Chapter 671: Unsure

Leal walked into the suite to find Ami panting on the ground as his brother stared down at her. Her hair was stuck to her forehead, and his heart ached for the girl who he believed had somehow been outed as a liar. She was kind and gentle, and while he knew it would happen eventually, he hoped it would not. He thought that like him, Nael would be able to overlook it; everyone on their ship had some sort of secret they were afraid to reveal or ashamed of, and she was no different.

However, just as Leal was going to ask Nael what Ami had done, his brother asked him to bring a bottle of water for the woman. He kneeled to her level, pushing her hair away from her face with a smile that told Leal he had misread the situation, but he was still confused.

"You did well," Nael said, taking the water from his brother and helping Ami drink. "Seven minutes is good for the first try, but I think you are done for the night."

"What's going on?" Leal asked, suddenly feeling like an intruder in an intimate moment.

"Ami was imprisoned for a while; she has trouble locking doors." Leal looked at the woman with a raised brow. He did not think the story was another one of her lies because he could see the exhaustion in her expression, and he knew firsthand that the woman never locked her door.

"So? Why is she on the ground?"

"I've been locking her up. We made it for seven minutes before she couldn't take it anymore." Nael pulled Ami to her feet, giving her encouragement as she nodded weakly. "Help me get her to her room," he said to his brother, who quickly took Ami's other arm.

As soon as the men stepped foot inside, they were completely taken aback. Ami had turned their father's old sleeping area into a real bedroom with just a little paint and a decent bed set. She had rearranged the furniture in a way that put her bed against the wall the door was built into, and both men now understood how the woman kept herself safe without the ability to lock a door.

"You've 'girlied' up the place," Leal joked, and Mina chuckled, flopping onto her bed as she struggled to reel herself back in from panic.

"I… It's my favorite color," she finally said, and Nael handed her the bottle of water he was holding.

"Okay, so without pointing my gun at you, I'm going to address the elephant in the room." Nael looked at his brother, who raised a brow at him. "Your story is bullsh*t. You may know Mills, but everything else is a lie." Mina nodded, uncaring how the man reacted. "Are you going to tell me the truth?"

"Not yet," she replied. "I need time." Nael stared at Ami, he had never in his life wanted to trust someone as much as he wanted to trust her, but the fact that she was hiding things from him was worrying.

"The only reason why I haven't already killed you is because I have a feeling you're running away from some heavy sh*t, but I can't have someone I don't trust living on my ship." Mina chuckled, thinking the man was joking, but he seemed to catch onto his own words and found himself laughing as well. "F*ck you Ami, you know what I meant." The truth was that he did not trust many of his crew.

"I understand," Mina replied. "It just hurts so bad." Nael looked at Leal who gave him a subtle nod.

"Ami, the person you are running from. Do they know you're alive?"

"I don't know," she whimpered.

Mina kept telling herself that President Lee could find her if he wanted to. He knew her well enough to know that she would not kill herself, but every day that passed was like another slap of reality. He likely was not looking for her even if he suspected her of being alive. She was told that he had chosen Miss Lisa, and while her brain understood what that meant, her heart was struggling to let go.

"You look like sh*t. Get some rest tonight and Leal will guard the bathroom door for you to shower in the morning." Mina was grateful for the offer, but she was not entirely comfortable with it. Still, she curled up in the bed, and allowed herself to drift into a deep sleep.

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Mina woke up unable to breathe. Her chest hurt, and she found herself fumbling around the room looking for the light. Someone must have come in while she was asleep and turned it off, and panic was beginning to consume her as she thought about the room President Lee had locked her in. Her mind began to circle back to that time, to all the things he said and did to her, and she found herself hating him again, but she did not want to.

Unable to turn the lights on, Mina made her way to the door, pulling it open, only to find that the entire suite was plunged into darkness. She knocked something over on her way toward the exit, but a bright light caught her attention, and she found herself making her way toward it instead.

"Sh*t Ami. You scared the f*ck out of me; I almost shot you," Leal said, wrapping the woman in his arms. "Are you sick?" he asked, noticing that she was covered in sweat.

"I don't like the dark," she whispered, clinging to the man who led her to the couch, putting his torch light down in such a way that it illuminated a large part of the room.

