“Very much,” Quoth whispered, a dark shadow passing over his eyes.
I buried my face in my hands. “Great. So my boss has a thing for me, and I just slept with his friend. I’ve messed everything up.”
“You haven’t. This isn’t an ordinary bookshop you’ve walked into. Heathcliff likes you. Morrie likes you. They both know that fact, yet neither wishes to enter a competition for your affections. Instead, they care only that you are happy, and safe.” Quoth paused. “I like you, too.”
My head whipped up, but Quoth had vanished. A single black feather fluttered to the ground.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ilike you, too.
I slumped over the pile of books on our chipped table. I’d decided to tackle my airport book art project to take my mind off Nevermore Bookshop, but it wasn’t working. All I’d managed to do was fold three origami cranes and obsess over Quoth’s words. What was he saying, that the three of them would happily… share me? Is that even a thing?
I reached for my phone, and started texting Ashley. “I need your help. I—”
Shit.
I can’t text Ashley.
Ashley’s dead.
Grief hit me in a wave. I’d been so busy being angry and hurt over the last few months that I hadn’t thought about everything I’d given up by refusing to forgive Ashley, and now… I’d never again make her laugh so hard she got the hiccups, we’d never go out for drinks after a long day in the office, or dance until our feet fell off at the Fashion Week afterparty.
The last words I’d spoken to her were in anger. She might’ve been trying to reach out, hoping to end the void between us. Maybe she would have even confessed to selling Marcus’ drawings if I’d acted like her friend, if I’d noticed her being odd. But I hadn’t wanted to notice.
Now she’s dead. And I’m digging myself deeper and deeper into a mess with these guys, and I have no one to talk to about it.
My heart ached for a connection to her. My phone screen blurred through my tears as I navigated to her Instagram feed. I scrolled through Ashley’s photographs to a picture of the two of us, our tongues poking out at the camera as we posed on the top of the Empire State Building.
There was another one; a selfie of her sitting at her desk in the office, beaming at the camera as she held up a goodie bag we got from a makeup company ahead of Marcus’ last show.
You look so happy. I can’t believe you’d risk it all to sell Marcus’ designs.Oh, Ashley, why’d you do it? What weren’t you telling me?
My finger paused over a picture of Ashley in our old apartment, holding a big stack of folders and papers, her hair freshly pinned and her little-black dress smoothed down over her killer body.I remember this, it was right before the gala dinner. We were running late, but she begged me to take that photo.
Wait a second…
…is that…?
Oh, wow.
On the edge of Ashley’s paper stack was the familiar scribble of Marcus’ signature, plus the corner of a drawing. My heart thudded as I recognized the scalloped edges from the fur leather jacket that had been leaked last year.
Ashley had added the caption, “Getting ready for the big gala dinner. I have a special surprise gift for someone who’s there. Come say hi, but not until after I’ve eaten mah shrimp.”
I bolted out of my chair, knocking glue and scissors and books everywhere. The car had exploded again, so I’d have to run if I wanted to see the guys in person. “Mum, I’ve got to head down to the shop for a minute. Don’t wait up!”
* * *
Ishoved my key in the door and rushed inside, my lungs bursting after sprinting from the car. “Morrie, Quoth, get your asses down here. I’ve figured out—”
I stopped short as Heathcliff’s dark figure appeared in the doorway to the main room. He glared up at me, and my words died on my lips.
“Mina,” he said. “Come with me. I have something to show you.”
Surprised by his abrupt instruction, I bit back my news and followed him into the main room. Heathcliff slid into his chair and gestured for me to occupy the velvet chair beside the desk.
“What’s this monstrosity?” I nudged an enormous book occupying half of Heathcliff's desk.
