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Why the hell had she decided to show up? How was she possibly going to convince everyone of her real identity when she returned, and what did she expect me to do?
“I’m tired,” I announced abruptly. “Kitty, why don’t you come upstairs with me so we can talk? We have a lot to catch up on.”
“Oh, Bella, I’d love to!” Her eyes were shining with delight, and it turned my stomach. Had I really been that needy? “But I really need a nap myself. Jet lag, you know. Can we talk later?”
I could hardly insist. “Whatever you need. I’m in the Queen’s Room when you’re up to visiting.”
Bella’s eyes narrowed. “Of course you are.” She let out a heartfelt sigh. “I always loved that room.”
“You should give it up to her,” Mary Alice said. “After all, for the time being, she owns the house and everything here.”
“Nonsense,” Bella said. “I couldn’t ask Bella to give up her bedroom.”
I gave her a tight smile. “Of course you couldn’t,” I said, deliberately not offering. The old Kitty, Podge, would have immediately offered to move out. I had no intention of doing so.
A strained silence filled the room, and then Bella shrugged. “Which room am I staying in?”
“Selene is making up the blue room on the third floor.” Maldonado spoke for the first time. “It should be ready by now.”
“Bring up my bags, will you?” she said carelessly, too much like the old Bella, but Maldonado’s face was inscrutable.
“I will!” Marcus said. “I want to get reacquainted with my long-lost cousin.”
He’d never had time for me before, and I wondered at his sudden friendliness. Not that I wanted to think badly of him, but the woman he thought of as Podge now controlled everything, at least for a while, and Marcus was a sensible man.
I headed upstairs after them, just as Mary Alice was launching into a diatribe about who should sleep in the Queen’s Room, but they were out of sight by the time I reached my hallway. For some reason I locked the door behind me.
An hour later, I was cleaned up, neatened up, made up, though I was sorely tempted to give up the Bella mask I’d been wearing. Now that she was here, the truth had to come out, and the sooner the better.
But clearly Ian hadn’t spilled the beans. I didn’t know whether that was a blessing or a curse.
The timid knock on the door didn’t fool me. Scrambling off the bed, I went to unlock it, to face my doppelganger. “Let’s go for a walk, shall we?” Bella said innocently. “I’ve been cooped up for too long.”
I didn’t want to. I wanted her to tell me exactly what the hell was going on, but for some reason, I didn’t want her in my coveted room.
“Okay,” I nodded. “Let me get some shoes.” I slipped on a pair of sandals. They were stylish and comfortable, but a disaster if I needed to run. What an odd thought! Why would I need to run?
We kept up a stream of meaningless chatter on the way downstairs. As far as I could tell, she’d left New England the same day I flew out of Logan, but I had no idea where she’d been. She waited until we were outside in the bright, sunny courtyard to berate me.
“What the hell were you doing, wandering in looking like you’d spent the night with a squadron of Russian soldiers?” she hissed. “I’ve got my reputation to consider.”
Considering that her reputation was better suited to Russian soldiers than mine was, I said nothing. “I went for a walk,” I said stubbornly, knowing there was no way to prove otherwise.
“Then why did you have that ‘thoroughly fucked’ look about you?” she demanded, her servile sweetness vanishing.
I had been. Quite thoroughly, quite gorgeously. Even if I didn’t know quite where I stood. “Your imagination,” I said briefly. “How did you get here?”
“Easy enough. I called the house and Marcus came down to fetch me in the town car.” She’d walked over to the Alfa that had sheltered me last night. “He should have brought this.” She turned to me, her face alight with enthusiasm. “Let’s go for a drive!”
“I can’t drive the thing. I don’t know how to drive stick.” For some reason, I didn’t want to get into that car with her.
“I can.”
“Bella never let anyone drive her car,” I pointed out. “Make Marcus take you out.”
“But I want to talk to you.” She opened the driver side door and looked in, a satisfied expression on her face. “Come on!”
“What are you trying to do, Bella?” I demanded, staying a good distance away. “Why did you show up? You’ve put this entire insane masquerade in danger.”
