Arielle texted me out of the blue, asking to meet. I was surprised, but left almost immediately.

I needed a distraction. I was anxious, and more than a little panicked, with my brother now in Gamble’s hands. I’d tried to clear my mind by cleaning the apartment, but gave up in frustration. What was the point? I wouldn’t be staying there much longer, considering its location was compromised.

My first priority, of course, was to find a way to save my brother. But I had to be realistic. Even if I got the Heart and handed it over to Gamble, there was no guarantee he would let us go. Especially after we’d tried to double-cross him.

I didn’t want to think of it… but I had to make plans for what I would do if I never got my brother back. I would, of course, rain hell down on Gamble one way or another, but first, I had to make sure he didn’t capture me, too.

When I caught sight of Arielle, I felt so relieved, like her presence could wipe all the bad stuff away. If I hadn’t already known I was growing too attached to this girl, that alone would have been enough for me to tell.

The relief was short lived, though, because Arielle didn’t seem to be any better off than I was. She looked distraught, angry, her hands curled into fists at her side as she paced around in a tight circle. When I got close enough to see her face, I noticed her glaring at the ground, tears trailing down her cheeks.

“Arielle?” I said her name carefully. I was only a few steps from her, and it was like she hadn't noticed someone else approach her at all.

At the sound of my voice, though, her head snapped up. Then she threw herself into my arms and embraced me desperately. I hesitated only a moment before wrapping my arms around her and returning the embrace. Tremors wracked her lithe frame as she relaxed against me, sniffling.

“Arielle, can you tell me what happened?” I said, starting to panic.

After a moment of silence, she spoke.

“It’s my dad.” Her voice was quiet and muffled against my shoulder.

“What about your dad, Arielle?”

She pulled away from me. Her eyes were wet, her lower lip wobbling as she fought the urge to sob. “We had an argument. He knows I’ve been sneaking out.”

I frowned. If Dubois was going to use that as an excuse to keep her under lock and key, then I was going to be in trouble, because the whole plan would fall apart.

As if the situation wasn’t bad enough already, with my brother gone and our lives on the line. I was at the end of my rope.

I listened to Arielle recount her argument with her father, and suddenly, I was just so sick and tired of everything. Of lying to her, of Gamble’s plots. Besides… I needed help from somewhere.

Maybe, just maybe, Arielle and I could find some way to help each other. We were both miserable because of a couple of self-centered bastards, and I didn’t like seeing her cry because of father’s disgusting behavior.

Besides, even if I left her, if she kept on sneaking out, she really would meet a bad end at some point. She’d gotten lucky that all I wanted was to steal something from her dad as nonviolently as possible. I’d come across many people who would do much worse for lesser rewards.

I took a deep breath, opened my mouth, and said slowly, “I’m not who you think I am.”

Arielle stopped crying. She looked at me oddly, not comprehending my words. “Not who I think you are? What do you mean, Alan?”

“I mean…” I said, with difficulty, my resolve wavering. “Arielle, everything from the moment you and I met was planned.”

She stood frozen as she took the words in and tried to understand them. Then I felt it, her tugging away from me. It hurt, and the last thing I wanted in that moment was to let her go, but I couldn’t hold her back, not after everything. She deserved so much better than I’d shown her so far. She deserved me being straight with her, and letting her decide what to do with the information.

If she went to the police… then I’d have to get creative to get my brother back.

“What are you talking about, Alan?” she said, her voice shaky.

I knew it would devastate her, but she needed to hear the whole story. I steeled myself, and in one fell swoop, blurted out everything.

“I swear I don’t want to do this, Arielle. But if I don’t steal the Heart from your father, Leo will die. I don’t have anyone I can turn to for help, because the man holding my brother is some rich bastard the police won’t touch.” He paused, feeling torn. “But look, I care about you, too, Arielle. Back when I didn’t know you, I thought I could go through this ploy, but now I…I can’t lie to you anymore. You deserve better.”

I wondered if she was even listening to me anymore. Somewhere in the middle of my explanation, her expression had turned into a mask of horror and fury.

Her mouth opened several times, probably to tell me off, but no words came out, and I thought that was worse. And then, just like that, she turned around and fled.

My first instinct was to follow her—I wanted to comfort her, and I needed her help to rescue Leo—but I let her go because, in the end, it was her choice to make, not mine.