Page 53 of Dauntless

“I am, and I don’t want company,” I replied and crossed my arms.

“I won’t take too much of your time, and I’d like to explain what happened, please. A short chat and coffee?” She had only one local brew cup in her hand and held it higher. “I had two, but your guard threw your cup away.”

“I’ll let his boss know he deserves a raise,” I said and sighed as I waved her inside. “You can take a seat.” The bell in the kitchen went off. “That’s my dinner. I’ll need to turn it off before it burns. Wait here, and I’ll be right back, okay?” I walked back inside.

She followed behind me. “We can talk in the kitchen since you’re preparing your dinner. Do you need help?”

“No, thanks,” I replied stanchly and turned off the oven and removed the chicken out to cool on the top burner.

“Can I have some?” she asked holding up my glass of wine.

I shrugged “Go ahead.”

She nodded and poured herself a glass. Then she drained it.

I took a sip of mine and put it down.

“Let me start by saying I’m sorry for what Marco did to you,” she said and touched her lips. “I didn’t have any choice. I was scared. I don’t have friends around me like you do.”

“You had me, and Astrid and my friends would have helped you too,” I replied. “You weren’t alone.”

“They have your video, but you’re not the only one that they have,” she replied. “They have a video of me too.”

I frowned. “They do?”

“Yes,” she said her eyes downcasted. “My videos had me with married men at orgies. I didn’t know or ask at the time, but they sure showed me. The men’s faces were blurred, like yours, but there’s always someone who would recognize one of them. My reputation would’ve been absolutely destroyed if they leaked it.”

“But my life is the one that’s ruined,” I pointed out, my frown deepening.

“It’s not,” she said irritably. “You’ve always been the lucky one. Granted Patrick turned out to be an ass, but you had two good-looking men fall all over you. Your company is still going strong… It seems like with everything bad that happens, you find a way to make it good for you.”

I blinked. I never thought of Liz as envious. “It’s not like Perfetto isn’t suffering or that Patrick didn’t threaten to sue me. I just thought I had to try to fight back and help those I care about.” I tried to explain.

“You did it because you could afford to,” she said bitterly. “You’ve always been wealthy. You have a trust fund and money to start your own cosmetics company.”

“Even with money I had to get investors,” I pointed out. “I have worked hard too. I don’t even have access to that trust fund, you know that.”

She scoffed. “You still have the money, and your father helped you. I didn’t have any of that. I didn’t have anything to fall back on if my business were to fall apart. You say I could just walk away from my business and start over after they have destroyed it, but you never for once thought some of the other women and I might suffer a harder time than you.”

“That’s not true,” I replied, my voice rising. “My reputation is damaged. I just chose not to lie down and take it. It’s hardly over, but I either give up or fight.”

“Unlike me?” she said and snorted. “All the rest of us are weak. But you’d be thinking differently if you had no money to fall back on… I had at first thought it was wrong that I had been made to send you that sex video, but then I thought maybe it would be good to knock you down a few pegs. Now you can see that you’re no better than the rest of us.”

I clenched my teeth. I couldn’t believe Liz’s behavior, but I was having no more of it. “If that’s how you feel about me and what happened, you can get the hell out of my house.”

She lifted her chin. “Oh, I’m going.”

Liz followed as I led her to the front door. When I opened it and found Loren standing there, my eyes widened in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

She fidgeted her eyes shifting around. “I’m sorry to come over uhm without calling first, but well, you did the same to me, didn’t you? I… I have something I didn’t share last time that might help your case.”

“I left my bowl the last time I was here,” Liz said and hurried back toward the kitchen.

“You’ll get it when you bring back the red shawl you borrowed,” I yelled back at her. So, I can destroy it. I rubbed my temples. What was I thinking? I looked back at Loren who was chewing on her lip. Her green eyes, watery. “Come in.”

I showed her in, and when she took a seat on the couch, I went to find Liz, who walked back in with her arms folded. “I couldn’t find it. I’ll come by for it later.”

“I’ll mail it to you,” I said sharply and motioned her toward the door. “I have company.”

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