“Why would they do that?” Gabriel followed her out onto the balcony.
Pierre was glad she hadn’t texted him, not when Nicole was with him and might see the message.
“Because they hate me,” she wailed. “Because they must be gloating.”
Something dragged on the floor, probably a chair. Pierre could imagine Nicole shoving it out of her way.
“I can’t believe it. Everyone else will be at the wedding, even the servants, but not me. Two thousand people, between invited guests and the crowds outside the church, but I’m to stay locked in my room like a naughty child.”
Pierre flattened herself to the wall, glad her light was still off.
“The wedding I have spent three months organising. All because of that awful Laura and her—”
“Nic. Stop.” His voice was still low but firm. “Stop.”
“But it was—”
“No.”
“Why are you taking their side?”
“I’m not taking any sides.”
A moment passed. “You should be takingmyside.”
“Your side? You very nearly destroyed this wedding in order to win a stupid fight on social media.”
“I didn’t. I had nothing to do—”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I swear on, on…I swear—”
“Nic, stop. Look at me. Look me in the eye.”
There was a long pause. And finally, he said, “We’ve known each other for twenty-years. Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m sorry. I…I …I felt trapped. I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t let them win. I worked too hard for this to let them make me look like a fake.”
“You wanted to prove you’re not a fake?” He sounded incredulous. “You staged a break-in, sabotaged Laura, and nearly ruined her relationship with Adam. Is this the real you? Thenot-fakeyou? How did I not see this side of you before? How could you do this? No matter how upset, how stressed, how could you allow yourself to hurt people like this?” His voice sounded so sad, it twisted Pierre’s heart.
“Oh God,” Nicole sobbed. “Don’t hate me. I don’t know how it all got out so of hand. You know how much I’ve dreamed of this. You remember how…” She hiccupped. “Please don’t hate me.”
“I don’t hate you,” he said, very low.
“Because sometimes it feels like you don’t love me anymore. It’s been three long months of stress and pressure. And you, I needed your support, and you didn’t—” Her voice grated to a whisper, and it was little while before she could speak again. A few moments when even the air seemed to stand still and wait.
“We haven’t slept together since you got here. Remember how you always helped me, took care of me? But just when I was struggling, you turned your back on me.”
“I’m sorry.” He sounded so tired. “I am sorry…” he tailed off again.
“Do you know that George threatened me? He said he might sue me for wrecking his wedding. Do you know what’ll happen to my career if I get sued? He said that if anything goes wrong, anything, even the weather, he will sue me.”
“He’s not going to sue you if it rains,” Gabriel said and he was back to his usual calm, practical voice.
“No, but he’s holding this thing with the break-in at the Casemates over me. He’s a lawyer. I’ve looked him up; he’s super well-connected. He can pay a social media consultant to post things about me for years. Who’s going to hire a wedding planner that’s been sued by the groom?”
“He won’t do that if you stick to your agreement.”
