“The Jacqueline Reed … they are not—” She’s cut off by a knock on the door, leaving me to guess at what she was about to say.
“Annalise,” Isabelle greets the woman standing at the door.
I know that name.
“Hey, Isabelle, sorry I’m late,” the second woman greets.
When Isabelle steps aside, I come face to face with a woman about my same height at five-seven, light brown almost bronze skin, freckles, and dazzling red hair.
“I can take it from here. Thank you for everything,” she tells Isabelle.
I squint as the pieces of this puzzle start to come together.
“Hello, welcome.” Annalise turns to me, a reserved smile playing on her lips. “I’m?—”
“Travis’ sister,” I reply. I shake the hand she offers. “And assistant.”
“My reputation precedes me.” She nods toward the living room. “I’ve come to relieve Isabelle. Well, honestly, I would’ve been here earlier, but I had a few calls I needed to take on behalf of Travis.”
“I bet,” I mumble.
She frowns.
“Then this whole thing,” I wave my hand around, gesturing to the apartment, “is because of your brother?”
Annalise pauses, giving me an assessing once over, before pushing out a heavy breath. “He didn’t tell you?”
I let out a laugh that lacks humor. “I should’ve known.”
I turn to the stare out of the sliding glass doors at the glorious view. However, I don’t see the palm trees, stone buildings, or the windy road that crawls around the entirety of the country.
What I see before me are flashbacks from New York when Travis had casually insisted that I move to Monaco, like it was a move from one city block to another. After I told him that would not be happening, he got deceptively quiet.
“Has he been planning this for a month?” I ask at the same time I recall him mentioning the OB-GYNs that he’d found here in Monaco.
Annalise doesn’t say anything, at first, as she comes up to stand beside me.
“What I’m gathering from the annoyance in your voice is that he never mentioned this is his apartment,” she confirms my suspicions.
I pivot to her.
“I’m not living here.”
There’s no way I can live in this man’s luxurious apartment.
“Does he really expect me just to move in with him? We’re practically strangers.” The words feel foolish coming out of my mouth.
Travis and I aren’t strangers, not anymore. That was destroyed the moment we sat in Dr. Slosher’s office and he held my hand as we listened to our baby’s heartbeat.
Still, we’re not a couple or in any sort of relationship beyond the concerns of our child.
“Is that what you think?”
The question surprises me.
Not so much the question itself but the fact that it’s in response to a comment I hadn’t meant to say out loud.
When my eyes meet Annalise’s again, I can’t help but to think, for a split second, that I’m staring into Travis’ eyes. His sister’s eyes are hazel whereas his are seafoam but there’s an unmistakable similarity. Something inside of my chest shifts, and I suddenly wish that it was Travis standing here in front of me, not his sister.
