Page 31 of Clean Hack
-11-
Shit Just Got Real
Lucy
Is it weird to miss someone even though you don’t really know them?
Well, I did.
Because somehow I’d become addicted to hearing his voice. I felt a bone-chilling cold wash over me every time I hung up. I felt a hole in my heart when I thought about just calling him for no reason other than to talk.
But I never did. I couldn’t let myself cross that line and it confused the hell out of me.
Why?
I’d asked myself that every time. There was a need to keep it on some sort of professional level. I knew if I broke out of that then I’d never go back. I couldn’t afford for him to become a bigger distraction. Not now. Maybe not ever.
I was so close to everything finally being right and I couldn’t screw that up now. I had to stay focused. I had to push when there were doubts. I had to turn my heart off when I felt I was getting soft.
What the hell was I going to do with myself?
I didn’t have any kind of answers for that.
I was itching to hear from Nadya. I hoped that she had made it to Gray Fort and that she and Tank were alright. I slightly worried about sending her there with how on edge the Steel Paragons were right now. They were on high alert due to the Savage shit that had been slung their way. But I also knew that they wouldn’t hurt her unless they really thought she was a threat. At most, they’d question her for hours on end.
I kept trying to call her, but most of the time it went to voicemail. Then someone picked up and I hung up real quick. I tried not to panic. After all, Nadya was a trained killer and I knew she’d be able to get herself out if she needed to.
Finally, my phone rang. I looked at the number and saw that it was the one that she’d called me from before. I answered, but stayed silent until I heard her voice on the other end.
Thank fuck!
She was alright.
I didn’t even hesitate to tell her that I worried about her. She was honestly the closest thing I had to a friend. Hell, at this point, she was like a best friend.
“Noah’s fine,” she told me and I closed my eyes and nodded a grateful thanks to the powers that be. “They had me locked away in the basement for a while, which I can’t even blame them for. I told them everything and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here…I get the feeling I’m not welcome here.”
I could hear the sadness in her voice. I, myself, was damn shocked that she would leave him. And I said so. Well, I phrased it as more of a shocked question.
“You’re going to leave him?”
I barely held back the gasp of horror, because how could she? It was obvious she had feelings for the guy and, yeah, sure, I’d never really been in a position like she was, but I couldn’t imagine just walking away. I’d never been in love and I’d never had to make a decision on what was best for the other person. I knew this would be hard for her, even if she’d never admit it.
“Yeah, if I have to.” I could hear the sigh of resignation in her voice. “I just have to make it back to my bike.”
She had already started planning for what was next. I shouldn’t have been surprised, she was like that.
It kicked me in the gut right then—the fact that I knew things that she didn’t. I opened my mouth and let the lines blur so much that I knew they’d never be the same again.
“Um…his son is alive,” I whispered over a dry throat.
There was no way that I wasn’t going to tell her. I knew it the moment I found out.
There was a lingering silence and I wondered if I’d lost her. Or worse, pissed her off.
“Did you hear me?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she snapped. “You sure? You better be fucking sure about that!”
