Page 89 of The Masks She Wore

?That was her biggest fear. Us dying because of our hearts.

?Don’t worry, Zo, Rae won’t say a word, I’ll make sure of it.

?“Rae, where did you go to school?”

?She inhaled deeply and rolled her eyes. “Brentwood,” she answered, picking at the table.

?“Where did you meet Viv?”

?She shifted in her seat and spread her legs a little more. “10thgrade, physics class. She sat in the fourth row from the door, 8thseat up.”

?I slid my hand around the inside of her thigh, a sigh escaping her lips as her eyes fluttered, her hands relaxing in her lap again.

?“Homework must have come in by the ton, but you told Jack you learned a few different languages from your nanny, Donna. When did she teach you that?”

?She started picking again, this time at her skin. “The weekends, early mornings.”

?My brows furrowed as she shifted again, her muscles tensing.

?“You didn’t have time for friends, did you?”

?“No,” she answered, squeezing her thighs together and letting them fall apart again, her nails digging into the meat around her thumb. “Viv is—was all I had,” she corrected.

?My eyes lifted to Zo, and she noticed it too, the shifting, the picking. Nervousness.

?“Rae,” Zo went on, leaning over the table again. “Hey, look at me.”

?Her eyes shifted to Zo’s, hardening as much as they could in her exhausted state.

?“Are you lying to us?”

?“No,” she bit, relaxing back in her chair. “I’m not lying. My mom was gone all the time, Donna raised me. My driver dropped me off and picked me up from school all the time. That’s what I remember.”

?I know it bothered her. Finding out everything she had a week ago, but as Zo kept asking questions, I was starting to question myself. This wasn’t a girl who had the ability to lie this well, not to me. This was something else entirely.

?Zo studied her for a moment before nodding. “Okay. Your mom was an art dealer, she must have brought home pieces for you when she visited. Do you know where they are?”

?She flexed her thighs again, picking at her nails. “Um…” she closed her eyes, thinking back, her body tensing.

?Seconds ticked by before she finally remembered. “Oh, there was a storage unit. Unit…447,” she decided, opening her eyes again. “Downtown, that’s where she put the gifts she brought me.”

?I turned to her and grabbed her jaw, forcing her head around until our eyes locked. I searched them, saw the exhaustion in them, the redness in the whites of her eyes. She didn’t have the energy to lie.

?She glared at me anyway.

?“Who do you belong to?” I asked, watching her carefully.

?“Jack,” Zo groaned. “Come on.”

?I ignored her. “Answer the question, Princess.”

?Her entire body slowly relaxed, her pupils growing, her shoulders falling, her glare fading away, her hands relaxing in her lap. “You,” she breathed out, her eyes filling. “I belong to you.” A truth she couldn’t deny no matter how hard she tried.

?Fuck, I loved when she said that. “What is your mom’s name?”

?Her body tensed, her fingers picking at her bare legs, the muscles in her face hardening, but not in a glare, she was still feigning truth. “Marla Bennett,” she whispered.

?I nodded, unsure what was happening here. Unsure what was happening in her head, what was happening in her life. I’d figure it out soon enough though, and when I did, anyone who had a part to play in this would pay their dues.

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