Page 57 of One Sweet Lie

“I want to.”I took the book.

“I’m not sure if I like you yet, Miss Hawthorne,” she said, leaning against my shoulder, “but I’ve decided that you don’t suck ass anymore.”

I held back a laugh and flipped to chapter one. “Thank you very much, Olivia.”

TWENTY-THREE

PIERCE

Subject: URGENT. OLIVIA.

Mr. Dawson,

I am sending this email because my secretary could not reach you on your phone.

We need you to pick up Olivia from school as soon as possible.

She’s facing a severe disciplinary suspension.

Thank you,

Headmaster Helen

I couldn’t affordto miss this afternoon’s meeting with the Jets head coach, so I called Harlow.

No answer.

I called her again.

Nothing.

Too impatient to wait for a callback, I tapped into the penthouse's new security system and selected the kitchen.

Harlow was standing near the oven barefoot, wearing another braless apron and shorts. The twins behind her were eating something yellow.

I called the phone near the window, and she immediately answered.

“Yes?”

“There’s something wrong with Olivia at school,” I said. “I need you to handle it.”

“Is she sick?”

“I don’t think so,” I said. “She looked fine this morning.”

“She did.” She sucked whipped cream off her finger.

I didn’t need to watch her on the security camera anymore, but I couldn’t help myself.

“Hello? Are you still there?”

“Yes.” I cleared my throat. “I’ve donated quite a bit of money to this school, and the headmaster did me a huge favor by letting her attend. Tell her I’ll handle whatever the problem is at home.”

“What if it’s something simpleIcan handle?”

“Can you please, for once, follow my directions to the letter?” I rolled my eyes. “I’ve let the fucking disposable diapers slip, but I’m not allowing anything else.”

“You knew about those?” She gasped. “They’re always wearing the cloth diapers when you get home.”

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