"What's happening to you?" he asked curiously. He knew the kind of terror the woman was facing because for many months, he too had woken in a panic, plagued with images of his mother gasping for air as she clutched at her abdomen, blood spewing from her mouth, as she forced out her last words. "Hey, calm down. It'll pass." Mina nodded, not entirely sure if the man was right. She had pushed her fears to the back of her mind because President Lee had put night lights in every room. Even if the power went out, they would still light up, and she had not realized until now how critical those little devices were. "Nael cut the power. He does it whenever we dock for more than a few days; there aren't many people on board." That was wise; the man had said fuel was not cheap, and while he was a very wealthy person, after fueling, he was left with almost nothing in his account.

"How do you survive like this?" Mina asked, still clinging to Leal, who had yet to push her away.

"It's hard, but we do what we have to do. If we're lucky, we stumble across a firearms shipment, and we usually follow the ships to port."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"It is, but it would be worse if we tried to hijack the ship. They're usually heavily armed." Mina nodded, but her mind began to meld things president Lee had told her with things Leal was saying.

"What if you already knew when a large firearms shipment was scheduled to arrive in Pan, would that information help?" Finally, Leal pushed her away, but not violently. He lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes, wanting to make sure she was not spewing nonsense, and hoping he would not see the lie in her expression. "It's Mills shipment." Leal's eyes went wide, and he put a finger to Ami's lips.

"Don't Mention that to my brother. He may seem fine to you, but he hasn't been the same since you told him Mills was getting married."

"What happened between them?" Mina asked curiously, but Leal just shook his head, and she ended the conversation.

"Look, I know you don't have much of a reason to trust me, but Nael isn't coming back tonight. It's dark, there aren't many people on board, I'm awake and I have a torch. If you want to shower, I can guard the door for you, and you can take my light." Mina considered the man's words for a long time. She had not seen him with a single woman since she boarded, but that did not mean he was uninterested.

"You won't hurt me?" she asked, and the man scoffed.

"Look, my brother and I aren't nice people, but we know where to draw the line. We are criminals, not monsters." Mina found herself smirking, but once again her mind was drawn to President Lee. While he had insisted that their first encounter was consensual, she was no longer sure. He had done it to her, and then he had done it to Miss Lisa; it was in his nature as a 'monster.'

"Please," Mina replied, and Leal handed her the flashlight. She quickly gathered her things and piled them in the section of the shower room that was meant for toweling off.

Mina stood under the hot stream of water, letting it soak into her hair and cascade down her body. With it, she felt the grime and dead skin wash away, and as she began to lather her legs, salty tears started to fall from her eyes. She was an idiot, and she had allowed herself to believe she was special. Even after being told she was not, she held onto the belief, only to stumble on evidence of her insignificance.

Before they had become intimate, or even friendly, President Lee had taken her to see Doctor Bell. He told a story that was oddly romantic, and while she did not believe it then, she found herself believing it more and more as she got to know the man. He was not always gentle with her, but he never tried to hurt her, or at least, she did not think he was. Back then, she had tried to fit President Lee's recollection of events into hers, but they did not fit, and now, she wondered if all of it were a lie.

"Are you okay in there?" Mina jumped with Leal's knock. She had forgotten about him and based on the chill of the water flowing over her, she knew she had used up all the hot water, and without the ship being powered on, the boilers were unable to make more.

Mina cut the shower, dried, and dressed, making sure that the wrap on her face was still glued in the way that covered her 'scars.' She opened the door, and Leal tilted his head at her, making her panic. He pointed to her eye and Mina covered her orb with her palm, almost certain she had lost her contact in the shower.

"I use glasses," she lied, with a slight chuckle. She had purchased herself multiple sets of brown contact lenses before meeting up with Leal, and while the men had searched her bag, it was only for weapons, they did not really open any of her belongings because she was a paying customer.

"That is a lie, but as long as you tell Nael, he likely won't shoot you over it." Leal furrowed his brow and tugged at Ami's bandage, not liking that it was wet. He knew how easy a wound could get infected, and he was certain the woman was not caring for herself correctly. "You really shouldn't let your bandages get wet."

"I know," Mina replied. "It was stuck to the scabs, so I wet it so that it doesn't bleed when I take it off."

"Please, make sure I am there when you tell your story. I'm literally dying to know." Mina laughed again, and Leal gently knocked her jaw. "I always wanted a little sister," he suddenly said.