“I did.” A lump forms in my throat. “And I think part of me still does.”
The girls gasp. Aria has stars in her eyes, hugging a book to her chest like she’s listening to a fairy tale.
Scarlett squeezes my arm. “And that’s a problem because?”
I don’t answer them.
How do I explain the side of me that’s getting used to the violence and unhingeness, or how my heart still skips a beat whenever he walks into a room? Or how I had mind-blowing sex with him while his hands were stained with someone else’s blood?
Instead, I sip my tea. Warmth spreads down my throat, loosening my chest.
“This stuff works,” I mumble. “No ginseng needed.”
“What did I tell you?” Scarlett winks.
I smile weakly. “Yes, yes. You’re an herbalist magician. A sorceress.”
The door opens; the bell rings. Heels click slowly across the floor. A floral, exotic perfume suffuses the air.
I glance up and freeze.
Sofia Kent.
She slides off her sunglasses. Red nails gleam under the light. Green eyes, lined in black and framed with thick lashes, snare mine. She’s almost unrecognizable in a red sweater dress and thigh-high boots.
God, I’m so stupid. Sofia didn’t even change her first name. And puberty and surgery can only transform appearances so much.
“You can close your mouth now, Lana,” she says.
The girls shuffle aside, and I introduce them.
Sofia turns to me, her gaze cool. “You look like shit. Do you have a few?”
Scarlett and Aria take the hint and leave.
“Hot damn, what happened to the graceful Sofia from The Orchid?”
“She never existed. It’s been a drag pretending otherwise.”
Aria sets a cup in front of Sofia.
Sofia pulls a flask from her purse and adds a splash to her tea. I can’t help staring. Our paths don’t cross often, but she’s helped Elias oversee some clubs at The Orchid before. But the Sofia I rememberwas quiet and sophisticated—someone who blended in. And then there was Kian’s younger sister who used to follow me around?
Definitely not this femme fatale in front of me.
“You have questions.”
“That’s an understatement,” I say.
“Well, too bad—we don’t have time. You need to prepare for the Benefaction. How much do you know?”
“Not much. Only it’s a big event, and the Carusos will be there. Something about The Six, which I presume is important to The Association.”
“That’s right.” She leans in. “The Association is like the Freemasons and Illuminati combined. They have their hands in government, politics, corporations, finance. Their dirty work is done by organized crime, the Bratva, mob—”
“They control everything, I get it.”
She arches her brow. “I underestimated you, Lana. Honestly, I never thought you’d survive this long.”
