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Next to him, there was a woman. A woman who could be his wife or his girlfriend. She equaled him in beauty, but her gaze was cunning and looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and contempt.
“This is Pia,” he told me while he went through some papers, never giving me much attention. “Hopefully we can reach an agreement together.”
I wondered what he meant. Was he going to try to pay me to shut me up?
“You have been busy,” the man said darkly.
His voice had a hint of a British accent but was mostly American.
“I wanted to see you again,” I said honestly, never moving my eyes from his. “I was just hoping it would only be the two of us.”
The woman, Pia, snickered, but my attention didn’t waiver. I kept staring at the man.
“I told you this once, a year ago,” the man went on. “You need to stop looking. You need to leave this alone. I saved you from a hellish life.”
I stayed quiet as he stretched back in his chair, folding his hands together.
“How’s the baby, by the way?” he asked, and something inside me shattered into a thousand pieces.
“It’s gone,” I told him plainly. “I lost it.”
I didn’t tell him I’d be unable to have children for the rest of my life. I wanted him to like me. To want me. I didn’t want him to feel sorry for me.
His powerful brows furrowed, and he gave me an apologetic glance.
“I’m sorry to hear that. It doesn’t change the reason you are here.”
“Which is?” I raised my brows, waiting for him to go on.
“You need to let this go,” he said. “You need to stop searching for her.”
“Searching?”
Something clicked in my brain, and it must have clicked in his, too, because his face grew pale.
“Harlow,” I muttered. “You know where she is?”
He didn’t reply, just got out of his chair, grabbed me by the wrist and showed me to the door. I tried to fight it, but his grip was firm and electric against my skin.
“Don’t dig,” he warned me one last time before he shut the door in my face.
I left, walking out from the beautiful, tall building into the icy London weather. I was already a few steps down the street when I felt someone tapping me on the shoulder. I turned around to see who it was, and with it, sealed my fate and changed the course of my life forever.
“Things have changed around here.”
I bit my bottom lip nervously, waiting for her to go on, the phone pressed tightly against my ear.
“In what way?” I demanded to know. “How is Harlow, and how is Amber?”
“They’re fine.” She always got so fucking terse when I mentioned my friends. I got the impression that she was jealous. “Some… things went down. We lost one of our own. It seems to have messed up Harlow a little.”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine,” I replied. “Is she training?”
A long pause followed, and I stewed in my own jealousy. I knew they were both probably getting the royal treatment, and it filled me with rage. Why hadn’t they chosen me? I’d won over Harlow once, getting the better role. So why did nobody else recognize my talent? It made me so angry.
“She’s fine,” the woman went on. “Just stop thinking about it. Think about our plan instead.”
My blood rushed through my veins at the thought.
Yes, the plan. We had a plan, a great plan, a grand plan. Soon, I would take Harlow’s place.
“When will I see you?” I asked, and she avoided the question, speaking about something else unimportant, so I asked again, letting her know I wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Soon,” she finally promised. “We’ll meet up soon and discuss everything. Are you sure about this?”
“What do you mean?” I didn’t understand.
“I just mean…” she sighed before going on. “It’s a big thing to do. You might hurt Harlow in the process. Are you sure you want to do it?”
I pondered her words for a second.
Harlow was probably the best friend I had. I had a couple of others, nice enough girls who went out with me but who I didn’t exactly trust with all my secrets. I remembered the months after I lost my baby. How Harlow had stayed by my side because she was the only one who’d known about it. I hadn’t told Madame or any of my friends, waiting for my second trimester to start. Except it never happened, and now, it never would.
“Yes,” I replied harshly. “I’m sure. I want to do it.”
“All right,” she said, and I could just picture the smile on her stunning face. “I’ll call you soon and tell you what you need to do.”
“Pia…” I said softly, but she’d already cut the call.
I threw my phone on the bed with exasperation. I was late for practice again, not that anyone seemed to care about that since Harlow and Amber were gone.
