The Other Side of Greed by Lily Zante
Chapter Forty-Nine
KYRA
The food night is yet another reminder of Brad. No, Brandon. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that name.
It hasn’t been easy. To forget him, or to forget what he did. I question everything I said and everything he told me and everything I believed. I question my weekend with him and I’m left wondering if I will ever trust a man completely again.
Trust is a huge issue for me, and Brad has smashed it into a million pieces.
We’ve missed the extra help, especially on food nights, but it’s help we don’t want, I tell myself. True to their word, neither Fredrich or Simona have mentioned him. But Stefan did. He asked where ‘that guy’ was. I told him that he had left.
The evening passes smoothly enough. I see that we are running low on some of the food items. Fredrich is slacking today. Usually, he’d be the first one to make sure everything was replenished. I look around but can’t find him.
Walking back to the van to fetch the replacement containers, I see him. Talking to Brad.
Fury rises like a poisonous gas.
Why is he here? I told him to stay away. I asked him to do that one thing for me.
“Hey, look who showed up.” Fredrich’s tone tells me he’s oblivious to everything. He’s lacking a woman’s instinct to pick up on things.
“We’re out of pasta.” I open the doors and start to look around for more containers of pasta. Behind me, I hear the two men whispering. Just as I’m about to turn around and glare at them, Fredrich taps me on the shoulder and announces that he will take over. “Brandon wants to talk to you.”
The speed with which he’s able to use a different name shocks me. “I don’t want to talk to him.”
“Just give the guy a chance,” he pleads and picks up a food container, then leaves. I stare at Brandon defiantly, hating that he came here in a public space, where he knew I wouldn’t be able to voice my hatred of him.
“I told you to stay away from me.”
“You told me to stay away from Redhill.”
Smart-ass. I want to slap that look of smug satisfaction off his face. My teeth clench together so tightly, I’m in danger of locking my jaw. I hate that he is here, in my face, staring at me as if he cares about me. That puppy dog look on his face doesn’t fool me. What I see before me is the same cocky, arrogant guy who strolled in here on that first day, asking for a job.
“I’ve got nothing to say to you. Nothing. Oh, except this: You will never own so much as an inch of Greenways. We’ll fight you. You can buy the best attorneys and have as many corrupt officials in your pocket as you see fit, but we’ll stand up to you at every turn.”
“I don’t want it, Kyra. I don’t want anything, but you.”
A scream from the tables catches both our attention, and I run. But the smell of smoke in the air sends shivers up my spine. I look around frantically. Flames spiral out from the bottom of the factory floor.
“The factory’s on fire!” I scream, running towards it.
“Noooooooooooooo!” Fredrich’s voice behind me starts a chorus of people screaming and shouting. Cries of “Call the fire department!” chase me all the way to the factory.
Heat rolls up and through the air, making it harder to breathe.
A fire in the factory?
Our products. The supplies.
Our people. The blood in my veins freezes. Surely there’s no one in there now? And then I remember Dayna. She usually works late. “Is anyone in there?” I scream, rushing towards the main door, my mind a riot of confusion.
“My kids!” Yvette’s piercing scream cuts through the air and sears into my chest.
“What?” I yell. “Your kids are in there?”
She’s a blubbering, stuttering mess. Shivering and shaking, she can’t even get her words out. People have gathered around, a group of them, poised to go in, but the flames are licking out of the ground floor. “My kids!” Yvette cries, screaming again.
Simona’s face wears a haunted look. “Someone said they went to the storeroom to fetch water bottles.”
“Both of them?” Brad yells. Incredulity stretches across his features.
“Stefan and Holly, they went in together,” someone else confirms.
In the heat and confusion of the moment, people are bringing blankets and pouring water onto the flames, as if that might help. We can’t get to the fire extinguishers inside because we can’t get into the building. Flames fan and lick around the entrance.
Yvette screams, and people panic and yell. Commotion fills the air with chaos. I throw a blanket around myself and rush towards the door, determined to get to the children. But someone pulls me back hard and pushes me into the crowd. Before I can say anything, Brad disappears in front of me, through the flames.