Unfold Me (15 page)

“Fine.” Isaac crosses his arms and stalks out of the room. I stare after him, wondering what this is all about, but I assume he’s just grumpy because now that he’s stopped taking the pills, he has these weird mood swings. I wish I could do something about it, but I can’t exactly take him out with me.

“Are you going to be okay here alone?” I ask when I get to the living room. “I can stay if you want.”

He shakes his head. “No, you should go. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’ll just... play some games here.” He lifts the console controller off the couch and offers me a forced smile.

“Okay. Great. I won’t stay long. I promise.”

He doesn’t say anything or even look at me, so I pick up my jacket and shrug it on.

***

The club is so full that I can barely make my way to the bar. It’ll be impossible to find Theo in here. I lean on the bar, trying to spot him under the flashy red and blue lights, but it’s simply too dark.

After who knows how much time of standing there, I order a drink and turn away from the crowd.

“Hey, beautiful.” Someone’s arms wrap around my waist, the person’s breath smelling heavily of alcohol. I spin around, ready to hit whoever it is over the head with my purse, when I recognize the man staring at me.

“Theo?” I say, and he lets go of me, his lips spreading into a big, drunken smile.

“Yeah, it’s me!” He spreads his arms and nearly hits a woman passing by in the eye. “Wanna dance?”

“Sure.” I follow him to the dance floor and we get lost in the sea of sweaty, dancing bodies. Theo plasters himself all over me like an octopus, his hands roaming all over my back and ass, and it takes all of my self-control not to push him away. His dancing is totally out of sync with the music, but I guess he’s too drunk to notice.

“Is Archer here too?” I yell into his ear.

“What? Why would he be?”

“I don’t know. I thought you were close friends.”

“Nah, I barely know the guy. We just have some things in common.” He winks at me. “You know. He can throw one hell of a party.”

“Yeah.” I want to ask him something else, but he places his finger over my lips.

“Enough talking.” He bends his head and gives me a big, slippery kiss. I don’t fight him, but I gently push him away. He blinks at me in surprise, but then I start swaying my hips to the music and hunger fills his eyes. Whenever he tries to reach out for me, I slip away a little. I could do this the whole night, but I don’t think Theo can.

***

When I get back home, I tiptoe toward the living room.

“Do you want me to get your notebook?” Isaac yells right before I enter, and I roll my eyes. Of course he’s still awake. He’s been waiting for me.

“I didn’t expect you’d still be up,” I say, ignoring his question.

“So how was he? Did he make you...?”

“I didn’t have sex with him,” I say through my teeth. “And you should just shut up because this will get cold.”

Isaac’s head snaps toward me and the pizza box that I’m holding up. “What’s that?”

“Um, pizza, you silly.” I place the box onto the table. “I’m hungry. Do you want some?”

“Yeah, I can see that, but... it’s four in the morning,” he says.

“Um, yeah, what’s your point exactly?” I raise an eyebrow at him. “You’ve never had pizza this late... early... whatever?” I’m too tired to think, and my stomach rumbles, so I flip open the box and grab a slice. Isaac just watches me, his brow drawn in confusion, but then he takes a slice too. I have yet to meet a person who can say no to pizza.

“What happened at the club?” he asks after a moment, but there’s no anger in his tone.

“I danced with Theo. He kissed me... Well, more like tried to drown me in all the alcohol he drank, but that was all. I couldn’t find out much from him while he was like that, but he mentioned that he and Archer are not really that close.” A small smile appears on my face. “And he took my number. Said he’d call me. I doubt Archer will be pleased with that.”

“What if he takes his anger out on you instead of on Theo?” Isaac’s eyes are filled with concern.

“He won’t. Although if he does, that’ll violate our deal, and if I can prove he did it...” Still, I don’t think any of that will happen.

“I don’t even understand how your deal works.” A frown line creases his brow. “I know you said there are people who will turn against him if he violates it, but... why would they care about you? Wouldn’t they just believe his lies because they’re working with him and not with you? I mean, are they working with him or not?”

“They won’t trust him because they don’t really trust anyone. And they’re not really working with him; they’re above him. I heard some people call them the Guardian Devils. They oversee every illegal deal like mine and Archer’s, and most of the criminal activity in this city. If one of the criminals breaks the rules or poses a threat to the order they established, they can make sure that person ends up in prison or worse. Because if criminals start to fight for supremacy or shoot at each other in the streets under the slightest pretext, it would be harder to cover up everything and their business would be disrupted. The cops would have to do something about it, and no one would be getting the money they’re getting under the current system.”

“So they know about Archer and you...” Isaac’s eyes widen.

“No, they don’t know what happened between us. They just know what Archer and I can or can’t do to each other... and if someone reports a breach of the deal or if something happens to one of us, they’ll investigate it.”

“The city is run by criminals. Why am I not surprised?” Isaac groans. “And they’re perfectly okay with Archer threatening your whole family?”

“Yeah, they don’t care about that because we’re not criminals like them. One family more or less is nothing to them. What they want is to make sure no one is retaliating for non-existent offenses, because if that happens, a third person or a family might get involved and everything will erupt in chaos. This way they can follow all the rules and say justice was done, and no one can complain about it or ask for vengeance, or they’ll face the consequences themselves.” I shrug. “At least, that’s what my father told me. He took care of most of the things involving the deal and he hired special investigators to find me, so... I guess he’s done a favor or two for one of the Guardians, because I’m sure they wouldn’t have done it otherwise. They don’t care about people like me or my father. They only care about those who are criminals like them or those who are useful to them in some way. They agreed to treat me as a valuable person just so my father and I could make a deal with Archer. If they had seen me just as a regular person who isn’t even supposed to know they exist, they wouldn’t have even bothered.”

