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Tilly read the single-word response with indignation.
What do you mean, ‘no’?
The dots began to move and Tilly waited, gnawing on her lower lip and fidgeting with her fingers in her lap.
Part of our deal is that you don’t tell anyone. That’s what I pay you for. What good is it having a doppelgänger if I can’t trust you?
Tilly squeezed her eyes shut. Thirty thousand pounds. The money she’d given Jack to save his life. Or at least his kneecaps.
Can we find a way around this? Tilly responded, her heart pounding, her eyes wet.
What do you suggest? If you tell him, he’ll tell Dad. And that’s not our deal.
Tilly swiped at her eyes, pushing the tears away.
I’m going to see him again.
Silence.
Tilly stared at the computer, but no dots were moving.
Finally, Cressida began to type.
If you tell Rio, I’ll tell Dad. And not just about this. About all the jobs you’ve done for me. I’m sure he’d be fascinated to hear how his golden-girl PA has been lying to him for years.
Tilly’s cheeks flushed pink.
Come on, Cressida. I’m not trying to ruin anything for you—I think Rio would keep this to himself.
Tilly waited, her body radiating with silent tension.
It’s your decision. Don’t forget to send my 30k back if you tell him, though.
The words were black and white, and Tilly saw them through a veil of stars.
A memory of Jack’s face, so grateful, so relieved when she’d given him the cheque, flashed before her.
What a mess.
I have to go. Just remember, Tilly, you’ve got as much to lose in this as I do.
Cressida’s little green dot disappeared, signalling that she’d logged off. Tilly still stared at the screen, though, re-reading their conversation with a falling feeling.
She had to tell Rio.
Surely she could get a bank loan for that amount, and repay Cressida? Still, loyalty strained at her heart. It was hardly Cressida’s fault that Tilly had fallen in love with Rio. Cressida had every right to expect Tilly to uphold their agreement. Sure, she’d reacted like a cornered cat, but Tilly could hardly blame her.
With a grunt of annoyance she clicked out of Facebook, and out of her emails, and shut the lid on the laptop. Her coffee cup was empty but she was still tired.
Not from sleep-deprivation now so much as mental exhaustion. She’d turned the problem over again and again and there was still no answer. Nothing.
Except that she had to tell Rio. Somehow she had to make him understand that it had been innocent. She hadn’t set out to deceive him, and she didn’t want to deceive him for a moment longer.
He was gone longer than the appointed half-hour, though. An hour went by, then another thirty minutes, and she was contemplating going to look for him when he appeared at the doorway. He was covered in sweat and dirt and she’d never wanted him more.
‘Hi.’
Sadness bubbled through her. Despair, too. But nothing mattered more than being honest with him.
