Page 50 of Worth the Risk
Claire: Oh Lord. The almost-cousin is cool with murder.
Natalie: Hi, Kate. Claire and I are normal. Jury is still out on Hannah, since she’s also new to our chat. But if you’re friends with Ari, you must be nuts.
Kate: Yeah, kinda. So, who are we murdering?
Me: Lord almighty. WE AREN’T MURDERING ANYONE.
Arianna: I’m weirdly bummed.
Claire: Honestly? Me too.
Me: I need a place to stay. And maybe a job.
Arianna: Um, your boyfriend lives RIGHT THERE, and I’m pretty sure you already work with him, so what’s going on?
Me: Listen. This stays in the chat. Luca can’t even know, okay?
Kate: Ooooh, the boyfriend is Luca? No way! He’s a hottie.
Kate: Since I know how a girls mind works, no, nothing has ever happened with Luca. He’s my almost-cousin too, and I’ve only met him a handful of times.
I let out a relieved breath. I know Luca has a past. I get it. I can’t be jealous over what he did before he met me. But I definitely don’t want to be forced to chat with a past conquest.
Arianna: If you need a job, are you quitting? What happened? I thought you liked the job.
Me: I did. I do. I can’t go into details right now. Some shit is going on, and I don’t think I can stay in the job anymore. And my aunt came home from Europe early, so I need to get my own place. But I can’t really do that if I don’t have a job, so …
Claire: My roommate just moved out. As long as you bring a mattress, you can stay with me. I’m way on the west side of town, though.
Me: I don’t care where it is, since I doubt I’ll be driving into downtown much now.
Arianna: Seriously, are you dumping my brother?
Me: It’s complicated.
Arianna: That’s bullshit, Hannah. He’s crazy about you. What the hell is happening?!?!
Me: Nothing I’m doing is by choice, Arianna. I’m not the one pulling the puppet strings. I’m trying to protect him. Please, just let it go. Give me some time to figure things out.
A separate text comes in from Claire.
Claire: When do you need to move out?
Me: As soon as possible. My aunt showed up today. She wasn’t supposed to be home for a few more months, then texted me earlier and said she would be back in a week. Obviously not. She wants me out quickly because she has a friend coming to visit.
Claire: Well, that’s rude as fuck.
Me: I know. She doesn’t really have the best scope of social expectations. I’ve never been that close to her, and I’m honestly surprised she even let me stay in her apartment this long.
Claire: You’re more than welcome to come over today, but you’ll have to sleep on the couch until you can get a mattress. My old roommate did leave a dresser, though, and the room has its own ensuite. We can discuss finances once you figure out your job situation.
Me: Thanks girl. I really appreciate it.
Claire: You know Ari isn’t going to drop this, right? She’s wicked territorial over Luca.
Me: I know. I just need some time to figure out what the hell is going on, and how I can protect everyone.
Claire: I don’t know if you need help from the law, but my sister is a detective with Aurora PD. We can call her when you get here this afternoon.