Playing the Part

I swallowed hard, forcing my voice to remain steady as I laid out my final terms. My heart thudded in a frantic drumbeat against my ribs, but I absolutely refused to let him see how much this terrified me.

"I don't want my family to know I'm doing this for money," I told him, meeting his intense, unyielding gray-blue gaze. "They have too much pride. For them, this has to look one hundred percent