Page 44 of All for her Forgiveness

"I'm not from the police, and I didn't accuse you of anything."

"Then who are you? Did you come after me for some reason other than getting 'company' for the night in a strange city?" she says in an aggressive tone.

I don't know what she'll think when I reveal the truth to her—that it seems fate has brought us together on a whim when I shouldn't be within a mile of her.

But before I have the chance to respond, she checks the time on her phone. "It doesn't matter, we're about five minutes away from my house, and after today, we won't see each other again."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Kennedy."

"Did you just threaten me?"

"Threaten you? I made a simple statement."

She remains silent for the rest of the journey, but when the car parks on a street with tiny houses all crammed together and a lot of garbage on the sidewalks, she turns to me.

Fuck, is this where she lives? Now more than ever, I'm sure I'll never allow Kennedy to stay in this neighborhood.

"Who are you, Hades Kostanidis?"

As I stare at her, my mind gets all the pieces together about her.

The ones that came from Vina, from the bosses at the casino, and from Kennedy herself.

No, maybe she's not a good companion for Pam, and the voice of reason tells me to keep them away from each other, but my conscience takes over.

I can't let the girl live in a place like this. Kennedy is beautiful and alone; she'll be an easy target for bad-intentioned people, no matter how tough she thinks she is.

I stare back at her. "I'm the man who won't let you ruin your own life, girl."

Kennedy

CHAPTER TWENTY

Past

"Canyou please explain to me what that means?"

It seems totally out of place, after the way we kissed, for me to address him so formally, but when you've lived with a toxic person like Aunt Riny, you learn to read a "stay away" signal, and everything about the Greek now tells me that something has changed between us, although I can't quite identify what.

I'm still not convinced he's not a cop, although I don't believe this man could be employed by anyone. I'm poor, but I work in a casino. I see millionaires come and go from there every day.

Still, the fear that those managers might have made something up about me to cover their own asses turns my hands, still clasped in my lap, into a cold sweat puddle.

That was the reason, the pure and sincere fear, that made me say I hadn't stolen anything. Because the possibility that Greytak Mills might have made up some slander about me crossed my mind.

"Get inside your house, Kennedy. I need to go."

"We won't see each other again," I say, challenging him but also confused because the idea saddens me.

"Yes, we will. Now, get inside." He doesn't wait for me to agree, getting out of the car, and to my surprise, he goes around to open my door.

"Goodbye, Hades."

"Until next time, Miss O'Neal." There's no softness in his farewell. It's almost a threat, and feeling confused, I walk to my home without looking back.

The heavy rain has passed, so I walk slowly. I open the old iron gate, already quite crooked, and even when I'm almost at the door, I don't hear the car drive away.

Only when I'm inside do I hear the tires rolling down the wet street.

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