Learning to Trust: Changing Places Read Online Free Page A

from inside the mansion.
    "Will you join me for dinner?" he said with sincerity.
    "Uh, I'd like to exercise first," I said.
    "Sure, have at it." He smiled and kissed my cheek. "I'll be in my office."
    I fought to contain my nervous excitement as I climbed the stairs. When I got into my room, I pulled my phone out and tossed my purse on the floor. In the recently called list was Ramón 's number, sitting there with no name attached, just a lonely series of digits floating amongst the rest of my contacts. My finger sat on the call button like it was the trigger on a gun, my body ready to fire—
    "No!" I said to myself. I had to be smarter than this . At the very least, I needed to assume that my room was bugged, that Roland could somehow listen to me. Even if it wasn't the case, I needed to be more cautious. However, I had to make this call. There was no way I could just let this all happen tomorrow without Ramón 's input.
    I decided that I needed to create a distraction. Dressed in my workout clothes, I went into the mini-gym area and turned on the stereo loud enough that it would create background noise, yet permit me to talk on the phone. I had to do this, yes, there was no debate about it .
    The green button pressed, I held my breath and waited for Ramón to answer. I sat down in the corner furthest from the stereo.
    "Yes?" I heard.
    "I think it might be happening!" I said excitedly.
    "Where are you?" he asked. "What's that racket?"
    "I'm at the mansion . It's a di version," I said, half whispering , half shouting .
    "You shouldn't be doing this!" I had expected him to scold me and here it was. Time to give him what he's looking for.
    "Tomorrow he wants me to meet some guy and give him money. I don't know what to do."
    There was silence for a moment. "Do you know where it is?" he asked.
    "No idea. Roland is taking me there tomorrow." Another pause.
    "Just do it," he said. "This is probably part of the larger deal, but not the deal itself. Try to remember names and just keep calm. If you can tip me off somehow, I can try to be nearby. Otherwise, we'll catch up soon . " The line clicked off.
    I set the phone down on the floor and just sat there for a second, trying to figure out if Roland was going to bust into the room, literal guns blazing and shoot me to death. Nothing happened. One deep breath later, I was standing up and approaching the treadmill.
    You're too paranoid, Marisa.
    I ran like I was fleeing, escaping from prison or something. Determination surged in me as my feet pounded against that belt. The fact that Roland hadn't suddenly appeared had eased my mind and gave me a quickly fleeting sense of accomplishment— because I still had to do whatever tomorrow. No, I wasn't off the hook yet.
    It had been such a short amount of time since I first met with Ramón , and I was so ready to get this over . Why couldn't crime just happen when I wanted it to? The question was silly, but still I thought about it.
    After finishing my workout, I showered and headed downstairs. We had a peaceful dinner, but it was difficult for me to relax with all of the uncertainty about tomorrow spiraling around in my brain.
    "Is there a problem, pet?" he asked.
    "Just nervous," I admitted. I wasn't going to keep that from him, and at the very least, it served as a distraction from my ulterior motives.
    "You'll be just fine. I promise. You're just doing me a favor."
    "Yeah, that's what I'm worried about," I said, nervous laughter flooding forth.
    "Let's have a toast, all right? To calm my dear pet." He aggressively opened a bottle of champagne, the cork shooting toward the ceiling, the stream erupting like a fountain. It splashed his robe. "Oh dear." His laughs echoed in the large dining hall.
    I couldn't help myself and laughed until my eyes were watering. A spark of madness arose inside of me. After the stream finally started to subside, he poured me a glass and spilled even more on the table. "Are we actually going to get to drink any of