Page 45 of Hateful Games

Nova will be none the wiser.

The next three or so hours quickly pass by as we pick out two risqué gowns with matching lingerie. Mine is, of course, black—with silver glitter lining on the edges from Oscar de la Renta. While Miya’s is a deep cherry red with a plunging neckline from Versace.

We also find a beautiful store with sexy and mysterious masks to complement our dresses. Miya says it fits the theme of ‘Monsters & Belles’. The anonymity that comes with hiding beneath a thin façade is a drug in itself.

I can be anyone I desire.

Anybody but Rosalie Kapoor.

A girl about to be locked in an invisible cage.

If a night is all I have to be a free bird, I want to be a temptress with the power to take the reins of her own life. Her body. Everything except her heart. That is locked away forever.

Miya sips on a latte as we stroll down the street, both my hands stuffed with our shopping bags from Gucci, Givenchy, and Balenciaga. Most of the stuff is for Bianca from her list.

“Where is this after-party happening and are you sure we won’t run into Nova or Malcolm?”

“It’s a little out of the city in a private mansion,” she replies, twisting around to walk backward. “Don’t stress about either of them. They’ll be too busy celebrating and getting shit-faced. You’re also forgetting everybody will be in a mask.”

“True.”

“I’ll come to pick you up as soon as you text me when they leave.”

Miya squints her eyes at something behind me. Afraid she’ll fall on her ass, I grab her arm and turn her around. The bags almost slipping from my hand. “If you trip, Miya, I’m not carrying you out of here.”

She doesn’t laugh or react. The frown on her face deepens as she thinks too hard, making me concerned. “Miya?” I mumble.

Blinking once, her gaze connects with mine as she pulls me closer and quietly warns, “Don’t freak out but I think a man is following us.”

“What?” I look around. My heart thumping faster. “Where?”

“Act normal, Rosalie.”

It’s dark. We’re on a quiet street with dark alleys in every which way. While probably a thug is planning to mug us. I’m carrying clothes worth thousands of pounds.

Sure, I’ll act all normal and stay calm.

“Are you sure?” I ask her.

“Pretty damn sure,” she replies. “It’s kinda hard to run into an Indian man in an all-black attire and believe it to be a coincidence. I saw him yesterday too.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me?” I gasp, shocked she would keep something like this to herself. A thug, I could handle, but a stalker? “What does he look like? Is he still behind us?”

Discreetly, Miya twists her neck once before facing forward again. “Yep.”

“Let me see.”

“Two stores behind. To your right.”

I stop on the side and act like I’m looking for something in one of the many bags. Casually, I peer in the direction Miya pointed and see a silhouette of a man standing in the shadows. I can’t make out his face from this distance but I feel his eyes on us with the angle he’s leaning.

Uneasiness spreads through my bones as I straighten.

“I think you’re right.”

Miya gives me a worried expression. “Let’s just quickly get home and tell Nova.”

“No.”

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