Page 28 of Failure to Match

Ugh. It was such a long story, though. And I was so sleepy. It was half-past eleven and Toebeans was already curled up beside me, snoring softly.

I let out a heavy sigh. “Can it wait until we’re back in the same time zone so we can talk about it over a bottle of wine? I’m dying and Satan-clair’s day starts at, like, five in the morning.”

She was disappointed. I knew she was disappointed because her eyes flicked away from me right away, the one corner of her mouth dipping.

I couldn’t blame her. I’d been so busy with this stupid file and her internet access was so annoyingly shit, that we’d only had one or two conversations last longer than fifteen minutes in a month. The worst part? The majority of what we talked about was how I was still struggling.That’show much space I’d allowed my job and one stupid client to take up in my life.

The anger and resentment rooted in the pit of my chest flared again, making my mouth taste bitter.

“I’m sorry, Ree.” I swallowed back the raw emotion kicking at my throat. “I know this was supposed to be our catch-up session, I just…”

“It’s okay,” she said with a sigh. “The time zone thing is a bitch and none of these stupid islands have any Wi-Fi. It’s supposed to be on purpose, for guests to disconnect and yada yada yada, mental health. It’s not your fault.”

I adjusted my feet under the duvet, tucking one behind the other. “Right, but I’ve also just been so exhausted that… I mean, even at your wedding?—”

“None of that,” she said. “I don’t want to hear another apology over it. I already said it was okay.”

Was it okay though? Because falling asleep at your best friend’s wedding reception felt very much like it stepped intonot okayterritory.

It was only for a minute, and it happened while I was waiting for her on the couch just outside the bathroom, but still. It felt very, extremely not okay to me.

I’d almost cried when she’d gently nudged me awake and offered to take me upstairs to my hotel room so I could get some rest. Even thinking about it now made me feel like shit.

“I’ll make it up to you,” I promised. “When you’re back, I’ll make up for all the… for how I’ve been over the last eight months.”

The Immersive would be over before Ria and Adrien were back, and I was going to quit my job at Charmed as soon as I received the second half of my bonus. And then I’d make it up to her.

To my parents.

To myself.

Ria pressed her lips together, shaking her head once. “We’ll talk about this when I get home. You’re doing that thing where you’re being unreasonably hard on yourself, and I havethoughts.”

I huffed a little laugh. Of course she did. If nothing else, Ria hadthoughts. Always, and about everything. And I couldn’t fucking wait to hear them. Right after I finished exacting my revenge on Jackson Sinclair.

She was going to be so proud of me, bloodthirsty as she was.

8

It was significantly worsethan I thought. And that was saying something because my expectations had beenlowlow.

Jackson Sinclair was the epitome of someone who had way too much money and not nearly enough self-sufficiency. I’d been shadowing him for just under three hours and I genuinely couldn’t believe someone actually lived like this. He had “a person” for almost everything. It was beyond excessive.

His breakfast was prepared by his personal chef.

His workout was dictated and supervised by his personal trainer.

His outfit—which had been hand-picked in advance by his personal shopper—was laid out for him by his personal maids.

His hair was styled by his personal barber, whoalso shaved his morning stubble for him. (This one really got me.)

And finally, his personal driver drove us to his office, where his personal assistant, Savannah, was waiting for him with his morning coffee and a perfectly rehearsed briefing of his schedule for the day.

It was seamless. His team was more organized than, like, certain branches of the military, I assumed with absolutely no knowledge of the subject whatsoever.

“And this is your desk,” Savannah said to me once she’d finished Jackson’s briefing. “ThePAbutton on your phone is linked directly to mine, in case you ever need anything. Minerva specifically requested it.”

She said that last part quietly, her head dipping like it was supposed to be our little secret. The smile and wink that followed confirmed it.

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