Lessons in SECRET

by Crystal Perkins

  “You chose your boss over me.”

  “I chose to live. But yes, you should’ve come before that.”

  I know that now. I know that when the time comes, I’ll lay down my life before I let anyone threaten hers. Without even blinking.

  “You’re in danger?” she asks, walking over to me and placing her hands on my chest.

  “I’m always in danger, Isa. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t. But I know what you’re asking, and the answer is yes. My boss would kill me without a second thought. He’d kill you, too. And every one of those girls who work for him.”

  “You have to get out.”

  “I’m working on it.”

  “I’ll help.”

  “No. Absolutely not. You have a job to do. And that includes taking me down. I knew I was sealing my fate when I went to Reina. I didn’t know the student I’d been lusting after was really a sexy spy, but I knew I was going down with the ship. I’ve accepted that.”

  “You could testify against him. Go into Witness Protection.”

  “That was kind of the plan…before.”

  “Before?”

  “Before I fell in love for the first time in my life.”

  “No, Jake. Don’t sacrifice yourself for me.”

  “I’m not trying to do that. I want to live. I want to marry you one day, and have kids. I want to grow old with you by my side.”

  “Then live. Please live. Turn yourself in.”

  “You’d leave everything for me? Your job, and your friends? Never see your family again? Because if I went into Witness Protection, that’s the only way we could be together.”

  “I…I…”

  I place my fingers over her mouth. “It’s okay, my beautiful Isabelle. I know you can’t. Which is why I won’t go that route. Keep investigating. Bring me down. Bring it all down because it’s ugly and horrible. Just let me love you until then.”

  “I’m not giving up on you, but I can’t shield you. There has to be a way.”

  “You let me worry about that. You just worry about what you need to do. I’ll help you however I can.”

  “I want to decline that offer, but I have to do what’s right. And shutting this thing down is right. These young girls are being hurt, and I can’t put them at any more risk than they are already in. Even Grace, who thinks she wants it.”

  “I know. And I’m truly sorry that I’m a part of this. I wish I wasn’t.”

  “How did you get involved?”

  I’ll tell her what I can. “My mother’s friend is running the whole show. He caught me at…a bad time. I should never have taken him up on his offer, but I did.”

  “Your mother can’t help?”

  “She’s trying.”

  “You’ve never told me about your parents. You know all about mine, but I know nothing about yours.”

  “When this is all over, I’ll tell you everything. No matter how it goes.”

  “I’ll visit you in jail. Every day until you’re released.”

  “No. I’ll take every second I can get with you until that day, but once I’m in jail, you will not visit me. You’re going to find someone who can give you everything, and you’re going to love him with your whole heart, Isabelle Carlton. Because that’s what you deserve, everything.”

  “I already have everything with you. There will never be anyone else, Jake. You’re it. The one. I’ll wait for you.”

  “You’re the one for me, too. But I can’t ask you to do that. To wait.”

  “You didn’t ask.”

  I bend down and kiss her because there’s nothing I can say that will be big enough for what she’s offering me. I’m still not sure I’ll get out of this alive, but if I do, I now have hope. Hope for a future with the woman I love. Which means, I need to get out of this alive. There’s no other option. If only it was all up to me.

  Chapter 13

  Isa

  I’m sitting in the large conference room at the Foundation, waiting for everyone to arrive. Maybe I should be talking to Reina and Maggie alone, but I need everyone to know. And I need them to be okay with my choice to stay with Jake. For real. I also want them to understand that I won’t allow my feeling to jeopardize the mission, or stop me from taking the man I love down. He knows it’s going to happen, and I know he’s going to jail. We’ve accepted it, and now I just need everyone else I care about to do the same.

  As my friends start to arrive, my nerves attempt to get the best of me. I tamp down my worry. No matter what happens in here today, I’m going to follow my heart, and my mind for the first time in my life. I’m in love with a bad guy. I can’t change that, and I won’t change who I am. But he doesn’t want me to. He loves me the way I am, and that is what’s giving me the courage to do what I have to. The room fills up and I stand to address them all.

