Page 152 of The Unravelings

Somehow, I didn’t notice them when I was putting my clothes away on the first day I arrived. Of course, I was too busy sulking in my despair to notice he had done me a solid favor. Besides the vibrators, that is. That fucker is still in the doghouse for that move. But I’ll forgive him. Eventually. Because wearing normal panties that aren’t boxers is the biggest relief that I can’t explain.

I’m finally back in my own skin. I might be wearing another face, but as Claire, I can still be myself for a while, at least. Something I’ll enjoy while it lasts. Then, when it’s necessary, I’ll put my Oliver mask back on and go undercover as him again. Because I have to. I’ll have to solve whatever is happening here with Franco and the other gangs. And the dead bodies piling up. There’s so much here that I can’t leave now.

“Yeah,” I choke out. “This is me for right now.” I swallow the lump in my throat, staring at the fake ID JJ gave me at our study session last night.

“So, shall we?” Simon asks, turning the engine off and bringing me back from the night before.

Oh. His song is done. Right. Time to shop until we drop.

“Yeah.” I nod. “Let’s go.”

A sliver of excitement thrums through me at the prospect of shopping. It’s something I haven’t been able to do in a very long time. Not for myself, at least. And nothing like this. A whole day spent gathering the perfect outfit. It reminds me a little of my old self. A sliver of the girl who would drag the boys to the mall to find the perfect skirt or shirt after my mom gave me a small amount of money she’d saved up. Something we didn’t have a lot of back then. Not with my dad spending it all on the booze he drowned himself in.

“You have no idea how excited I am for this,” Simon chortles the second we get out of the car and head through the main doors of the large mall, filled to the brim with people.

It’s an odd sight to see.

“I see this mall never died,” I blurt without thinking, peeking at the food court we’ve stumbled into.

The tables are full of people eating their lunches and chatting. More people stand in line at the vendors with shopping bags hanging from their arms.

“Nope,” Simon says gleefully. “They have the best stores, too. Let’s go!” He grabs my arm, dragging me through the food court and into the main part of the mall, chatting a mile a minute. “We should stop here at Nicole’s.” His grin widens at the massive selection of clothing in the windows. Men’s and women’s.

“Sounds perfect. You’ll tell me if my outfit sucks, right?” I ask, tilting my head.

“Oh, you bet,” Simon chortles, pulling me into the store. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re the hottest person to walk through the Coliseum doors tonight.” He winks at me, and then he snags the men’s section. “But first…” He trails off, slipping away from me.

My phone buzzes in my pocket as I browse through the women’s clothes, trying to figure out the perfect outfit for tonight. Something that gets Malic’s attention and says, take me home and fuck me good, please.

Will I actually go through with it? That’s a toss-up. Malic was good. Rememberable. God, I crave him after all these weeks. So, yeah. A good dick down. Maybe he’ll fall into a deep sleep, and then I’ll make my escape.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezey. I can totally pull this off. This totally won’t go sideways. Fuck. I swallow hard, mentally going through the damn plan. Simon will be distracted by Daniel, whom I will introduce to myself as Oli’s lookalike cousin. And I will work my magic on Malic. I hope.

Carter: Send me the fucking memory stick at your earliest convenience, Agent fucking Princess.

I roll my eyes toward the ceiling with a huff. This asshole is going to be the death of me one day. But for right now, I unfortunately need his expertise.

Oli: Agent fucking princess again? Jesus… Someone piss in your Cheerios this morning?

Carter: I’m fucking bored. Again. And no. Fuck you.

Oli: Fuck you too

Oli: And the company you’re running? That doesn’t keep you occupied? Surely you have enough business to keep you up at night…

Carter: Eh. It’s fucking boring too. I do have a girlfriend who keeps me up at night, thank you fucking very much.

Oli: Dude. We’ve talked about this. Multiple times. I really don’t need to hear about that. She’s like my sister, remember? FFS.

Carter: Get the fuck over it. Now…tell me about this memory stick you’re sending me again. Anything exciting? Come on, entertain me.

Oli: I need you to make sure everything on it is real. There will be documents, surveillance footage, and all kinds of fun stuff. It’s, um…from my murderous exes trying to prove themselves innocent. So…yeah…it’s kind of important…

Carter: Well. Once again, my fucking interest is piqued. Should I keep grabbing the popcorn? You know what? Fuck it, I will get the popcorn. Your life is way more exciting than mine.

Carter: Actually…scratch that… Let me have a fun chat with the murderous exes, Agent fucking Princess. Let me introduce them to some fun torture devices.

Oli: Tempting…