Natalie was like their mothers, always referencing the elusivethey, as iftheywrote gospel. Natalie shrugged and hauled herself up.
“The smart people,” she said matter-of-factly, then checked her watch. “Okay, I gotta go. I have an early appointment tomorrow. But seriously.” She swayed as she pointed at Vanessa. “You need to start telling someone, and by someone, I mean Jordan. And check in with the police as well. This shit needs to be stopped before it gets out of control.”
“No way I’m telling Jordan. He’ll tell Joel, who’ll tell Lucy, who’ll then have a fit.” No one needed that. “And what would I tell the police? I have absolutely no proof of anything. It’s all creepy, weird online stuff right now. People with any kind of social media following deal with far worse.” Stacking takeout cartons and grabbing the empty prosecco bottles, Vanessa stood and made her way to the small kitchen.
“Tell Maria,” Natalie called on her way to the apartment door. “She’d be all over it.”
“Ha, funny, Nat.” If her mother had even a clue of what Vanessa dealt with online, she’d lock her in her childhood bedroom and force her to spend the rest of eternity listening to variations ofI told you so.
Her mother had been against her modeling lifestyle from day one. In fact, she’d been against almost all of Vanessa’s life choices. Which was part of the reason she made some of the choices she did when she was younger. Knowing she was defying her mother’s wishes was mildly satisfying…when she was a teenager.
But the more she’d gotten involved in the modeling world, the more she’d come to love it. The thrill of the photoshoots, the opportunity to work with some of the greatest design visionaries in the world, the high of walking the runway, had become addictive. Turned out she had a talent for it, and a passion to match. Soon her rebellion had become a career she’d grown to love.
Acting had been less satisfying, but at the time, it was all she believed she had left.
Vanessa wandered back to the living room in time to see Natalie trying to pull on her knee-length boots. With her white faux-fur coat on, and her long blond hair streaming down her back, she looked like a tipsy polar bear. In the cutest way, of course.
“Chances are high that this is all made up in my head and I’m scaring myself needlessly. My true crime loving cousin is not helping.”
“Do not.” Natalie jabbed her finger in the air and swayed dangerously. “I repeat, do NOT gaslight yourself. If you feel off about this, there’s probably something to it.”
Not second-guessing her instincts wasn’t her strong suit. Probably had something to do with those assholes she let into her life. If you heard lies about yourself long enough, you started to believe them.
Natalie swung the apartment door open and gasped. “Holy fuck! Does this mean he’s here?”
Dread rushed along Vanessa’s spine until Natalie tosseda look over her shoulder as she pointed across the hallway. “The bike. That means alpha-boy is here, right?”
The rush turned immediately to something warmer, darker, until it erupted in her chest because, yep, there was Jordan’s matte-black bicycle leaning against the wall next to Sean and Ivy’s door.
“He’s rabbit-sitting.” It was a ridiculous thing to say, but it was what came to mind.
Natalie waggled her eyebrows. “He could be kitty-sitting.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, has anyone ever told you that you turn into a teenage boy when you get drunk?” Vanessa ushered her inebriated cousin to the staircase at the end of the hall. “You have an Uber, right?”
Natalie tapped her phone. “Here now.” When she teetered precariously, Vanessa tucked her arm under hers to help her down the steps.
“Are you still planning on leaving me once you redeem yourself in the fashion biz,cugina?”
“Absolutely.” She’d never been more certain of her plan than she was now. As soon as she got enough good press, she was heading back to New York. A fresh start was needed all around.
Pushing open the door, Natalie puffed out her lower lip. “I’m gonna miss you.”
“Last week you said you couldn’t wait.”
“But that was before I wanted to set you up with alpha-boy,” Natalie whined.
“Can we stop calling him that?”
“Would you rather I call him your kitty-sitter?”
“Get in the car.” She pulled Natalie in for a bear hug before not so gently shoving her through the doorway toward the Uber.
Vanessa waited until her cousin was safely in the Uber and it had pulled away before she closed the door. As she did, the cold that had gripped her earlier flooded back, crawling up her spine and landing with a sharp, icy prickle at the nape of her neck.
With her heart hammering in her chest, she scanned the shadows. The street beyond the window was dark, empty.No one is there. It’s all in your head. You’ve had too much to drink.
A blinding burst of light hit the corner of her vision. Familiar but unwelcome. Was that a camera?
