Chapter 11 Eleven

Chapter 11 Eleven

I watched her walk out of the room and silence replaced her absence immediately. I stared at the door like a type of miracle would happen, but I knew nothing of such would happen because she wasn’t the girl I remembered anymore.

“She’s lying.”

The words left my mouth before I could stop them but they didn’t sound as strong as they did in my head and I hate it.

“Or she isn’t,” Ezekiel replied immediately his tone flat and unforgiving like he had no patience for uncertainty.

I turned to him sharply. “You saw her,” I said, my voice tightening, “you saw the way she reacted.”

“I saw someone who doesn’t know you,” he said without hesitation.

“That’s not true.”

“Then prove it.”

The challenge hung in the air, sharp, and I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing came out. How do you prove something like that? How do you force someone to remember you when they’ve already decided you don’t exist?

Asa suddenly stepped forward his movements calm and deliberate like everything he did was calculated and his gaze settled on me in a way that made me feel like I was being studied again like I was a puzzle he hadn’t quite solved yet.

“She didn’t deny everything,” he said quietly.

I frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”

“She didn’t react the way someone completely unfamiliar would,” he continued, his voice thoughtful now, “there were moments of hesitation subtle shifts in her expression, she recognised something whether she admits it or not.”

Hope flickered again and I latched onto it immediately because I needed it.

“Exactly,” I said quickly, “that’s what I’ve been saying.”

Ezekiel scoffed. “Or she’s just good at controlling her reactions.”

Asa didn’t argue with him instead he kept his eyes on me.

“She also warned you,” he added.

I stilled. “What?”

“She told you to ask why you were sent here,” he said, tilting his head slightly, “that doesn’t sound like someone completely disconnected from you.”

My stomach tightened at that because he was right and I hated that he was the one pointing it out.

“She’s trying to confuse me,” I said after a moment though it sounded weaker now even to my own ears.

“Maybe,” Asa replied, “or maybe she’s trying to tell you something without saying it directly.”

The idea settled uneasily in my mind because it opened up possibilities I wasn’t ready to face yet.

“Either way,” Ezekiel cut in sharply, “this changes nothing.”

I turned to him again. “What do you mean?”

“It means you’re still here for a reason,” he said, his gaze hard, “and until we figure out what that reason is you don’t get to fall apart over some girl who may or may not be your sister.”

Anger flared instantly. “She is my sister.”

“Then act like it,” he snapped back, “because right now you’re acting like a liability.”

The word hit and I clenched my fists at my sides fighting the urge to lash out because part of me knew he was right not about her but about me because I was losing focus and that could get me killed here.

Asa watched the exchange quietly before speaking again.

“You want answers,” he said calmly.

“Yes,” I replied immediately.

“Then you’re going to have to earn them,” he continued.

I frowned. “Earn them how?”

A slow smile spread across his face and something about it made my instincts sharpen immediately because that smile never meant anything good.

“By working with us,” he said.

Ezekiel didn’t react this time which told me this had already been decided.

“I thought that was already the plan,” I said cautiously.

“It was,” Asa replied, “but now the stakes have changed.”

“How?”

“Now,” he said, his voice lowering slightly, “you’re not just bait.”

A chill ran down my spine. “Then what am I?”

He held my gaze for a moment longer than necessary.

“You’re involved,” he said simply.

The weight of those words settled heavily because I didn’t like what they meant.

“In what?” I asked slowly.

Asa’s expression shifted just slightly like he was considering how much to reveal and for a moment I thought he wouldn’t answer but then he stepped closer lowering his voice enough that it felt almost private even though Ezekiel was still right there.

“People are moving against us,” he said, “quietly carefully and whoever sent you here is connected to that.”

My breath caught. “You think I was sent?”

“I don’t believe in coincidences,” he replied.

“And you think I’m part of it?”

“I think you were used,” he said, “the question is by whom.”

The answer came to me immediately even before I could stop it.

“Blaine,” I said.

Ezekiel’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Your boss.”

