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She hurries around, tossing clothes over the back of a chair and sweeping up a mess of mail and papers spread across her counter. “Sorry. I haven’t had anyone over in a couple weeks. I let regular housekeeping get away from me.”
“No problem. I haven’t had to clean a thing in weeks, so you’re doing more than I have.”
She stops and stares at me, eyebrows raised. “Was that supposed to make me feel better or are you trying to brag?”
“I…I honestly don’t know,” I admit with a chuckle. “It’s just the truth. But it’s not much of a brag now that I no longer have a maid. It’s back to the real world for me.”
I didn’t even say goodbye to Niles. Or Anya. Though maybe neither of them would want to say anything to me considering how I left.
“Oh, girl.” Jorden throws the armful of junk mail into her trash can and then drapes an arm around my shoulders. She leads me towards the couch. “This sucks and I’m sorry. But—”
“I thought it was a nonstop venting session until I’m ready to hear counterarguments.”
She forces me down onto the couch and then sits next to me, tucking her feet underneath her. “I said that to Yasha because his loyalty will always be with Ivan. Whatever he says cannot be trusted. But I am a fount of endless love and concern for you, dearest Cora. You can trust that what I’m saying has your best interest at heart…which is why I have to say that I did not send you those texts because I wanted you to call off your engagement and run away from Ivan.”
I do a double-take. “You texted me that my fiancé might have killed his last girlfriend. What did you expect me to do?”
“I expected you to soak in your ginormous jacuzzi tub, drink some ridiculously expensive wine, and mull over your next move,” she explains. “I wanted you to be armed with all the information to make a thought out, well-considered choice.”
I stare at her, blinking slowly. “I’ve seen you throw a mug of hot coffee in a man’s face because he whistled at you.”
“It was lukewarm coffee!”
“I have seen you throw your entire phone into a trash can because you got a text you didn’t like.”
“I dug it out of the trash five minutes later,” she argues. “And besides, those things were minor. They were bad experiences with men I barely knew. It’s not the same as ending what could have been a lifelong relationship!”
Jorden would have a point…if my relationship with Ivan ever had a chance of being lifelong. But it didn’t. We were headed down a path that was always going to end with the two of us parting ways.
“So, what, you think I should have stuck around and heard him out?”
She shrugs. “I’m not here to shame you for what you did. I’m going to support you no matter what. But I just think we owe it to the possibility of your Happily Ever After to consider that maybe we’re misunderstanding something.”
“The woman is missing. The last person she was seen with was Ivan. What is there to misunderstand?”
“Nothing. Or… maybe everything,” she offers. “I just know I’ve seen the way Ivan looks at you. He doesn’t look at you like he wants to kill you; he looks at you like he wants todevouryou.”
I slump backward. “Having great sex does not mean that someone isn’t a murderer.”
Jorden jabs a finger at me. “Finally! You admit it! The sex is amazing.”
I groan. “This is not about that, Jor.”
“I know, I know,” she says. “It’s just nice to hear my theory confirmed. I’ve never seen you so relaxed around someone. No wonder it’s because you were getting your world rocked on a regular basis.”
She’s only saying that because she wasn’t there when Ivan killed a sniper in front of me. Or when a suspicious bottle of champagne showed up at our table during our date. Or when I was drugged in a bakery bathroom.
Wow.The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. Even worse than I thought.
All of that was incredibly stressful.
Then again, everything in between was nice. My mind wanders to the full day Ivan and I spent in his bed after the bakery incident. We spent hours tangled up together, talking about everything under the sun. I can’t remember the last time I felt like that.
So cared for. So safe.
“Being with Ivan felt like a fairytale sometimes.”Evil stepparents and poison included.“But real life isn’t a fairytale. Ivan wasn’t honest with me, and I’m not going to live in a lie. I’ve done enough of that for a lifetime.”
Jorden frowns. “I hear you. But maybe he’ll call. Maybe he’ll explain everything and—”
