Page 11 of Risking it All

Emerson’s curly afro was twisted into a neat bun at the crown of her head, and wire-rimmed glasses sat on the end of her nose as she scribbled on the sketch pad in front of her.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure,” she said, looking up from her next masterpiece and pushing her glasses up on her face.

“I need an escape plan. I remember you saying Cruz helped someone with something like that before.”

“You mean like witness protection?”

“No.” I quickly shook my head. “Witness protection won’t be good enough. My father has eyes and ears everywhere. I can’t take a chance of someone knowing where I am. I need an identity and a car. All of our cars have trackers.”

Her brows slowly lifted to her hairline as I spoke. “Zenny, what’s going on?”

“I can’t go through with this shit, Em. I saw my future, and it doesn’t look bright at all.”

She cracked a smile. “You psychic now?”

“I met my fiancé last night.”

“Met? How are you just meeting your fiancé, Zenia? I thought you knew him.”

“I knew of him. It’s an arranged marriage,” I confessed, looking down at my feet.

“And you have to go through with it? I’ve always heard the Morgan family was part of The Force, but you never said.”

My head snapped up so I could meet her eyes. “You’ve heard of The Force?”

“Girl, yes! My family is mafia too. I just don’t have anything to do with them since I married Jessiah. My dad was going to force me to marry some dude to help the business. Is that what’s happening to you?”

“That’s what he thinks is going to happen to me. I have to get out of here. My husband-to-be is a violent asshole. I cannot do this shit.”

She kept her eyes on me as she stood from her desk and walked around to sit on the edge of it. “You sure you want to run, baby? You know there are consequences.”

“I’m positive. I just have to get away from here long enough to find the man I was supposed to marry in the first place.”

Emerson’s eyes stretched. “Damn, so this isn’t your first arrangement? I feel like I don’t even know you.”

“I was matched with someone when I was twelve. We were supposed to get married when I turned twenty-one. He ran off with another woman, and I’ve been a leper in the community ever since.”

“Damn, Zenia. How am I just hearing about this? I really thought we were friends.”

I shrugged. “We are. I used to be in an arranged marriage doesn’t really come up in conversation.”

“We work in a wedding dress shop. There had to be a million segues to the arranged marriage conversation by now. I’m sure we’ve made dresses for a few in the past couple of years.”

“That Jennings girl for sure.” I nodded.

I recognized her from one of the balls. Her family wasn’t in The Force, but they were connected.

“See.”

“This shit is embarrassing, Em. Even if it would have come up, I didn’t want you feeling sorry for me, for getting dumped by a man I was being forced to marry in the first place. Now my dad has auctioned me off to a psychopath to save the family name. My sister Zara was up next to get married since I got skipped, but her ass ran away. Now they’re pushing me back to the front of the line.”

“What’s gonna happen to you if you leave?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.”

“I don’t like that plan, Zenny. I need to know that you’re going to be OK.”