Bloodline [h.s.]

thirty-six.

As she rebuilt the wall between us, the sheet covering my body slid away from me as Bridget wrapped it around herself. Before she could leave, I grabbed her hand.

"Please wait. I'm sorry. I'm nervous. When I'm uncomfortable, I make a joke of it. I really am sorry. I understand the dress analogy. What can I do?"

"I don't know. I keep replaying every conversation we have ever had over and over because it is still impossible to pick out where you were lying and where you were genuine."

"Then, ask me."  She sat back down on the bed, fidget with the sheets.

"That weekend in Seattle... I thought you shared a lot about yourself. Was any of it true?"

"What in particular?"

"The girl you dated in college and got in a car accident with... was that whole thing real?" She wondered.

"Yes."

"And based on what you and Kora have taught me so far, that was strategic vulnerability." She said, trying to mask the hurt in her voice.

"It was." I reluctantly confirmed, opening wounds that had yet to heal.

"What about when you said the being on the boat reminded you of your family, and I held you?"

"No, that wasn't real. You were growing distant that weekend. You were still angry at me, and I needed us on good terms for the following week. I had just finished three weeks of retraining." I answered hesitantly.

Her eyes pinched shut for a moment as the truth punctured her. She didn't dwell on it though, quickly moving on to the next question.

"Have you ever killed someone for it?" She asked. I was taken back by the idea she thought I was even capable of killing someone just for personal gain.

"I have never killed someone for this mission."

The tension between us grew and I wasn't used to it. We have been angry and disappointed before in each other, but there was rarely ever tension. She didn't ask for me to elaborate. For which, I was grateful.

"Was killing my dad or anyone else in my family ever part of your plan before or after you met me?"

"No, there are a million reasons why killing your dad or anyone else was never part of the plan. One reason being that it contradicts everything I've worked for."

"Could you kill him? I mean if it didn't undermine everything, would you want to kill him?"

"No, death for your father would barely be a punishment. The plan is to make his life as excruciating and long as possible."

She winced at my answer, "Like life in prison?"

"Worse. I wanted to dismantle his life piece by piece, exonerate my father, and then put him in prison." I saw the look on her face and backtracked, "I'm sorry."

"I asked you to be honest, and you're being honest." She sounded almost disturbed.

"I know it is hard to understand, but when this plan started, I had nothing. When I was seventeen, I could have dropped dead, and no one would notice. I was free falling through my life with nothing to hold onto. The only person accountable for me was me until Kai and Nick found me and gave me a reason to be alive. This plan for your father, for justice for my father, became a reason for me to get up in the morning. Kai paid for my college education and supplied me with attorneys that got me my trust fund. He promised me that, under his instruction, I would get revenge and justice. That was all I had to grab onto."