  “Thanks for coming, everyone. I know how busy you all are, and I appreciate you agreeing to be here.”

  “Of course we’re here, Isa. We know you wouldn’t call us here if it wasn’t important,” Audrey says. She just returned from her mission last night, and I haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet.

  “It is. As you all know, Mason Wells is Kurt’s boss in the prostitution ring.”

  “Yeah. We know. Don’t worry, Double G, we’re going to take care of him once it’s all out in the open.”

  “Thanks, Matt, but if you lay one hand—or bullet—on him, I’m going to kill you myself.”

  “Isa? What’s going on? I know I asked you to pretend until we could find out if this went farther, but why are you threatening Matt?” Reina asks.

  “Because I’m not pretending. I love him. And he…he loves me. He knows I know, and that I’m going to take him down, but he still loves me.”

  “He’s lied about everything. You can’t believe his lies. Especially if he knows. He’s lying. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but you don’t have much experience being out in the field. He’s just using you. You have to realize it, or it’s only going to hurt more.”

  “Really, Reina? And when have you spent time with him?”

  “I-I haven’t.”

  “That’s right. I know I keep to myself and don’t go out with all of you, but that doesn’t mean I’m completely clueless about the world.”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “Yes. You did. He’s not lying. He told me not to wait for him, but I’m going to.”

  “No, Isa,” Audrey says.

  “He does love her. At least Ryan is sure he does,” Maggie says.

  “Ryan? How would he know?”

  “During the infamous ‘auction,’ Ryan says that Mason was barely holding it together. As the bids rose, he got pale and Ry was afraid he would pass out. When Ryan won, Mason looked like he wanted to kill him. He had that same look when he went to his house on Sunday to confront him about what he did to make Isa so ‘broken.’ Ry told me that he honestly thought he was going to have to fight for his life. While Chloe and Erin were in the other room.”

  “He’ll leave Ryan alone. I told him nothing happened. Mason knows he’s the one who broke me. He’s putting me back together now, though.”

  “I need a little more information, Isa. How did this all come about? Did you just tell him you knew? Were you unable to keep pretending?” Jane asks me. Until the wedding next month, she’s still in charge although Reina’s taken over almost all of her duties already.

  “I was pretending. It wasn’t easy, but I was doing it. Even when he said things that left it wide open for me to tell him I knew. But then we…we were together in his classroom after school. After, he told me he hoped it erased some of what Ryan did. He said his name, and I just couldn’t let that go. I confronted him about how he knew it was Ryan.”

  “What did he say?” Reina asks.

  “He told me he has a boss, and that it’s a friend of his mother’s. He wouldn’t tell me more about her, or the boss, but he said he’s trying to get out.” The next part is hard, but I have to tell them. “He
said he’s thought about turning himself in, and Witness Protection, but he knows I couldn’t leave all of you. And he can’t leave me. So he’s prepared for us to take him down.”

  “Whoa,” Nate says.

  “Yeah. I know. I’m not leaving him. I just have to tell you all that. I will see this through, and put him in jail. But I’ll stand by him through the aftermath.”

  “And we’ll stand by you, Isa. Always,” Jade tells me.

  “We haven’t made that decision yet,” Reina reminds her.

  “I have,” Ellie says.

  And then everyone speaks up. Well, everyone except for the mentors and Reina. The other agents, and the guys all pledge their support to me. And then I wait for the ax to fall.

  “You can do this? You’ll take down the man you love?” Maggie asks me.

  “Yes.”

  “Then you have my full support as well.”

  Helen, Mallory, and Cyndi also say that they’re with me. Reina and Jane share a look. When Jane nods, Reina turns to smile at me. “Whatever you need is yours, my friend. Please know that I am your friend, even if I have to all be your boss sometimes. I also get caught up in my own…problems from time to time. I promise to try and be a better friend to all of you.”

  “Thank you. For all of what you said.”

  “You’re welcome. Now, if everyone could excuse us, I need to talk to Isa, Ellie, Tegan, Ainsley, and Scott.”

