she's worse

4

"Absolutely not," He said it like I was out of my mind. There was no way I wasn't out of my mind. With the way I grew up, I should be in therapy. At least I was self aware.

"Absolutely no answers for you then," I responded. I took a bite of my scrambled eggs.

"Why are you being difficult?" he asked. He let out a frustrated noise and ran this large hand through his hair.

"I am being reasonable. You are being difficult by saying no. You can't say no to me." When it came to doing business, I was a hard person to say no to.

"I have you imprisoned. Of course I can say no to you," He argued. But he couldn't. And he wouldn't if he wanted information.

"Nothing is free. You better learn that, because unless I am fully convinced I will be attending that masquerade, I will not give you any information. Half of the information I have has been completely destroyed; obliterated. I know more than just the Cozen's. I know for a fact, you have no idea who you have in front of you right now. I am valuable. You can't kill me and once if I tell you what I know, you'd go out of your way to ensure my safety." I smugly leaned back in my cot, crossing my arms as I finished my little speech.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm your worst nightmare and your best friend. You can throw me back into this cell after the masquerade, like I know you will, but you wouldn't kill me. You wouldn't let anyone get near me. You might hate me, but you'll protect me the way you protect yourself, not that I'd need it, but still."

"You will be under constant surveillance. One step out of line, or do anything even slightly suspicious and I'll drag you back here and lock you up with no food and little water for a week," His grip on the cell had gotten so hard, his knuckles were nearly an icy white.

"Just as I expected."

"Now tell me what you know about the Cozen's." He really thought I was that easy?

"You'll get a quarter of my knowledge today, and the rest after the masquerade." I wouldn't change this.

"Bullshit."

"You naive piece of shit. I know everything. I could write a ten page essay with just the quarter I'm gonna tell you. Just because it isn't everything, doesn't mean it's a small amount."

"So tell me the quarter of what you know," His hands gripped the bars of the cell tighter in frustration as he got more impatient. I was almost scared he was cutting off circulation to his fingers.

"Let's do it over tea," I proposed. "You came down early because you're leaving for work, correct?"

"We are not doing tea. I don't have time to waste while you joke around. I'll be down after dinner. You will talk to me then."

"Alright." He began to walk away. "What date is it?" I yelled out.

"October 17th."

Oh no.

"Why are you trusting me with the Cozen's?" I asked. He was a stupid man, but no political figure did anything without an ulterior motive.

"Because I hate you and I hate them, but you hate them much more than you hate me." He let out a sigh of desperation.

"Be careful during your yacht lunch with the  Geoffrey's today. It isn't after dinner, but if I'm going to tell you, you'll have to come here, and you can't do that from the hospital."

"Excuse me?"

"Check the upper engine. The dark blue and red wires are going be mixed with scratches on them. Get that fixed before you turn the boat on. If the yellow wire is snipped, get off the boat."