“Uh, did you have trouble today with attendance?” Wow, I sounded like a total idiot, and my face flushed.
Samantha ate it up and crossed one leg over the other as she watched me, like she was the predator and I was the prey.
“No. I know how to click buttons and hit submit. Is that all?”
“What are you doing here?” I asked her, but Christopher didn’t understand. He tilted his head and scowled.
He cleared his throat and put his attention back on the woman in front of him, his gaze softening and his tone getting playful. “Ignore her.”
Samantha didn’t look his way once. She slid off the desk, curved her bright-pink lips into a smile, and held out her hand. “You must be Gilly Carter. I’m thrilled to see you. I’m a volunteer at the school and have heardsuchinteresting things about you.”
My teeth hurt as my stress doubled in size, making my lungs work overtime for each breath. It felt like drinking molasses, and I leaned into the doorway as she got closer. I was not supposed to see her again, ever. The fact she was in the same zip code as Fritz made me think about dark things. Like punching her in the face over and over. For a normally relaxed person, I had felt more anger and fury in the past week than in my entire life. Damn Christopher and Samantha.
“Let’s chat about how I can help your class, hm?” she asked.
Christopher frowned in our direction and arched one dark eyebrow as Samantha looped her arm in mine and guided us out of his room. Shame at my lack of response was enough to make me choke on my words, and it wasn’t until she shut my classroom door that words seemed to form.
“Why are you here?”
“Why do you think, Gil?” she asked, smiling and eyeing my desk. She ran a finger over the edge and picked up one of my staplers. “You seem to be doing well. Got the award, the classroom that looks like Pinterest fucked Hobby Lobby.” She tapped her nails on the top of the desk before crossing her arms and leaning against it. “I need money, and I know you have it.”
“It was a onetime thing,” I said, noting how she looked more tired than she did six months ago when I handed her cash. She had gotten into her beat-up car without a backward glance and kept her word. Fritz said she never responded to any of his calls, and even though my heart broke into two seeing him like that, what she was doing was unacceptable. Me making her go away was the better option. She got what she wanted—money—and he never learned that the relationship was an entire con.
“Oh, honey, no, it wasn’t. You know I can waltz back into Fritz’s life and make him fall for me? You don’t think I knew about the engagement ring?” She laughed and moved to run her hands over the sticker chart on the wall. “If you don’t get me cash, I will return, and we can be family. Yay.”
No, that couldn’t happen. “I don’t have access to it.”
“Stop bullshitting me. You were always a shit liar, hon.” She spun around, and the amusement left her face. Instead, a desperate anger made her features contort into pure ugliness. Red splotches on her cheeks, her eyes narrowed into slits. “I need five thousand dollars now.”
God, my whole chest tightened with worry. She couldn’t return to Fritz. I refused to let her hurt him even more, and I coughed to buy myself another second. “I’m not bullshitting you, Samantha. I froze my funds. I don’t have access until the end of the month. I can show you the damn email if you don’t believe me.”
“Why would you freeze your funds?” Her brows pulled together, like I’d told her I hated puppies or something.
“It doesn’t matter why,” I said, hating that I put myself into this position in the first place. I hadencouragedFritz to date her, see her, try a real relationship with her. The woman I’d thought she was charmed me and made me feel like we were friends too. It wasn’t just Fritz she betrayed, but I, at least, had myself to blame.
She studied me for a second, teeth on her bottom lip, before she nodded. “Fine. Let’s see if little Miss Carter follows through at the end of the month. Good thing I’m here every day helping you and Christopher out. God, that man isfine.What’s his story? He rich too?”
I swallowed down bile. “No, he’s not. Not even a little bit.” My voice came out louder than I intended, and of course, she caught it.
Her pupils grew as her gaze moved from me to the wall I shared with Christopher. “So, you and him, huh?”
She’s searching for a weak point.
“Um, no. Hell no.” I shook my head for emphasis, but it only made her laugh more. “You might be the devil, but you’re not an idiot.”
Her eyes flashed, and she crossed her arms. “Interesting,” she said, drawing out the word. “Seemed like there was some leftover tension in the room.”
“Not leftover, just regular tension. We don’t get along. It can happen.”
“Right,” she said, taking a deep breath as she chewed on the side of her mouth. “Does Christopher know your past, heiress? Does anyone at this dingy school know you’re a walking bank account with money that’s not yours?”
I blinked. “Yes,” I lied, my heart beating so hard there was no way she didn’t hear it. It thudded so fast it made my throat shake. “They know.”
“You and your brother share the same inability to lie.” Her eyes lit up, and she clapped. “Oh, this is delicious. No one knows about your wealth.”
“They do, and they don’t care.”
“Gilly, you naïve heiress,of coursethey care.” She tilted her head to the side and gave me the biggest, fake smile I had ever seen on her. “You and Fritz are entitled, spoiled adults who waltz around without a care in the world. You didn’t even earn your money—it wasgiven to you.You are nothing more than a means to an end, and if you think differently, you truly are pathetic. You might judge me, but at least I know what I want in relationships—money and security. You and Fritz? You think y’all can find love? You can’t. You’re a bank account.”