  “Don’t forget our wedding meeting later,” Stella reminds her.

  “Wouldn’t miss it.”

  Once the rooms clears out, Reina has Ainsley and Tegan tell us what they’ve found. Which isn’t much. The head of this operation has buried himself deep. They couldn’t find much on Mason, either.

  “Reina told us he wants you to call him Jake. There’s absolutely nothing on a Jake Wells. Mason Wells, however, has a laundry list of teen infractions. All petty things like shoplifting, underage drinking, and joyriding. After that, he appeared to be a model citizen. Until now,” Ainsley tells us.

  “How did he pass a background check to work at the school if he had a record?” Ellie asks.

  “He was under eighteen when all that happened. Those records are sealed,” she tells her with a pointed look that makes Ellie smirk.

  “Ainsley just unsealed him. Because she’s talented like that,” Tegan says. “I’m not too bad myself, though. I managed to find out the other cities where the group is operating. I’m pretty sure which one they’re taking you to this weekend. It was a little surprising since it’s not what I was expecting. Especially knowing where else they operate.”

  “Where is it?” I ask.

  “Milwaukee.”

  “Which is why I wanted Scott here,” Reina says.

  “Me?”

  “Yes. You’re friends with Lisa Dess right?”

  “Lisa? Yeah. Sarah Vela and she have been big supporters of Yas with their blog. They’re helping with the literacy project, too. But how can she help?”

  “She’s a CPS supervisor in Milwaukee.”

  “Oh yeah. I forgot about that. You want me to call her?”

  “Yes. We can use all the help we can get this weekend. If opportunity to take down another city arises, I want to be ready.”

  “I hope I am,” I accidentally say out loud.

  “You’re worried about this weekend, Isa?” Reina asks me.

  “Yeah. Grace said she was promised the trip for months, but they gave it to me instead. Are you going, El?”

  “No. I have three dates this week, but he didn’t mention a trip.”

  “I have no dates. He said I’m supposed to save my energy for the weekend.”

  “Well, we can’t all be the one with the highest bid.”

  “Ha-ha. Aiden bid a pretty penny for you too, and you know it.”

  “Which reminds me, I have to get those millions back for them,” Ainsley tells us.

  “Millions?” Ellie asks, going pale.

  “Yes. Those guys each paid millions for you. Well, Matt fronted Aiden the money, but still.”

  “You need help?” Scott asks her.

  “I’m not going to refuse it,” she tells him with a smile.

  “Okay. Just keep me posted as usual. Especially you, Isa,” Reina says.

  We agree and then everyone but Ellie and I leave the room. I’d texted Jade already, so she joins us. We don’t say anything at first. I knew Ryan had paid a nice chunk of change for me, but Ellie had no clue that Aiden did the same.

  “Millions. He paid millions. For me.”

  “Well, you’re worth it,” Jade tells her.

  “It’s not fair. One night’s not fair.”

  “Then make it more,” I tell her. “Don’t take no for an answer.”

  “I’m not planning to. After this mission is over, I’m going full on into the new clothes and behavior. I can’t yet, though. Not when I have to dress like this for ‘school’ and all. But after this, all bets are off.”

  “And then hopefully the clothes will be, too,” Jade tells her with a smirk.

  “Yes, that.”

  “We need to work on you and Nate, too.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that. I can’t really do the understated sexy thing, but I have some other ideas.”

  “Details, please,” I tell her.

  “All in good time, my dearies. All in good time.”

  “Fine. Be that way,” I tease her.

  “I will. Besides, I want to hear all about the classroom. Did you get all the chalk off?”

  “We weren’t near the blackboard, or whiteboard for that matter.”

  “Then where were you?” Ellie asks, her eyes twinkling.

  “My desk,” I tell them as I blush and cover my face.

  “Nu-uh. No hiding from us,” Jade says as she pulls my hands away.

  “Yeah. I mean, I’m going to be trying to figure out which one is yours every time I’m in there, but spill. Was it hot?”

