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“It’s too late.” I cross my legs and sit tall. “I think it’s time for me to start over.”
“Start over how?”
“Entirely. A new town, a new job.”A new name, maybe. New fingerprints, if I can get them.“I know this sounds drastic, but it isn’t just about Ivan.”
“Mikhail,” Jorden infers. For once, her voice is serious. “You’re really scared of him, aren’t you?”
I consider denying it. I don’t want to be someone who runs away because they’re afraid. Then again, I want to be someone who knows their limits. And I’m pretty sure I’ve reached it.
There is too much in this city for me to face it all down on my own.
“I don’t want to be sucked into his orbit again. Mikhail, my family, Ivan—they’re all here. Which is enough reason for me to be somewhere else.”
Jorden stares at me for a long moment. I’m waiting for her to argue or try to convince me to stay. Instead, she says, “Fine.”
“Fine what?”
“Fine, I’ll go with you.”
My mouth opens and closes. Finally, I reach out and grab her hand. “I wasn’t saying all of that to convince you to come with me. You have a life here. I don’t want to—”
“Ihave a life?” she blurts, looking around melodramatically. “Where is it? Point me towards it and I’ll gladly stay.”
“You have a job.”
“Quintaño's is closed for repairs and I’m not naive enough to think Q will hire us all back. He has hated me ever since I told him I’d rather dunk my head in the deep fryer than sleep with him.”
I gape at her. “You didnotsay that to him.”
“Word for word.” She beams with pride. “He’s a creep and I’d love a new job. Do you have any other reservations?”
“You have friends here.”
“You and Francia,” she says. “And don’t tell Francia, but I’ve always liked you more. You get me. So, forget the job and friends. Don’t even mention family. You know I have a tragic, utterly heart-wrenching tearjerker of a backstory that isn’t even worth going into.” She squeezes my hand and then reaches for the other one. Her fingers are cold against mine. “The reality is, Cor, you are my best friend. I know it doesn’t always seem that way, but having my entire life flipped upside down because of you made me realize that you’re one of the most important people in the world to me. Like, I haven’t been able to walk out of my house without guards tailing me for weeks, yet I’m not mad at you at all. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”
I laugh, tears once again brimming in my eyes. “I’m sorry.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t be. Seriously. I’ve realized what’s important to me through all of this and I've decided something: wherever you’re going, I’m going, too. I won’t let you take off on this adventure alone.”
“Adventure,” I say softly. “I like that. It sounds a lot better than ‘running away.’”
“We’re not running away from something; we’re runningtowardssomething,” she clarifies. “We just don’t quite know what that is yet. But we’ll figure it out!”
I’ve been “figuring things out” my entire life. I can figure this out, too.
I nod. “Okay. Deal.”
“Deal.” Jorden flops back on the couch and lets out a cackle. “God, this is going to be fun.”
“Agreed,” I say, even as some deep part of my brain is shouting that this is a dumb idea.
I ignore it. This is the same brain that convinced me it was a good idea to hook up with a billionaire in the middle of his Find A Wife party. This brain makes mistakes. Leaving is the right call.
This time, I’ll just have to do a better job of covering my tracks.
75
IVAN
