Page 44 of Driftwood Daffodil 2

“Nova.” He pressed his hand down on my shoulder. “Gio could come around the corner any minute.”

“Are there non-Gio options for hallways?” Cause that would be fantastic.

He rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

Actually, I had no clue. I was utterly confused, which Memphis seemed to understand based on the sigh he let out when I looked his way.

He dropped his hand from my shoulder and folded his arms. “We need to come up with a plan.”

I totally had this. Plans were my specialty.

“Okay, so we’re gonna need a backup driver, five shoppers, a gator, and a golf cart.”

Memphis blinked at me for a second before saying, “What are you planning?”

Uh oh.

“Nothing.” Nothing that he needed to know about anyway.

He shook his head. “Can we get back to the problem at hand?”

Sure, just as soon as he told me what the problem was.

“We need to get you out of here before Gio sees you.”

Oh, that.

Geez, make one deal with the mafia and it’s the end of the world.

My eyes rolled, “I’ll be fine.”

There was nothing to worry about, other than possible deadly repercussions if I didn’t do… something? I wasn’t sure about that part yet. Or Gio’s part. Or any part really.

Was the deal with his dad or him? And did it just require marriage with a touch of obedience? What exactly were the requirements beyond weekend sleepovers? And what were the requirements for those?

“This isn’t a game, Nova.”

“That depends on your definition of a game.” There were rules and roles to play – none of which I had figured out yet – but they were there… I think.

Oh well, c’est la vie.

When I returned to stuffing books in my bag, Memphis sighed and tipped his head into my view.

“What’s to stop him from hurting you?”

That was a horrible argument.

“What was stopping him from hurting me before?”

Seriously, what was stopping him? He choked me in the cafeteria in front of everyone, then again in the chapel. And he accosted me at a church clean-up. Christ’s sake, his dad made me do stuff to Gio in front of him. He kind of redefined the term untouchable.

“You could run?”

There was a winning idea. “Where? I literally have ten dollars to my name.”

That wouldn’t even get me to New Orleans. Mind you, I could always trudge into the swamp and live among the gators. Probably not the one I had the mud fight with though. He still gave me an evil eye when I walked down the trail behind the church.

“We could sneak you on a plane or boat.”

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