Page 32 of That Emerald Vow

“How about now? Are you still being fucking stupid? You’re not doing anything now to fucking stop your stupid asshole boss.”

“Lils, that’s not what—” I try to say.

“Shut up!” Charlie yells at me. “Like you’re any better, both of you, taking advantage of these—”Ouch.

Maybe that’s all she will ever think of me, comparing me to the assholes we kill. But she isn’t even allowing us to explain. They are just yelling and yelling, and I can’t fucking take it anymore before I yell out, “We’re not kidnapping them. We’re rescuing them from those trying to traffic them!” We need to just air out all the dirty laundry and figure this shit out.

“You aren’t working for X then?” Lily asks, looking into Adrian’s eyes.

They are filled with regret as he admits, “We are, but it’s not what you might think.”

“What the actual fuck? Can someone please explain this in plain English,” Charlie demands. “And speak fast or we start shooting.”

“I’m not trafficking people . . . At least not in that way,” he says.

“We are the Crimson Creed. It’sourorganization that helps those who are being trafficked and gets them to safety,” I say.

Adrian continues, “We don’t kidnap them to enslave them. We kidnap them from the traffickers to give them a second chance.”

“B-but . . . how does X play into it?” Lily asks in disbelief as she looks to Charlie, who seems equally lost.

“They recruited us early on after I killed my father. But we have a code. We only kill those who deserve it,” Adrian says.

“We hate all that X stands for,” I say, “but it was a bit hard to say no as teenagers.”

“We are planning to overthrow Alex at some point. We just need to be smart. It’s going to take time.”

It’s clear they are trying to process the information we just threw at them to see if they can trust us long enough to hear more. But I have my own questions I want answered.

“Can we go inside to talk? I want to tell you everything from the beginning. And maybe then you can share how this”—Adrian waves in her direction—“happened too.”

“Maybe we can talk too, Char?” I ask, praying she will give me a chance to explain.

Charlie looks apprehensive but ends up saying, “Okay,” beforeturning to look at Lily to see her response.

“Okay,” Lily says as she finally puts away her gun.

Charlie lowers it but still stays at the ready the whole way to the empty waiting area for customers. We take seats on the opposite sides on the couch as Adrian takes Lily to his office.

I look at the gun that’s resting on her knee as she faces me. “Is that really necessary?”

Her lips purse in a straight line before she says, “I will decide what is necessary,” while trying not to give away any emotion.

I nod, and for once in my life, I tell the truth. Even in this circumstance, all I want to do is bare my soul, no matter how scared I am. The idea of losing her is scarier than I could have imagined. Her anger hits me like a ton of bricks straight to the gut. “I didn’t grow up like our best friends did . . . or you.”

Her right eyebrow cocks up in annoyance.

“I’m not saying I had it harder or easier. But I didn’t have some of the privileges you guys did, like a functional parent or parents. A stable home . . .”

“Not all of us hadfunctionalparents,” she scoffs.

“Maybe not. But you were never without clothes or food. You weren’t a child trying to take care of another child.”

Her lips part in anOshape. “D . . .” She looks down at her gun and puts it on the table. “I’m listening.”

“I don’t want your sympathy.” My insecurity speaks for me.

“Trust me. Sympathy is the last thing I’ll give anyone. But . . .” Charlie lets out a deep sigh. “We both clearly have secrets, which makes sense as we barely know each other. But we both deserve to hear the truth andthendecide how to feel.”

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