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Shame oozed from her pores. “I wasn’t thinking straight.” The fabric of my dress shirt muffled her voice. “I’d just lost my dad. I was broke, all the way across the world, with two days to get a ticket home. I couldn’t see the future. Not my fencing career. Not the Olympics.”
Farrow’s fingers curled into tight fists against my thigh. “The day Dad died, he was supposed to fly to Korea on a red-eye. To watch me at my competition. My last bout before I returned to the US for Olympic qualifiers. Enter Laura Müller. Rich, young, and talented, but nowhere near the skill level required to beat me.”
She sucked in a breath, the tips of her ears turning pink. “Her dad approached me weeks before, insinuating he wanted to strike a deal. That the competition meant nothing to me, since I’d still make it to the North American qualifiers, beat everyone there, and cinch my spot on Team USA.”
I uncurled her fists, soothing away the nail marks on her palm.
“But for Laura… winning against a fencer like me would give her the confidence to compete in the European qualifiers.” Fae’s shoulders tensed. “Of course, I said no. Then, I went on with my life as if nothing had happened.”
“But that morning of the competition, I suited up, mere days from Dad’s funeral with no way to get there.” She gulped, closing her eyes. “I sat in the locker room and thought…What could it hurt?So, I struck a deal…”
A lone tear rolled out of her right eye, cascading down her cheek and disappearing inside her sweatshirt.
“I agreed to lose the match in exchange for a ticket to D.C. and unlimited legal fees.” Fae’s jaw set. “I knew Vera would do something fishy with the will. That I’d need to lawyer up. It seemed so easy. So harmless. No one was supposed to find out.”
I traced the bridge of her nose. “Howdidthey find out?”
I’d watched that match several times on YouTube after Tom had given me Farrow’s full background report. Obvious grief lined her bloodshot eyes.
The announcer even noted the recent passing of Fae’s father. For all intents and purposes, any performance she gave—good or bad—should’ve been believable.
I still hadn’t figured out this missing piece of the puzzle. How Farrow got caught.
“Vera.” Farrow snorted. “How else?”
I am going to kill this woman.
Slowly. Painfully. Enthusiastically.
“I made it to Dad’s funeral in the nick of time.” A shaky breath rattled Fae’s chest. “Just as they started lowering his casket into theground. I flung myself over it and hugged it hard, crying on top of it.”
A bitter chuckle crept up her throat. “It was a big scene. And the last time I cried.” She paused, deep in thought. “Before now. Beforeyou.”
Cruel thoughts trickled into my head.
Useless, unrealistic thoughts.
Let me be your shelter, Farrow Ballantine.
Let me redeem you as you redeem me.
I bundled her hand in mine, squeezing hard. “What did Vera do?”
“Made a huge scene, of course. She tore me straight from the casket and onto the ground. Her relatives had to scrape her off of me. Then she started yelling at me. That I had no right to show up there. That I wasn’t invited.”
A small grin played on Farrow’s lips. “I clapped back, like I always did. Which was how I landed across the world in the first place. She’d gotten sick of my ‘unruly’ ways. I always refused to let Vera, Reggie, and Tabby bully me around.”
A ribbon of pride looped around my chest. It used to frustrate me that Farrow refused to take shit—particularly from me. But I’d grown to look forward to her sass, seeking it out every day.
You are so royally fucked.
As if she could hear my thoughts, Farrow sighed. “Tabby screeched loud enough to burst my eardrums.But how did she even get here, Mom? And Reggie gave up the gig.I thought you said you emptied her bank account.Enough people heard her to send gasps across the crowd.”
“Then, what happened?”
“Vera dragged me behind a tree and told me she’d spoken to Laura’s mom. That she admitted to the bribe. They must have let it slip because they considered her my de-facto mother. They definitely didn’t think Vera would go running to the Olympic committee with the info.”
“What happened after?”
