"You've been dodging us for two weeks." Priya pushed past me into the apartment before I could object. "That ends now."
"I've been busy."
"We work at the same place, Aria." Nalani followed her in, heading straight for my kitchen. "You haven't looked very busy to me. You've looked like you're sleepwalking through your life."
"I'm fine."
"You're clearly not fine." She started unpacking food containers, the smell ofpad thaifilling my small kitchen. "You came back from Maui looking like someone died, you won't talk about it, and you've been avoiding us like we're carrying the plague. So we're going to sit here, and we're going to eat, and you're going to tell us what the hell happened."
I wanted to argue. Insist I was handling it. I didn't need support, didn't need to process, didn't need anything except time and space and the ability to forget Sebastian Dubois had ever existed.
But I was tired. So tired of carrying this alone.
I sank into a chair.
"It's a long story."
"We brought two bottles of wine." Priya settled onto my couch, tucking her feet under her. "We have time."
So I told them.
All of it. From the beginning. The locked room. The beach. The nights tangled together in sheets that smelled like salt and sunshine. The way he'd looked at me like I was the only thing that mattered. The way I'd let myself believe it.
And then the meeting. Mr. Kahale's words. The threat I hadn't known about. The look on Sebastian's face when he realized what he'd done.
When I finished, the food was cold and the first bottle of wine was empty.
Priya's eyes were wide. "That's... a lot."
"I know."
"I can't believe he did that to you." Her voice had gone hard. "What an absolute ass. After everything you shared with him, after you let him in, and he was scheming the whole time?"
"Apparently."
"Men are trash." She reached for the second bottle of wine and poured herself a generous glass. "I always thought he seemed cold, but this is a whole other level. He played you."
"He did."
Nalani was quieter. She'd been listening with her head tilted, with that thoughtful expression she got when she was processing.
"And you're sure," she said slowly, "that he was trying to screw you over?"
I stared at her.
"I mean, it couldn't have been a misunderstanding? Some piece you're missing?"
"What's to misunderstand?" The words came out sharper than I intended. "He went behind my back. He threatened an old man. He tried to close the deal before I could even make my pitch."
"Did you ask him why?"
"I didn't need to ask. The facts speak for themselves."
"Do they?"
"Nalani." Priya shook her head in warning.
"I'm not defending him." Nalani held up her hands. "What he did was wrong. But think about the timeline. You said he made that threat after the first dinner, right? Before the locked room. Before anything happened between you."