  “Yes. I mean, it’s always hot. But it was…different this time.”

  “How?” Ellie asked.

  “I was more confident. More bold. Being with him, and spending time with all of you has really helped me. It’s made me feel more comfortable in my own skin. Like it’s okay to be me.”

  “Of course it’s okay to be you. You’re amazing,” Jade says.

  “I never really saw it before. Because I’m so, you know…awkward. At least socially. I wanted to change, but now I know I don’t need to. I think it took falling in love with someone who loves me for me. And having friends who feel the same. It made me really look at myself, and realize how much I like myself. I’ll never be totally comfortable around a bunch of people, but I think I’m going to be okay with it. Even if I feel like they’re judging me, or not totally getting me.”

  “Well, good, because we all love you. And if anyone judges you, we’ll kick their ass.”

  “Thanks, J. Now what are we going to do about Aiden?”

  “Why do you need to do anything about me?” he asks, walking into the room.

  “You paid millions for that night with me,” Ellie tells him.

  “Worth every penny. I mean it.”

  “What if they can’t get the money back?”

  “I made up a payment plan for Matt. He says he won’t take my money, but he will. I’ll make sure of it. I pay my own way.”

  “You didn’t have to do it.”

  “Yes, I did. Don’t you get it, El?”

  “No, I don’t. Do you…want to be with me? Like really with me?”

  “Yes. Which is why I have to leave.”

  “What? No. You can’t leave me.”

  “I love you, El. I shouldn’t tell you that, but it’s not right for you to think that night was just fucking.”

  “Then we can be together. I love you, too.”

  “No. We can’t. There’s things…things I can’t tell you. And I can’t be with you if you don’t know.”

  “Then tell me. You can tell me anythin
g, please.”

  He looks to Jade, and then me. “I can’t. I’m leaving after the wedding.”

  “Please don’t go, Aiden. Please.”

  “You’re going to be happy. Someone else is going to make you happy, and that’s all I want. If you need me, if you every truly need me, I’ll be there for you. Always. I swear it. You call me and I’ll come to wherever you are. But I can’t stay here, and see you every day, hoping that I can have you.”

  “You can have me. Why won’t you see that?”

  “Because I know better. I bought your dates all week, so you’ll be safe. Goodbye, El.”

  “Goodbye? You said you’re staying until the wedding.”

  “I am. But it’s best if we stay away from each other.”

  “Best for who? You damn coward. Stay here. Be with me. Let me show you I love you enough to not care about your secrets.”

  He pulls her to him, and hugs her tight. There are tears shining in his eyes when he lets her go. But he still walks out the door. And we catch her as she falls towards the floor.

  Why do all these stupid men think they’re not good enough for us? Or that we can’t handle their truths? We’re stronger than we look, and what breaks us is them being too scared to give us a chance. Maybe one day they’ll get it. Until then, we’ll just have to pick up the pieces for each other.

  * * *

  Jake

  This week has been close to perfect. I’ve pretty much moved into Isa’s place. She knows it all now. Well, at least the all I can tell her. There’s still a couple of things I have to keep from her. I feel bad about it, but there are just some lines I can’t cross.

  Knowing that she loves me and wants me, even though she knows the bad within me, is beyond every hope and dream I’ve ever had. There’s nothing like her love. I’ve been doing my best to show her that I love her just as much as she loves me. I’ve also been giving her as much information as I can about how everything works. I know it’s going to make things way harder for me, and that I could lose my freedom, but it means I’ll be keeping her, and that’s way more important.

  The only thing that has me worried is the lack of communication from my boss. He told me Isa needed to be on the plane tomorrow. She says Kurt told her she’s leaving tomorrow, but I have no info. I have a very bad feeling about this. We made all that money last weekend, so why would he keep me out of the loop? I’ve worked hard to prove my loyalty. What I told Isa was the truth—he really is a friend of my mom’s. Or at least he was before she found out what he offered me. Now she keeps him close because he’s an enemy, not a friend. And I do what I have to in order to stay alive.