Page 149 of Suite 7

I stop breathing.

“Tuesday morning.” She stares at me like she’s seeing a stranger. “You came to my apartment. With bagels and coffee. You said you didn’t see my calls until morning.”

“But that was a lie.” Her voice shakes. “You were here. In his bed. While I was crying on my couch because I lost a client and I needed my best friend and you⁠—”

She stops. Swallows.

“You were here.”

“Sloane—”

“I needed you.” The scream tears out of her. Raw and sudden. “And you were too busy to care!”

“That’s not—“ Kane steps forward.

“And you.” She rounds on him. The scream gone as fast as it came, replaced by something colder. “I spent weeks texting you about Lisa. Planning dinners. Telling you how perfect she’d be for you. Going on about it to Vera, to Marcel, to anyone who’d listen. You knew the entire time and you said nothing.”

“I tried to⁠—”

“You let me make a fool of myself.” She cuts him off. “You let me believe I was doing something good.”

She looks back at me.

“I told you about Sidney.”

Her voice barely above a whisper.

“My best friend. Who dated my brother. Who I lost because of it.” She doesn’t blink. “I sat across from you and told you what that cost me. And you sat there and listened and you were already doing it. Already living the thing I was warning you about. You were already her. You were already Sidney, and I was telling you the story like you didn’t already know the ending.”

“I wanted to tell you⁠—”

“That Wednesday.” The word lands flat. “I asked you. I looked at you across that table and I asked if it involved me.” She holds my eyes. “And you said no.”

I can’t speak.

“I handed it to you. I was sitting right there and you looked at me and said no, and I believed you. Because you’re my best friend.” Her voice cracks on the last word.

“And then that Friday.” She laughs — the wrong kind, hollow. “You came over. I showed you Claire’s photo. I talked about Kane for an hour. You were going on a date with him the next night and you sat there and nodded.”

She presses her hand to her mouth for a moment. Drops it.

“Every single time you chose the lie.”

“The gala.”

Kane goes still beside me.

“I brought you to that gala.” Her eyes come back to mine. “I introduced him to Lisa right in front of you. I told you he deserved someone uncomplicated.” A beat of silence. “I said that to your face.”

She turns to Kane.

“Sloane—”

“Vera disappeared.” Her voice is calm. “Halfway through the night. I couldn’t find her. I went looking for you.”

She finds him with her eyes.

“I found you in a back viewing room. I asked if you’d seen her.”