I ask. She meets my eyes and she looks sad.
“No. I understand the situation.”
My answering sad smile tells her what I don’t say out loud.
“Any more questions?”
Bash squeezes my thigh once.
“Yeah.” I say.
He turns to me and I can tell he is in serious mode. That’s good, because I am too.
“When are you going to give me my gun back?”
“I’m not.”
My mouth drops open.
“It’s my gun. Why the hell can’t I have it back?”
“It was used in the commission of a crime. I got rid of it.”
“You did what? I bought that gun with my money and what crime? I was defending myself!”
“Yeah well if the authorities find it, they won’t feel the same way. With your connection to me and the fact the you didn’t report it to the police, they would arrest you and you would be in prison.”
“You told me from the beginning not to call the cops. Now you are saying I should have?”
“You misunderstand, Tesoro. They would use the fact that you didn’t call against you. I would never suggest you call the authorities. If you have trouble, you call me. Always.”
I roll my eyes at him. This was a temporary deal. In a couple of weeks, things would die down. Either that or Ryan would be caught. Then I would go on with my life while Bash lives his. We might cross paths, but I would never call him again. There would be no real reason to.
“Whatever you say, Don.” I mock him.
The pinch on my thigh reminds me I am supposed to watch my mouth around others. I mouth sorry to him, but he just winks at me.
“You girls are free to go now. Please don’t make my men’s lives harder.”
As everyone gets up, I turn to Bash.
“I am going to go upstairs with them then see them off. Then I would like to talk.”
He nods as he stands and leaves the room. I follow Izzy and Mia back to the shared room. All three body guards post outside the door as I watch them pack in silence. Neither one is looking at each other.
“How long are you guys going to let this go on?” I finally voice my frustrations.
Izzy turns and sits next to her bag on the bed and looks at Mia. Mia picks up her packed bag and goes to leave.
“Mia.” Izzy whispers. “Can we talk for a minute?”
Mia stops walking, but doesn’t turn. Izzy must take this as a sign to keep talking because she does.
“Mia, I am so sorry I made you feel like a child. I wasn’t trying to control your life. I could explain my reasons for doing what I did, but they would just be excuses. Truth is, I should have expressed how I felt then let you make the decision yourself. For that, I’m sorry.”
Mia stands there a couple moments before she turns and runs straight at Izzy and tackles her to the bed. Izzy squeals and all three guards run in, weapons drawn.
The girls freeze and I bust out laughing.
