Page 92 of Truth

The look she gave me told me she understood more than she probably should, and it made me wonder if she’d ever been abused.

“Here we go.”

I wasn’t going to lie. The waxing hurt, especially between my legs. However, it wasn’t nearly as painful as I remembered. I wasn’t sure if that was because of Julie, or if it had to do with me.

Lily went to pay, but then I remembered Stephan had told me to use his card. I placed my hand on her arm, stopping her. “What is it?”

Pulling out the card, I held it up to her. “Stephan gave me this to pay.”

She considered for a moment and then nodded. “Come on. I’ll have them separate the charges.”

The wind had picked up by the time we left the salon. It looked like it might rain, so we hurried to the car. “Good thing I always carry an umbrella.”

Lily was always prepared. I wished I could be that way. It seemed like it was Stephan who always looked out for me and made sure things were taken care of.

Thinking of him made me smile.

“I know who’s on your mind.” Lily smirked as she pulled out into traffic.

I blushed.

“I’m going to assume by that blush things are going well between you two.”

I nodded.

Lily glanced over at me. “I’ll let you in on a little secret, Brianna. This is the part where you tell your friend all the things you can’t talk about to anyone else. This is girl time.”

“Oh. Um...”

“You can tell me anything.” She paused. “Or if you have questions, I’ll try to help. That’s how it works.”

“Okay.” I was quiet for a few minutes as I tried to gather my thoughts. There was only one thing I really wanted to ask her. One thing I’d been dying to know the answer to. “Lily?”

“Yes?”

“How... how do I tell Stephan that... that I love him?”

Stephan

I was trying my very best to stay out of Michael’s office. He would come find me once he was done analyzing Ian’s statements. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have anything else to do.

At five o’clock, I forced myself to go home without making a detour to our new CFO’s office. Being so close to having something that would put Ian Pierce behind bars was driving me crazy. I knew I needed to exercise patience. A distraction would have been good. Unfortunately, I was going home to an empty condo since Brianna was out shopping with Lily. I couldn’t even call Logan to come keep me company since he was still out of town until the following day.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into my condo was the smell of food. Warm food. Going into the kitchen, I found a note on the counter in Brianna’s handwriting.

I made dinner. Everything is in the crockpot. I hope you like it.

It was signed Brianna.

I smiled. She was taking care of me even when she wasn’t there.

Lifting the lid of the crockpot, something in my kitchen I’d never used before, I saw a small roast, potatoes, and carrots simmering in brown gravy. If it tasted half as good as it smelled, I doubted there would be much, if any, left by the time she returned home.

Dinner was lonely. I was used to having her there with me. Even if we didn’t typically talk much as we ate, her presence alone made a difference. I missed her.

I took my time cleaning up, even wiping down the already spotless counters. Once that was finished, I was at a loss. Sitting in my chair, reading a book, or watching television didn’t hold any appeal without her, so I grabbed my laptop and went upstairs to my study. Maybe I could at least get some work done.

It was almost eight o’clock when I heard the door downstairs open. Without thinking, I was already on my feet and headed down the stairs.

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