“Former boss,” I corrected quickly, “and yeah he set me up before I just didn’t realise how bad it was.”

Asa’s gaze sharpened. “Then we start with him.”

Something in my chest tightened again but this time it wasn’t about Waverly it was about everything else everything that had led me here every decision every mistake every moment I thought I was in control when I clearly wasn’t.

“He won’t talk,” I said.

“He will,” Ezekiel replied coldly.

I glanced between them both and something about the certainty in their expressions made my stomach twist uneasily.

“What are you planning?” I asked carefully.

Asa smiled again and this time it was sharper and darker.

“A visit,” he said.

The word alone carried enough weight to make it clear this wasn’t going to be anything simple.

“When?”

“Soon,” he replied.

“How soon?”

“Tomorrow.”

The answer came too quickly and too easily, as it had already been decided before I even asked and that realisation sent another wave of unease through me.

“You’re serious,” I said.

“Always,” Asa replied.

Ezekiel stepped forward slightly then his gaze locked onto mine.

“You wanted answers,” he said, “this is how you get them.”

I hesitated for a moment because this was beginning to feel bigger than I expected. Suddenly Waverly's face flashed in my mind, her cold eyes, her empty voice and her refusal to acknowledge me; instantly, the hesitation disappeared.

“Fine,” I said firmly.

Asa’s smile widened slightly like he had expected that answer all along.

“Good,” he murmured.

The room fell quiet again but this time it felt different less suffocating more serious like there was no room for retreat

“Get some rest,” Asa added after a moment, “you’ll need it.”

“I’m not tired,” I replied robotically.

“You will be,” Ezekiel said.

I didn’t argue because I knew there was no point and honestly I wasn’t sure what I was feeling anymore beyond the constant tension running through my body.

Asa turned away first signaling the end of the conversation and Ezekiel followed shortly after leaving me alone in the room with nothing but my thoughts and they weren’t quiet not even close because everything was spinning too fast too many questions too many things that didn’t add up.

Why did Waverly deny me? Why did she warn me? Why did she look like she knew something she wasn’t saying?

But most importantly…Why was I really here?

And as I stood there alone replaying everything over and over again one thought settled heavily in my mind refusing to leave.

If Blaine really set me up…Then who the hell was he working for?

The question hung loosely in my mind for a while because the more I thought about it the worse it became as different pieces started coming together.

Blaine had always been shady, that much was obvious but this felt intentional like he wasn’t just taking advantage of me by actively placing me somewhere for a reason and I feel so stupid for easily walking right into it

I pushed myself off the wall slowly and began pacing the room because I couldn’t afford to lose control, not when I was close to figuring this out

“Think,” I muttered under my breath dragging a hand through my soft locks as I tried to retrace everything from the beginning, every detail I might have ignored because there had to be something I missed.

The message, the timing, the job.

My steps slowed slightly as that thought settled in Clearly because none of it had been randomly not really and the more u thought about it, the more obvious it became that everything had just been too perfectly lined up for it to be a chance.

My breath hitched for a second as I stopped moving altogether because that was it, that was the first thing that went wrong. I had been so focused on the money and getting out alive but now it looks different…

The exit hadn’t been an exit. It had been a direction. A setup.

“To Eden,” I whispered slowly because that wasn’t just a mistake that wasn’t just bad planning that was intentional someone had wanted me there specifically.

My stomach twisted uncomfortably as another thought followed immediately after.

Not just there but here, with them.

With the Genovese.

A cold chill ran down my spine as I pieced it together further because if that was true if I had been sent directly into their hands then this wasn’t just about stealing something or getting caught this was about being delivered and that realisation shifted everything completely.

“Shit…” I breathed out quietly.

Because if I were delivered…Then I was a message, or bait, or worse…

A key.

My mind jumped back to Waverly instantly to the way she had looked at me the way she had denied everything but still warned me like she knew something I didn’t like she understood the situation better because it meant she wasn’t just involved she was already ahead of me in whatever this was.

“She knows,” I said quietly to myself.