Because as welcoming as these women have been to me, they’re a unit, they’ve taken the time to build trust with each other.
I’m just an outsider.
Who conspired to hurt Chrissy.
Guilt churns through me.
“I know,” Chrissy murmurs. “You don’t have to explain further.”
“You know?” I ask.
“You told Pascal. He told my dad.” A shrug. “My dad told me.”
“And me,” Tiff adds.
“I know, too,” Marie says.
“You mean…” I blink as I look around the room, as I remember all the things they said and did. They knew and they still welcomed me like?—
“What. The.Hell?!”
My eyes whip toward Rory.
“You mean you all know something thatIdon’t know?”
Chrissy winces. “It wasn’t my story to share, Ror.”
“Except with Marie and Tiff and Jean-Michel andyou.”
“Honey, I?—”
“I crashed the party because they ordered me to sneak into Chrissy’s office and plant files on her computer,” I blurt. “It wasn’t that big of a deal—I mean the sneaking in part. I just watched for a little while and put a disguise together then pretended to be part of the serving staff. All I did was check coats.”
They stare at me.
“At least until Brooks caught up with me.”
More staring.
“And I mean, the planting the files thing is bad—reallybad. I know that. But it’s not as bad as what I did to Brooks?—”
“What did you do to Brooks?” Marie asks quietly.
More guilt, so much guilt that the words keep coming even though I need to just stoptalking. “I broke into his house and…” I tell them about the window and the guards and sneaking into his office, using my knowledge of the space to get into the safe. I tell them of the struggle, of getting away with the incriminating information about his dad. “I hurt him,” I whisper. “He still has a bit of a bruise on his temple and he was almost unconscious when I left.” My voice breaks. “My childhood was violent and these last few years…I never thought I would be likethem. That I’d get physical and hurt someone. But in his office, I was desperate and—” I sigh. “And I was so freakingmadthinking that he was living this great life after leaving me at the altar when I was…”
“In hell,” Marie finishes.
“He left to protect me,” I say in a hurry. “But I didn’t know that until a couple of days ago, so emotions were high and…” I groan. “It was a mess.”
Chrissy sighs. “A bit more than a mess, I think.”
“Yeah.”
Tiff squeezes my knee.
We all fall silent.
For a few moments anyway.
