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FIVE
Kayla
A conversationwith my father had been just what I needed.
Elias had made his feelings about my father clear, and in my desire to protect him, I’d stayed away more and more. Before, I didn’t go a week without visiting my parents and talked to them frequently.
But between Elias’s unpredictable schedule and me wanting to make sure my father stayed out of the line of fire, there was distance between us now.
Our phone call had reminded me that it wouldn’t always be that way.
We hadn’t talked about anything serious, just idle chatter about what was going on with the business, how his favorite football team was doing, and what my mother was trying to get him to fix around the house.
It had been perfect and reminded me what I was doing all this for, and hearing his voice made me that much more determined to see this through as best and as quickly as I could.
But I was still a nervous wreck when the phone rang in the evening a few days later.
I knew exactly who it was and answered on the first ring.
“Downstairs. Thirty minutes,” Elias said.
I wasn’t even annoyed that he hadn’t bothered with a greeting.
Instead, I asked, “A deal?”
That would be out of the ordinary.
Elias never conducted business here, and though he never gave me much notice, thirty minutes was cutting it short, even for him.
“No. Dinner. We’re celebrating,” he said.
He hung up before I could say anything else, but it didn’t matter.
It wasn’t like he would answer my questions anyway. I was surprised he’d even answered the one.
No, Elias’s expectations were clear.
He gave orders and expected me to follow them.
And I told myself I would do just that.
Whatever feelings I might have for him, whatever pity I might have for myself, none of it changed my circumstances.
The debt had to be repaid, and at least for now, that meant being at Elias’s beck and call.
So, I took a moment to lament the lost evening. I’d had plans to catch up on my favorite TV show and try to decompress.
But that would have to wait.
After staring longingly at the lamb chops I’d splurged on for my evening in, I got up to get dressed and prepared to go downstairs.
“Dinner” wasn’t really a detailed description. It could mean anything from burgers in Davit and Amethyst’s backyard to a formal affair with dignitaries, be they criminal or not.
With nothing to go on, I settled on my standard slacks, button-down, and blazer. As I buttoned the shirt, I noticed how worn it looked, and before I could stop myself I thought of Elias and his disapproval.
Shook that feeling off.
If my clothes were worn, it was because I was pouring every spare penny into the debt.
