“Really weird,” I say, nodding along, and I think I might be sick. My stomach’s twisted into knots and I want to run, everything is screaming in me to run, run away, I can hear Riley’s voice shouting, he’s a killer, Gracie, he’s a killer, you have to run away! But I can’t move, not an inch, not at all.
“I heard you talked to my brother the other day when I visited the club again. I heard you and him had a little disagreement. I just wanted to say, Gracie, I appreciate you keeping your opinions and your little nose to yourself, because I’d hate to see anything happen to my brother’s new girl, you get me? Charlie’s fond of you, but she’s not that fucking fond. Do you understand? You’ll keep this between us, otherwise I’d hate to see the girls you work with start disappearing, especially since I’m so fond of a few of them. Do you hear me?”
I take a step away and sweat pools beneath my arms. My hands are shaking, and I want to look brave right now, but I can’t, I’m too horrified.
“I understand,” I say and hate myself so much for sounding like such a little mouse. When did I get so damn weak? I want to say more, to tell him Charlie deserves better, that he’s a dick for treating her like this and a psychopath for threatening the girls at Crystal Lake—but Calvino strides over and drapes an arm across my shoulders, hugging me protectively.
Relief floods my spine and I keep my mouth shut. I’m trembling slightly and I hope Calvino doesn’t notice—I don’t want to explain what just happened, and Vince is looking at me like he’s going to stab me in the guts if I open my mouth.
I don’t care if he threatens me. I knew what I was getting into the moment I got involved with Calvino. My life’s not all the important to me, and although I definitely don’t want to get tortured and killed by a monster like Vincent, I’m willing to keep pushing forward despite that.
But the girls at Crystal Lake are innocent. Would he really hurt them? Raven and Monique and Kia and Ginnie? My stomach twists into knots of fear at the thought of him hurting any of them and it being all my fault, all because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.
I’m twisted into a pretzel. Calvino wants complete and total honesty, but Vince says he’ll hurt the girls at Crystal Lake if I open my mouth, and god, I don’t know what to do.
“You guys okay over here?” Calvino asks like it’s no big deal but I catch him give a look to his brother, who only shrugs in response, still smiling.
“All good. Shall we rejoin Charlie down by the pool?”
“I think I need to use the little girl’s room first, but I’ll meet you two down there.”
Calvino frowns slightly at me, but he follows Vince to the pool, both of them talking quietly to each other as I hurry inside, down a short hall, and into a spacious downstairs powder room that happens to be bigger than my entire apartment. I splash cold water on my face and stare into the mirror and I swear I can see Riley gazing back at me with those pursed lips and that sad shake of her head.
Told you to stay away, girlie. Told you to run.
“Where am I gonna run to, Riley? You’re dead. There’s nowhere for me to go.”
The Riley in my head only sighs like I’m the most pathetic thing in the world.
I can’t tell Calvino what just happened. I don’t know what he’ll do if I mention it, but I do know that Vincent’s the kind of guy that will make good on this threat. I desperately want to obey Calvino, but I also have to protect the girls—none of them deserve to get hurt just because of my moral quandary. God, this is tearing me to little pieces, and I don’t know what I’m going to do.
And the worst part?
Vince might know what I did to him, or at least he suspects me.
Which means everything I do from here on out will be scrutinized and watched.
I have to be careful. One wrong step and someone I care about will get hurt. Ginnie or Kia or Raven, hell, even Juniper. I dislike Juniper with a passion but that doesn’t mean I want to see her get killed by a vengeful mobster.
But I can’t give up and walk away either—not before I have what I came for. I’m not going to fail Riley, not this time at least.
I should’ve been there for her before when she was killed. I should’ve realized she was in trouble, even if she didn’t know it herself, but I didn’t.