Page 15 of Sins & Paradise

She jumps and squeaks a little in surprise. After placing a hand on her chest, she gives me a tight smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"No, you were just going to leave like a bat in the night. Honestly, you don't have to run away. I've got the room for the next week, and I'll be leaving to help with the construction on thecompound. You can stay as long as you want." Moving slowly, I push up to a sitting position and keep my eyes locked on hers.

She looks different this morning—well-rested. Her eyes are a bit brighter, and there's some color to her cheeks. If I'm not mistaken, it looks like her hair is wet. She must've taken a shower while I was still sleeping.

"I can't stay. Magda is expecting me at work this morning."

I nod my head.

"Okay, I get it. But I'll be there this evening to pick you up. You're coming back here."

"No, I can't. You've done more than enough for me. You've already been more of a blessing than I've had in a long time. You don't need to do any more."

I laugh loudly at that. Out of all the things I've ever been called in my life, "someone's blessing" has never been one of them. "A blessing? Me? Girl, you make it sound like I just cured world hunger or something. I gave you a bed to sleep in."

"Even the smallest kindness means the world to someone who's known only hate."

The way she speaks leaves me confused and somewhat hopeful—almost like every word out of her mouth is another nugget of knowledge that I am desperate for.

"I don't know about all that, but if I can help, I'm going to. It's just the way I was raised. So no, I'm not going to leave you alone. I'll be there tonight to pick you up. Please don't make me have to chase you through the factory again. I'd rather not have you almost dying every time we meet each other."

She gives me a small smile before she turns and walks out of the room.

I could walk her to work, but I don't want to get any closer to her than I have to be. She's already getting under my skin because I want to know more about her—what makes her tick and why she speaks like she's out of a parable instead of real life. I need to keep some sort of distance between myself and her. If I don't get too close, it won't hurt so much when she leaves.

A few minutes later, there's a knock at the door, and I'm almost excited when I think it's Angela coming back for some reason.

"Ven," I call out, and the door opens. My mouth falls into a frown when I see it's Coca and not Angela.

"I guess I wasn't the one you were expecting?" she laughs and looks around the room. "Where did she go? I thought you were going to send her out to get some clothes for us?" she asks as she notices Angela isn't in the room.

"She ran off to work. I'll be bringing her back tonight, so just have the clothes ready for her," I say while grabbing some clothes out of my own bag to wear for the day.

"Claro." Coca nods her head, but she doesn't turn and walk out like I expect her to do. "So what's her deal?" she asks, looking to me for some answers.

"What do you mean, what's her deal?"

"I mean, was I right? Is she on the run?"

I don't want to tell Angela's business, but if anyone around here should know what's going on with this woman, it's Coca. She's got her ear to the ground and finds out things faster than most of us. The only one who gets information faster is Pooh, but that's only when he's behind the screen at his computer. Coca is a full-fledged woman's advocate.

"Yeah, she's on the run from her ex-fiancé. Her family is no help. She was fucking sleeping in the old cement factory. It's a fucking mess." I shake my head, and Coca's jaw drops.

"Are you serious? How long has she been there? Why didn't Magda say anything?"

"I'm not sure she knows. Angela isn't the type of person to be very forthcoming with her information."

Tú sabes lo que eso significa, ¿o no?

I look up at Coca. I don't want her to say what I think I know she's about to say. "No, I don't know what this means," I reply through gritted teeth.

"It means you're going to have to get her to trust you so we can help her. That's what you want, isn't it?"

With a loud groan, I shove my feet into my boots. "Coca, she's not my responsibility. Hell, she's not even your responsibility. If she doesn't want us to get into her life, then we should just leave it alone."

Coca smirks at me, staring like she knows something I don't.

"Okay, if you feel like you can let her go without knowing more, then let her go." She turns and walks out of the room, leaving me stuck.

---