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“What’s wrong? It’s not who you wanted to see?”
“It’s Jules,” I say softly.
“The best friend who broke up with you in your hour of need?”
“The one and only.” I can’t believe she has the nerve to be here.
“Want me to throw her out and make sure her ass hits the sidewalk with a hard thud?”
Yes.
“No, it’ll be fine. But thank you.”
When I approach the bar where she is sitting, Jules swings around. Her hair is down, and Natalie is right, she does look like me.
“What do you want, Jules?” I ask, fully aware that Natalie is listening from behind the bar as she prepares limes and other garnishes for tonight’s drinks. I get the feeling she’s waiting for things to turn sour so she can throw Jules out.
“To say I’m sorry,” Jules says with a sad expression. “To beg your forgiveness. To tell you I miss you, and I have ever since—”
“You ditched me when I needed me the most.”
She nods sadly. “I deserve that.”
“You do.” I fold my arms. “But as you can see, I survived. Landed on my feet.”
“Yes, you did. And I’m glad, really, Bianca, I’m so grateful.” She sighs, and I realize I’ve been missing her more than I was prepared to admit. She was more than my best friend. She was the sister I never had. “I miss you, and I wanted to talk to you. See if I could repair the damage I’ve done. Can I take you to dinner tonight?”
I hesitate. Since my father’s death and the fallout that followed, I’ve managed to build a solid wall around my heart. A wall with a sophisticated alarm system that’s currently ringing loudly in my ears.
She ditched you.
The hurt part of me tells me to call it quits on the friendship once and for all. But the old part of me, the one that loved Jules like a sister, tells me I should hear her out for old times’ sake.
“Sure, send me the time and place,” I say.
“Do you still have the same number?”
I nod, full of mixed feelings.
Jules gives me a soft, warm smile, and it looks genuine. “Thank you, Bianca.”
I watch her walk away, my feelings still divided.
Natalie comes to stand behind me as I watch Jules disappear out the door. “You sure it’s a good idea meeting her for dinner? You might open old wounds.”
“Probably, but I know I’ll regret it if I don’t at least hear her out.”
“Does your gut tell you she’s on the level? Or do you think she’s up to something?”
“She seemed genuine.” I turn away from the door to look at Natalie. She has her arms folded and looks concerned. She doesn’t think this is a good idea. “I’ll be fine.”
Natalie shakes her head.
“You’re too nice, princess. If it were me, I’d punch her in the nose.”
I meet Jules for dinner at a cute restaurant in the heart of Manhattan. Because at the end of the day, Jules and I had something a lot deeper than what I had with Lilah and Angelica.
She’s sitting at a small table toward the back of the restaurant, reading the menu. As I make my way over to her, delicious aromas waft in the air, and the soft din of dinner conversations follow me.
She looks up as I approach the table and smiles.
“Thanks for meeting me. I wasn’t sure if you would come,” she says.
I take a seat across from her. “I almost didn’t.”
I’m frosty, but it’s because that wall around my heart is still buzzing in alarm.
“I ordered a bottle of wine.” Again she smiles, but it’s cautious. “You look lovely.”
The server appears, and we place our orders. But there is a cloud of tension hanging over us, and I’m sure he can feel it.
When he leaves, I put down my menu. “Cut the small talk, Jules. What am I doing here?”
“Like I said, I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
“I don’t hear from you in months, and the moment you find out I’m spending time with Massimo De Kysa you come running.”
“That’s not how it is, I swear to you.” She looks down at her napkin. “The truth is, it never sat right with me what Angelica told us to do.”
“What do you mean?”
“She told Lilah and I to break off our friendship with you. She said the aftermath of Bella De Kysa’s kidnapping and your father’s death would affect all of us in a really bad way. I got scared. I spent a lot of time in your home, saw a lot of things, knew a lot of the game players, and it scared me. I knew how things could turn on a dime and I got frightened.”
“About what?”
“About being involved with the Bamcorda. About a war taking place and being caught in the middle. I was trying to pick up the pieces of my own life after—”
