Page 67 of Final Installment
No, he wouldn’t.
Would he?
I don’t know him.
Not anymore, not after the years he’d spent as a hostage, separated from us.He seemed to be even-tempered and practical, but what if it was all a facade?What if he had been plotting this entire time?
Does he actually hate me?It was my fault he was a hostage.Yes, our grandfather had failed to keep up the payments, but our mother hadn’t been able to afford them either.If she’d still been married to Brett, if they hadn’t divorced over her treatment of me, maybe Brett would have paid to keep Skender in Houston.
“Are you okay?”Luka glanced at me with concern.“You’re quiet.”
“What am I supposed to say?We almost died.Now you’ve kidnapped me.”
“I didn’t kidnap you!You came willingly!”
“Dragging me away by the arm is what you consider willing?I’d hate to think about what your ex-girlfriends say about you.”
“Contrary to how I’ve behaved, I’m not a bad person,” Luka insisted.“You might even like me if you get to know me.”
“Hard pass,” I grumbled, thinking that getting to know him was the worst thing I could do.
“Elona, we’re going to be married.At some point, you’ll have to let down your guard so we can become better acquainted.”
“We are not getting married!”I gawked at him.“We just narrowly escaped being blown up.The last thing I want to do is tie myself to your family.”
“You think I want to be tied to yours?At any rate, the bomb was probably meant for your family.Whoever planted it would have had a million chances to kill me.You and your family have been exiled for years.It’s their first chance to hit you when you’re all together.”
“For what reason?We don’t have anything.No power.No money.Nothing.You saw to that when you threw us out of Albania!”
“You have a name!And the list of people who want to kill your grandfather is a kilometer long.”
“Well, then, I guess they got what they wanted!”I didn’t feel even the briefest pang of sadness or grief for my dead grandfather.If anything, I felt relief.
Luka expertly changed lanes, but I still put a hand on the dash to steady myself.I noticed something sticky on my eyelid.I reached up and felt the smear of blood beneath my fingertips.Cursing under my breath, I flipped down the visor and checked my reflection in the mirror.Blood dripped down my forehead.
“Are you hurt?”Luka seemed sincerely concerned.
“Yes, but it’s not from the bomb.”I followed the trail of blood with my fingertip to the wound on my scalp.“I got hurt yesterday.”
“Hurt?How?”His gaze skipped from the road to me and back again.“Elona?
“My mother,” I finally admitted.“She was angry, and she attacked me.”
He didn’t react with shock or even surprise.“Has she always been violent?”
“Yes.”I didn’t see any reason to lie.
“Is that why you moved to Dallas with your stepfather after the divorce?”His question threw me, and I made a surprised sound.Did he really not know?“Zec gave me some background,” he explained.“I didn’t mean to—.”
“Listen, there’s not enough time in the world to dig into that.”
“I’d like to know.If it will help me understand you and be a better husband.”
“I don’t need you to understand me, and you’re never going to be my husband.”I was glad that my focus was on the cars in front of me.There was something about the way he spoke that made my stomach feel funny and my heart stutter.I found myself wanting to open up to him.
“When my mother and Brett divorced, I was struggling with some issues at school.”I decided not to tell him the whole truth.“Brett wanted me to come live with him in Dallas so I could start over fresh.My mother disagreed until he offered her the house, free and clear.She got the deed, and he got irrevocable guardianship over me until I turned eighteen.”
“Your mother sold you for a house?”