“Wait, let’s say Archer snaps and kills Theo because of you. What happens then?” Isaac leans forward.

“I don’t know if Theo is anyone important. If he’s just a random rich guy, then I’m sure Archer could get away with it. If Theo actually matters or if there’s a deal in place, then I guess Archer will have to be very careful of what he does.”

“Wouldn’t it be just awesome if he killed Theo and the Guardians offed him for it?” A slow smile builds on Isaac’s lips. “I mean, doesn’t Archer have a deal with him since he’s basically blackmailing people who go to his parties not reveal any secrets about anyone?”

“That’s not the same. Archer can have internal deals. I’m sure not everyone even knows there’s someone controlling what Archer does. And no one cares if Archer is threatening some clueless, rich people to keep them quiet about things. Everyone’s private business is still everyone’s private business, as long as...”

“As long as it doesn’t represent danger for the big guys and the Guardians,” Isaac finishes for me. “So let me get this straight. If we get one of Archer’s so-called friends to turn against him and use their resources to expose him while protecting themselves, Archer will get kicked out of the big guys’ club because he was careless enough to let it happen and endangered other criminal activity because the cops will have to investigate, and regular people will poke in their noses too... so that’s a lot of complications.”

I just nod, and we eat in silence for a few moments.

“Is he the reason you quit college?” Isaac suddenly asks, and I look up at him, my pizza halfway to my mouth.

“What?”

“Is Archer the reason you’re no longer going to college?”

“Yeah, he is. I just couldn’t focus on anything other than hunting him down... and making voodoo dolls of him.” The corners of my lips quirk up.

“Voodoo dolls?”

“Yeah. I was desperate. I would’ve tried anything to hurt him even a little, but it had to be something no one could tell was connected to me. Unfortunately, voodoo wasn’t helpful at all.” I grimace.

“Do you plan to go back to college?”

“I don’t know.”

“I always wondered what it’s like,” he says. “The woman who raised Caleb, Jade, and me... She was also our teacher and we got to learn things like regular kids. I kind of liked her classes. I dreamed of going to college one day, even though Marena laughed when I told her about it, but then...” His smile fades. “Raphael came for us, and we found out that we’d never get to be normal people, and that all we learned... it was just because he didn’t want dumb slaves. Said it would be bad for business.”

“You can still do anything you want once this is all over. You have plenty of time.”

“Yeah, I guess.” He scratches his head.

I offer him a smile, and close the now empty pizza box.

My phone vibrates, and I immediately answer when I see Lilith’s latest number on the screen.

“We got it,” Lilith says, and it takes me a moment to realize she means she’s gotten the footage from the camera that Isaac has planted in Raphael’s room. Caleb must have found a way to safely retrieve it. I put the phone on speaker so Isaac can hear it too, and we huddle close around it on the couch.

“All I need to figure out is how to blur out Isaac’s face,” she says.

“And if Raphael says the video was fabricated and gets his goons to back up his claim in court somehow?” I ask, although I know the chances that the case ever gets to court are low because someone is very likely to eliminate Raphael before that so he doesn’t incriminate anyone else, but Lilith doesn’t know anything about that, and I don’t want her to worry about that on top of all the other things.

“He’ll still have to come out and prove it. And we’ll have Caleb’s and Isaac’s testimonies. Hopefully someone else’s too.”

Isaac’s eyes go wide and he vehemently shakes his head. We can’t get involved with anything that could ruin our plans for Archer.

“Um, about that...” I meet Isaac’s eyes. “Isaac doesn’t want to testify or get involved with any of that.”

“What? Why? But he has to...” Incredulity is evident in Lilith’s voice. “Are you sure that’s what he wants?”

“Of course I’m sure,” I snap. “So don’t send the cops to my door because I don’t want any trouble.”

“Where will Isaac go?”

“He’s staying with me.”

“Are you sure about that? I mean...”

“Yeah, I’ll let him stay for a while until he figures things out.”

“Okay, then.” She doesn’t sound like she quite believes me. “Did something happen?”

“Well, he’s going through a terrible withdrawal, and I can’t just kick him out. If he changes his mind about testifying, I’ll let you know.”

“Do you need help? I can find someone who can take care of him.”

“No! I can handle it. Trust me.”

“Right. I’ll call you later.”

“Sure. Bye.” I let out a breath of relief, glad that Lilith won’t question it more, but I’m sure she has plenty on her mind already.

“That could’ve ruined everything,” Isaac says. “Are you sure she won’t say anything about us? If she thinks she’s helping us...”

“No, she won’t.”

Isaac sits back, taking a deep breath. “Okay, so they got the footage and everyone’s fine... for now.” He runs a hand over his face. “If something goes wrong...”

“It won’t. Everything will be fine.” I place my hand on his back.

“You can’t know that. What if Raphael decides to kill everyone once the video is up on the net?”

“I’m sure Lilith will make sure not too many people see the video until Raphael is caught. Putting it online is just a backup so he can’t cover it up or have someone do it for him.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he says, clutching his arms.

I hope Lilith’s plan will work.

***

The doorbell rings, making me jump, and I hurry to open the door.

“You two need to tell me everything you know about Raphael’s hideouts,” Lilith says as she strides inside, her wavy light brown hair flying around her shoulders, her blue eyes stormy. I just stare at her, unable to move from the door, my mouth hanging open. Isaac jumps up from the couch and approaches her.

“What happened?” he asks.

“I put that video of Raphael up on the Internet and made a deal with the cops. They arrested everyone and found Raphael’s accomplices, but he and Caleb are missing. We need to find them,” she blurts out. “If you know where they could be, you have to tell me.”