Page 83 of Here for a Good Time
“Me neither.” It’s anger that’s only proportionate to the amount of love that I feel for Zwe. The kind of anger that, if I let it take root, would make me want to hurtthem. Make me want to… get revenge. “They did it for love,” I say quietly.
“What?” Zwe asks, confused, but I’m looking directly at Leila.
She nods slowly. “They hurt my family,” she says, just as softly, like we’re taking first steps onto ice that we have no clue is or isn’t strong enough to hold the weight of our collective anger and regret.
BecauseI’msorry, too. She might’ve taken it one step too far, but she made some good points earlier about how we weren’t—or specifically,Iwasn’t—much different from any of the other rich, entitled guests who came here. I saw those expansion plans earlier and my first thought was,Hey, maybe there’ll be even more for us to do next year and we can make this an annual trip.When she’d lied that her family had chosen to relocate up to the mountains, I hadsimply accepted it, even though Zwe and I both have parents who couldn’t feasibly live in an apartment building without an elevator or in a house with steep stairs. The shame is enough to make me want to throw up.
“Wecouldlet everyone else go and turn you in,” I tell her. To her credit, she never breaks eye contact, returning my gaze with the solemnity of someone who keeps their word. I know for a fact that she’s not going to try to escape, and it would be justice served.
I turn to her cousins, all of whom are teary-eyed, and whom I can tell are holding themselves back from grabbing Leila and making a run for it. “But what would be the point?” I say. “You told us that you were the sole breadwinner for your parents—were you lying about that?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
“And knowing your cousins, I’m guessing the second we take you away, they’re going to start hatching a plan to break you out of jail.” I can’t hold back a smirk as I shoot a questioning look at them.
They’re all giving me the same conspiratorial smile. “If it helps,” Garima says, “we will neither confirm nor deny it in your presence so that you can make the case for plausible deniability later down the line.”
That makes me laugh. “The thing is—” I turn back to Leila. “I have spent the last forty-eight hours doing everything in my power to keep the person thatIlove most in the world safe.” At this, Zwe gives my arm a squeeze. “I don’t know what I’d do if someone kicked my parents out of their home, but I don’t think it would be anything ‘nice’ or even ‘sensible.’ You guys saved me, and you saved Zwe, and you made sure that nobody was hurt. And at the end of the day, all that was harmed was—” I shrug as I survey the wet, charred mess around us. “A bunch of buildings. Well, that,and a bunch of rich people’s wallets.” Everyone chuckles at that, including Zwe.
“I would understand if you wanted me to pay for what I did to you guys,” Leila says.
I nod. “I know. But I think risking being burned alive to come back and save us wiped the slate clean. We’re good.” Remembering, I swivel around to Zwe. “Unless you object?”
“I just wanted you safe,” he says.
“And I just wantedyousafe.”
“Sooo… what now?” Andrea asks.
I grunt as I try to sit up. Zwe helps me to my feet before getting up himself. There’s a moment where he has to steady himself by grabbing the chair, but ultimately we’re both standing, even if we’re slightly wobbly and holding on to each other for balance.
“Now we do what Leila said,” I say. “The four of you still escape the way you were planning to. Or if the storm has gotten too bad to go out to sea, then you go join your family and hide out there for a bit. Do you think you’ll be able to do that? In the rain?”
They assess the weather situation. “It’ll be difficult, but manageable,” Nita says as she peers over toward the start of the hiking trails. “And there’s four of us, so together, we’ll be okay.”
“Perfect,” I nod. “You should get going soon, though, in case anyone who was on the beach sees that the fire is out and comes up here to check what’s happening. The three of us will stay here until the rain lets up. Afterward, we’ll—” I pause, unsure where we actually go from here. “Join the others?” I look at Leila. “Wherearethey? What did you guys do with Antonio after you recaptured him?”
“We brought him back to join the rest of the staff,” Leila says. She nods down in the direction of the sand. “They’re all on the beach. We left them there with their hands tied. I’m sure they’vefreed each other by now, but there’s no way they’d have come running up here with the fire. They’re all waiting for help to come, which should arrive by sunrise, if not earlier. All the hotel alarms have been tripped by this point.”
“Okay, then, let’s go down and join them.”
“What will we say?” Leila asks. She fidgets, and I realize she’s still a tiny bit concerned that we might expose her.
“That they had left us unconscious and locked in a room before setting the fire. Thankfully we woke up and managed to escape right as the sprinklers went off. Oh—” I snap my fingers. “We can tell Antonio we escaped thanks to his handcuff trick. He’ll get a kick out of that.”
Zwe returns my grin. “He won’t stop talking about that for at least a year, probably more.”
“So we have a plan?” I ask, and everyone nods.
The women take turns hugging Leila. “I’ll see you all soon,” she reassures each of them.
As they’re leaving, Nita stops and turns to me.
“Thank you,” she says to me and Zwe with a grateful smile. “For protecting Leila. For protecting all of us. You might be rich, but you’re not an asshole.”
“We owe you one. Anytime you need to burn down a resort, the Chen girls will be on call,” Faith says, throwing in a small salute.
“Now there’s a card I never thought I’d have in my back pocket,” I laugh. “But I’ll take it. Now go. Be safe.”
