“Sure,” he says with a half shrug. His phone rings, interrupting whatever he’s about to say. Looking at his phone screen, he frowns and looks up at me. “I have to take this really quick. Feel free to look around; I’ll be back.”
I nod and watch him step outside of the front door before I turn my attention back to the apartment that’s now mine. I move from room to room, admiring the state-of-the-art kitchen, the beautifully large bathroom, and a bedroom that’s almost bigger than my entire old apartment. I can’t stop the smile that spreads across my lips, but it quickly falls again. This all feels too good to be true. Every time something good happens in my life, it’s only a matter of time before the other shoe drops and brings chaos back into my life.
I clutch the strap of the bag with the money in it and release a deep breath. Unlike the other times, I now have money and resources to leave if I need to. If I manage it well enough, thismoney should last me a good while, at least long enough for me to figure out what I want to do. The front door opens, and Talon walks in with an apologetic look on his face.
“I hate to do this, but I have to run and handle something. Will you be okay by yourself for a little while?”
“Um, yeah. I should be good,” I say.
“I’ll try to come back as soon as I can, or I’ll send Tristan if I can’t make it,” he explains. “Call me if you need anything.”
“Thanks,” I say, waving as he disappears once again.
I settle down on the floor in the middle of the living room and open the duffle bag. I pull out stack after stack of money and just stare at it. Before, this money represented a new start, a ticket to the freedom that I’ve been chasing for a long while. But I no longer feel good when I look at it. It’s not what I had to do for it, but with whom. The money suddenly feels so wrong.
Shame grips my lungs in a vise grip as tears spring to my eyes. At the time, I thought all of this would be worth it. I thought I was making the necessary sacrifice in order to change my life. I pull my knees to my chest as regret overwhelms me.
I wish I never stepped foot in Purgatory. I wish I had never sold my virginity. I wish it wasn’t Tristan and Talon who’d bought it.
I sigh into the silence as tears stream down my face. Too bad I can’t wish myself into another reality.
TALON
After a couple of days, I stop by Cleo’s apartment to check on her. She hasn’t reached out for anything, so I’m not sure if she’s gotten furniture or anything that she needs. My mind immediately starts thinking of the worst things that could’ve possibly happened, especially after Tristan told me about what happened at the hotel room we’d gotten for her. I assume she’d call me if she were in some kind of trouble, but what if she skipped town instead?
I knock on the door, despite having a master key to all units in the building. I want to establish a sense of trust with her so that she can become comfortable with the idea of us being in her life now. I put my hands in my pockets and take a step back, waiting on bated breath in hopes that she answers. After a few agonizing seconds, the lock on the door clicks and the door cracks open, blue eyes peeking out at me.
“Oh, it’s you,” she says, relief in her voice. “Come in.”
She steps aside to let me in, closing and locking the door behind me. I frown at the state of the apartment. It looks no different than it did when I originally left her a few days ago. None of her boxes are unpacked, and she still doesn’t have a single piece of furniture anywhere.
