Page 33 of Choke

I pull out my phone and dial a number.

“Hello.”

“Alaric, it’s Atlas.”

Alaric knows me through my father, but unlike Daddy dearest, he isn’t a piece of shit.

“Been a minute. How are you?”

“I need a cleanup.”

“You’ll owe me.”

I could clean this up myself, as I usually do, but I’m needed elsewhere. “I know.”

25

MONA

Have I made a mistake fucking the two men who held me captive? Is it insane to fuck them when I haven’t seen them for two years? Was it too brazen of me to act the way I did without knowing if they’d slit my throat?

I don’t know. I can’t answer those questions. All I know is that these two men have wormed their way into my very essence.

Atlas and Callum offer me peace—something I didn’t think I’d ever get again.

I open my eyes to an empty bed, and my heart stops. Was it all a dream? A mirage? My panic quickly subsides when Callum walks in. He’s showered and dressed, a cup of coffee in one hand and clothes draped over his other arm.

The harsh lines of his face soften as he smiles at me, but sadness lingers in his eyes.

“What is it?” I ask, jumping out of bed and grabbing the clothes he offers me. “Wait, these are my jeans. How the hell did you get my clothes?”

“From your apartment.”

“How the fuck did you get into my apartment?”

Callum smiles sheepishly as he rubs the back of his neck. “We have a key.”

“You have a key?”

“Umm… we own the building. We also own the surveillance company that installed the security system.”

“You don’t own the company. Roger Simpson does. That’s who I leased from.”

“We bought it from him. Offered him three times what the place is worth. How the fuck do you think you got all those upgrades? You think Simpson would’ve done that? That cheap ass hadn’t done upkeep on that hellhole for two decades. Also, why are you living there? Your brother-in-law is God-like rich.”

“I didn’t want to get used to a comfortable life. I had issues about wealth and consumerism when I was younger. I enjoy living where my clients are. Once you get accustomed to wealth, you become desensitized to poverty. Too much luxury allows a sense of superiority. Rich people get a false sense of entitlement and think they can do whatever they want. Too much money creates evil. If we saw each other as human, we would stop living like animals, and the best way to do that is to expose yourself to reality.”

“Lev isn’t an asshole. He spends a lot of that wealth helping others. He started a charity in your sister's name. I doubt you would become a megalomaniac if he set you up.”

I take a deep breath before I admit my truth. “Lev’s different. His heart has always been pure. I lusted after shiny things for years. I don’t think I’m nearly as good of a human as Levinston.”

Callum tilts his head and examines me for a moment. I’m not sure what he’s searching for, but he’s seeking something.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You know Lev kills people, right?”

I laugh nervously, realizing how hypocritical I sound. But Lev doesn’t kill anyone who doesn’t deserve it. I gaze into Callum’seyes and smile. “Every single man in my life kills people, including you.”

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