Page 34 of When She Unravels
“Illegally.”
“I’m not sure,” she says.
“I am.” I can feel her panic as she deflates before my eyes.
“Is there something you can do? I really need this job.”
I lean forward and clasp my hands on top of the desk. She shifts under my gaze, more uncomfortable than I’ve ever seen her. “I want you to be honest with me,” I say.
“I’m not lying. I was robbed.”
“Are you in trouble?”
“What trouble? Of course not.”
More lies.
“Why are you here, Romero?”
“Why does anyone come to Ibiza?”
“I don’t care about anyone. I’m asking aboutyou.”
When she just stares at me with scared wide eyes, I decide to be direct. “Did someone bring you here by force?”
Her brows furrow. “No. Why would you ask that?”
“Sometimes girls are brought here against their will.”
She purses her lips and gives her head a shake. “No one brought me. I chose to come here.”
The words ring true this time. I relax a bit. No need for a manhunt after all.
“But why Spain? Why Ibiza? Canada can’t be that bad. Friendly people.”
“Cold as hell.”
Her deadpan response draws a chuckle out of me, and some of the tension in the room eases.
She sighs. “You want honesty?”
“Yes.”
“I ran away from my family. They weren’t good to me. I wanted to put as much distance as I could between us. An ocean, ideally. So I came here. There’s not much else to be said.”
What did her family do to her? I study her carefully. “You’re afraid of something.”
“No.” Her answer comes too quickly.
“Who are you afraid of?” I press.
“Look, it doesn’t matter. I get paranoid sometimes, that’s all.”
“If you tell me who, I’ll make sure they don’t step foot on this island.”
My offer shocks her, but she only considers it for a moment before she shakes her head.
“Thank you,” she says. “But that won’t be necessary. There’s no way for them to know I’m here.”
