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If this is the only option she thinks we have, we’re screwed.
Sydney nods, looking up at me with her large, scared eyes. She tries to play tough, but I can see right through it.
This woman just wants to be free. If turning her head from the ugliness of her world is the only way to do that, then that’s how it has to be.
“There are towels in the cabinet in the bathroom. Go take a shower and wash off.”
She nods again, heading off in that direction.
Not wanting to take any risks, I grab the angled stopper from behind the door. Closing it, I shove it into the opening on the bottom from the outside, effectively locking her in the room if she tried to run while I wasn’t watching her.
Heading back downstairs, I take a seat opposite Jerry.
“Are you going to tell me what the fuck that was?” I ask her, fuming.
She shrugs, tossing her black hair over her shoulder. “I’m pretty sure you know what that was. It’s time we stop this. She’s the only way we can get in. This is the fastest, most effective way of taking them down, and you know that.”
“That doesn’t mean I have to agree tomarryyoursisteragainst her will—againstmywill, to get that done.”
“Actually, it does,” she says as she crosses her legs underneath of her, her posture cool and collected. The very opposite of what I’m feeling.
“Jerry, there are other ways.”
“What are they?”
“I don’t pretend to know the answers. I have no idea, but I know there’s something better than this. She doesn’t have to be involved.”
“She’s going to be involved no matter what,” Jerry snaps, her eyes turning cold. “She’s taken money from them. She still gets money from them to this very day. You saw those statements. She’s getting funded by them, and even if she were innocent, even if somehow there’s another way and she can go off on her merry way and forget about all of this, there are still people out there who are likely to take her out for this very reason.”
“What do you mean?”
“You think those men don’t know that the second she gets married, if someone knows who her parents were, or if she comes around to the idea of what they do, that she won’t take it? Do you seriously hear how fucking stupid you guys sound?” she asks, throwing her hands up. It makes me think that the others weren’t exactly for this idea either when she ran it by them. “If those men standing at the top of that fucking company had any sense… any sense at all, they’d kill her. It’s the one and only way they can be sure that she’ll never burn that company to the fucking ground.”
I sit back, thinking it over. I know not to argue too hard with Jerry when she’s like this. But I also know that although I wish she didn’t, she has a point. Even if we let her go home, she really would be killed at some point. And what’s worse is that she wouldn’t see it coming. If she’s so intent on not having anything to do with her family, she’s not going to be looking at what’s right in front of her.
She has a lot worse to worry about than marrying me.
“The second this is over, you guys can get an annulment. Or a divorce. Whatever works,” Jerry assures. “It’s not like you have to be stuck with her for your whole life.” I open my mouth to reply, but she isn’t done. “Not that it matters.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask.
“You’re acting like you’re waiting for someone. Like you’re dating someone, and I’m asking you to marry this girl.”
A surge of anger shoots through me. “That girlis your sister. I don’t like her any more than you do, but if you’re asking her to be a part of this and risk her life, I think you need to be a little more appreciative of what she’s doing.”
Jerry rolls her eyes.
“And I don’t have to be actively seeking a relationship in order to feel bad about being forced to marry someone, Jerry.” In fact, I haven’t had a single relationship the entire time I’ve been here. They never interested me. I was here for my job. Besides, bonding with someone is a little hard when you’re in this kind of work. Whoever I’m seeing can’t come over here, and I have to make sure my stories are lined up at all times.
I’ve thought about it, sure. Which is why I know that relationships just aren’t for me. Not now and not ever.
I have my hand for other needs.
With a flick of her wrist, Jerry turns around, heading to the kitchen to grab a water.
“Jerry, we’re not done talking,” I say as I follow her, watching as she reaches the fridge. I feel like I’ve been saying that a lot lately. Without a care in the world, she takes a bottle of water out before jumping on the counter, taking a sip as she swings her legs.
“We’re done. This is happening. Preferably tomorrow, but if it has to be pushed another day, that’s fine.”
