Page 102 of Crossing Lines

“You’re right,” Bonnie says. “Who would trust them over my own daughter? You know, I never expected you to go through with it.”

“With what?” I ask, dread pooling in my stomach at the wide smile she has on her face, the same smile she’s used thousands of times to convince someone to do her bidding.

“Youknowwhat.”

“I really don’t,” I say flatly, keeping my attention only on Mom.

“Baby, it’s okay. You don’t have to pretend anymore. You’ve done your job.”

“There’s no need to do this,” I say.

“Do what? Tell the truth?”

“No, you’re wielding another one of your stories,” I say. “Whatever you’re trying to do won’t work.”

“Hoo boy, would you look at that?” Mom says to Evren. “Nina thinks I’m the one telling a story, when it’s really her. Would you like to know what it is?”

“Not really, no,” he says, crossing his arms.

“Oh?” Bonnie asks. “I think you’d want to, especially since it involves you.”

“Me? In what way?” Evren asks.

“Nina? Shall I tell him? Or will you do the honors?”

“Evren,” I say, pleading with my eyes for him to believe me. “Whatever she’s about to say is a lie. Don’t believe a word of it.”

“There’s no need to be so dramatic,” Mom says. “This is always the hardest part, you know that.”

My lips flatten. “Just stop it. You and your games?—”

“Game?” Bonnie laughs. “The only one playing a game here is you.”

“And what game is that?” Evren asks Mom.

“To trap you, of course.” Bonnie says it casually, like it’s just another Tuesday for her. “Nina learned from the best, after all.”

“Learned what?” he asks.

“How to get pregnant and trap a man,” Mom says, pride shining on her face.

I choke on my own spit. “I’m what now?”

“You’re pregnant?” Evren asks me.

“No, definitely not,” I say. “I told you; she’s lying.”

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Bonnie says. “We’re all going to be family, after all.”

“There is no baby,” I shout. “Stop lying.”

“Why would you care? You’re not dating, right? Oh…wait… Did you fall for your mark? How amateur of you.”

“Nina isn’t trying to trap me,” Evren says, but it’s not as confident as I would’ve expected.

“You sure about that?” Mom asks. “Didn’t she say she was on birth control, or better yet, has an IUD? That it was safe to have unprotected sex?” She chuckles. “And then she held off on having sex with you because she wasn’t ready, but little did you know that she just wanted to make sure she was ovulating.”

“Stop,” I say, gritting my teeth. How does she know about my IUD? That’s personal information and she’s never cared to learn anything about me, let alone that. “It wasn’t like that.”

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