shut, waiting for the pain to radiate through my body. Only that pain doesn’t come. Instead, another shot rings out and then the car speeds off, disappearing into the night as if it were never there. I spin around, confused, and I see Cohen standing beside a large tree, gun pointed in the direction the car was just sitting. My eyes widen, and I’m completely stunned, unable to say or do anything.
He just saved my life.
“I ...” I begin, but nothing more comes out.
“Get back into that motel room, right fuckin’ now. You’re not safe out here.”
I do as he asks, and I move back toward the location of the motel, terrified that those men are going to show back up and finish the job. I pick up into a jog, and Cohen follows closely behind me, jogging also. We round the corner to the motel room and run inside the room I just managed to escape from. Only when we’re inside, and Cohen has locked the door, do I breathe a sigh of relief.
“What the fuck were you thinkin’?” Cohen barks, spinning to face me. “You could have gotten yourself killed, or worse.”
I stare at him. “Those men knew who I was. How the fuck did they know me? Why have I seen them before? What is going on? I’m done with the secrets and lies. Tell me who those men were, Cohen.”
“I don’t fuckin’ know who they are.”
“You’re lying!” I yell, throwing my hands up. “You’re fucking lying.”
“What were you thinkin’ runnin’ out there and riskin’ your life?”
He’s changing the subject. I’ll let him, for now. But he is going to tell me who those two men were and what the hell they wanted with me.
“I wasn’t going to be your prisoner, Cohen. If you don’t trust me, then I wasn’t going to hang around so you could all treat me like the enemy.”
“So you fuckin’ ran off in the middle of the night? Where the fuck were you goin’ to go, Aviana? You’ve got no money, no phone, and no family.”
“I would have figured it out,” I say, crossing my arms.
“You’re fuckin’ lucky I woke up and saw you were gone. If I had slept even five minutes longer, you’d be fuckin’ dead right now. Is that what you want? To be fuckin’ killed because you refuse to use your brain?”
Anger bubbles in my chest. “I didn’t know they were following me, but you can clearly see now that I had nothing to do with why they’re here. They wanted me to get into that car, and I’m sick and tired of wondering why that is. Tell me, Cohen. I want to know the truth. If you want me to stay here with you, and trust that you’re going to protect me, then you need to be honest. I’ve seen those men before. I want to know what’s going on.”
“You want me to be honest? What about you? You complain that we don’t fuckin’ trust you, but you’ve given us nothin’ to trust. You came back and all you’ve wanted was to get your revenge on me. I’m not so stupid that I didn’t figure that out the second you came back in. Trust goes both ways.”
Dammit, he has a point.
I stare at him.
Do I let it all go and just tell him the truth? Tell him what I planned on doing? Tell him anything else I know?
Do I decide in this moment, that I’m going to move forward?
Or will I stay exactly where I am, living this bitter lifestyle?
“I’ll be honest with you, if you can promise me that you’ll have my back. You gave me away out there, just threw me under the bus like I didn’t matter. You’ve not trusted a single word that has come out of my mouth, how can I be sure you’re going to now?”
His jaw ticks. “I was protectin’ the club, you know I had a right to do that. As for the rest of it, I’ll have your back if you fuckin’ let me.”
Let him.
Can I do that?
Can I let him in?
Can I trust him?
“Tell me why those men wanted me. Tell me what it is you’ve been hiding from me for so god damned long. I want to understand, Cohen. I need to know why you did what you did.”
He turns and walks over to his bag, unzipping it and pulling out a large file. He walks over and hands it to me, then he sits back