Despite the tension coiling tight in my chest, a small laugh slips out.
Ciara’s eyes flick to me. “Zoe’s worried. She thinks something’s wrong.”
Somethingiswrong, but I was hoping to keep Zoe out of it for her own safety.
I press my lips together, a rush of emotion tightening my chest.
“She’s…freaking out,” Ciara continues, suddenly more serious. “About you. So, I told her to come over, basically so you can talk her down from off the ceiling.”
“You just…invited her?”
Ciara shrugs. “Well, yeah. Unless Queen Riley over here objects.”
“I’ve already laid out the ground rules.” Riley holds up her hands. “Oh, and if she wants to empty the diaper pail too, that would be great. Who knew something so small and cute could poop so much?”
“And I’m out.” Ciara wrinkles her nose as she subtly puts back the piece of bacon she was about to steal from Riley’s plate.
Riley laughs, quickly snatching it up and taking a bite. “Knew that would work.”
“Did I do the right thing?” Ciara asks me, hesitantly.
I realize that I haven’t given her the reaction she was hoping for. But how can I not hesitate when I know that if Cormac were to find out, he would lose his shit not just at me but at Ciara too?
My instincts scream at me to keep my walls up and to protect not just Zoe, but everyone, by saying no. But…Zoe has been my safe place for years. If ever there was a time I needed her, it’s now.
I smile. “Of course. I appreciate you doing this for me. Both of you.”
“You’re welcome,” Riley says through a mouthful of waffle.
An hour later, Zoe arrives at the estate like a pastel pink tornado. She barely lets her ancient, rackety car stop moving before she’s climbing out of it and pulling me into a hug so tight it knocks the breath from my lungs. “Oh, Fi. You scared the hell out of me.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, clinging to her, inhaling the sickly sweet scent of her shampoo.
Suddenly, I’m no longer trapped inside a gilded cage, but back in Zoe’s bathroom, painting the inside of her tub pink with dye and scream-singing to Chappell Roan. Those memories make me hug her even harder, needing to cling to the one thingthat still tethers me to my old life where Lorcan isn’t pulling my strings.
I let out a choked sound, which has Zoe pulling back just enough to cup my face, her glassy eyes scanning me like she’s checking for injuries. “Are you okay?”
“I am, I promise.”
“Good.” She drops her hands from my face and takes a step back.
I watch her as she looks around, her eyes flicking from the cameras tucked into the stonework to the men stationed just far enough back to pretend they’re not watching her.
“Jesus. I feel like I should have brought ID, or a lawyer.”
I wince apologetically. “Yeah. Welcome to my life.”
She links her arm through mine. “Is it always like this?”
“Pretty much.”
“And you’re…okay with that?”
I think of locked doors. Of Cormac deciding where I go and who I see. Of the way safety and punishment have blurred together until I can no longer decipher how he truly feels about me.
“I don’t really get a vote.”
Zoe shoots me a look but doesn’t push me for answers. At least, not yet.
