As much as I would have liked to get out of all of this, one thing that I was sure of, was the fact that I would not be able to get out of this unless Austin decided that it was time for us to leave. I didn’t know what the logistics were that all of them had planned around this, but I did know that I would need to get on top of things, and I would need to do it quite fast if I had any hope of navigating all of this in a manner that didn’t suggest that I felt like I was under attack—although that was exactly what I felt like.
“Mr. and Mrs. Payne. It is lovely to be granted the opportunity to speak to the two of you like this! I hope that this interaction can be mutually beneficial for both parties.”
I had to admit that everything didn’t exactly end up being what I had expected it to be.
