Hugging myself, I tell him what she said about the multiple miscommunications.
He runs his hand along his jaw, his eyes narrowed. “That’s…wild.”
“I know, right?” I say, desperate to have somebody confirm Bianca is my true best friend. “It’s more than wild. It’s outlandish.” I resume pacing.
“But serious.” He straightens and takes my arms gently, forcing me to be still. He lifts my chin so I can look him in the eye. “You need to investigate this.”
“Iknow. But she’s my best friend.” My voice cracks.
Sympathy softens his gaze. “She might not feel the same way about you.”
“How can you say that?” I demand, furious he thinks so little of my friendship with her.
He remains calm. “I’ve been wondering why so many things aren’t as they should be. Your family shouldn’t have been at the party. There shouldn’t have been paparazzi taking our picture when we first ‘fake dated.’ Why would that have happened?”
“I’m famous, that’s why!” My voice grows shrill, almost hysterical.
“So am I. I grew up with famous people, and none of them have issues like you.”
“Maybe they’re just nicer people.”
“Nicer than Lucienne Peery?” He smiles sadly. “Nah.”
I close my eyes for a moment. I wish he were an asshole. Then he wouldn’t be saying things that force me to consider the most horrible, unimaginable possibility.
“Yuna told you the secretary spoke to Bianca,” he says. “Does she come across as the type to get confused about something like that?”
“But it’sBianca.”
“Only the people who are close enough to stick a knife in your back can betray you.”
I shiver uncontrollably as my blood chills.
“Do you know why I lost my temper when my family told me I had to marry you or lose the company? It’s because I was backstabbed by people I thought I could count on.” He runs his thumb over my cool cheek, the gesture tender. “If you don’t look into her, you’ll never be sure.” He sighs heavily. “I’ve seen how hard you work. I’d hate to see you undermined from within. That just…wouldn’t be fair.”
“I don’t want to be disloyal,” I whisper. “Doubting her feels like I’m betraying her.”
“But if you never find out for sure, you’ll always be second-guessing her motives, and your friendship will be ruined anyway. Plus, you might be right that she’s innocent. In which case, you need to find out who’s really misrepresenting Peery Diamonds and framing Bianca to take the fall.”
That pulls me up short. I hadn’t considered the possibility that somebody could be framing Bianca. But she might have enemies, too. Julio? Darren, maybe? “You’re right. Somebody could be setting her up.”
I’m going to find out who, and when I do, oh boy are they going to pay. I pull out my phone and text the head of IT and cybersecurity. He’s a night owl and doesn’t come to work until at least noon.
–Me: Is it possible for you to pull all emails, texts and phone logs for Bianca Martin? I don’t want you to hack into her phone or anything. Nothing illegal.
I add the last part because Dex is a reformed hacker. But some of the employees whisper he still breaks into other people’s phones and whatnot for fun.
–Dex: Nothing illegal. Got it.
A few moments later, there’s another text.
–Dex: Turns out I don’t need to do anything illegal. I just checked and see she’s using a company phone. All the company stuff comes with a release allowing us to look into activity on the devices. They come with monitoring apps, which will make things simple.
–Me: When can you have the info?
–Dex: Twenty-four hours at the most. I’ll email you everything direct. Guess you don’t want Bianca to know about this.
–Me: No, I don’t. Not her, not anyone. Thanks.
