Page 83 of Guarded By the Phantom

“This is precious,” I cackled, handing it to Nat. “She wants me to pay fifty grand for breaching our contract. Apparently, I cussed on the job.”

My mood soured at once when I considered how Clarissa Ashford could have found out. I only cussed with one person—Barbara. That meant my bitchy doll had not only trampled all over my heart, she also went and snitched on me to her mommy.

“Fuck, I want to kill that bitch,” I growled, my fury and pain rising all over again.

Nat looked up, unmoved. “Who? Clarissa Ashford?”

“No! Her fucking daughter. She told on me!”

He shook his head, pointing at the letter. “It says here you were recorded breaching the contract while on the assignment. Apparently, they have sound files they will present in court if you refuse to pay the fine. It might be a bluff, though. A court case means negative publicity.”

I snatched the letter out of his hand and read it through, carefully this time. Yes, it said I was recorded onone instance.So—what? Barbara recorded me? When? I would have noticed. I only cussed with her when we were pretty close, then intimate. So, what else? Someone else recorded me? Or maybe there were devices in the house I didn’t know about?

“What are you thinking?” Nat asked, interrupting my frantic train of thought.

I didn’t want to say it. My hope, which I thought had died a grisly death, raised its head and sniffed the roses. Or, more accurately, the stink of my filthy place but—same thing. Yet could I even hope again? It would be dumb. Stupid. I’d already suffered enough.

But then, what else was there?

“Nat, what if they forced her to break up with me?” I asked slowly, refusing to look at him for fear of seeing pity on his face. Pity for my naïve, stupid hope. “What if… If we weresomehow recorded and they found out I fucked her… And… And what if they threatened her? Like, her mother already did that, threatened to have her committed in some rich folk asylum if she didn’t behave. So… It’s not impossible, right?”

“I think you’d need to find out,” Nat said, his face perfectly impassive and judgment-free when I looked up.

“How?” I asked, crumpling the letter in frustration. “She said she doesn’t want to see me anymore.”

He grinned. “Scarab, your code name is the Phantom. You can be fucking invisible if you want.”

I clenched my jaw, looking back at the letter. Most likely, it was nothing. Just me being an idiot and making up wild theories to lessen my horrible pain.

But then, it could be something, too.

Chapter 28

Barbara

Istood in front of the mirror in my bridal suite. It shocked me how perfect I looked, my cheeks rosy, eyes big and glistening, lips red. The makeup did a great job hiding the evidence of all the sleepless nights I spent crying into my pillow. The dress lay perfectly, too. My mother had already praised me for finally getting around to losing those last ten pounds.

It was shocking how easy weight loss was when misery kept you from eating.

As she came over, her heels clicking, and stood behind me, I smiled automatically. It was all I did these days: smile, smile,smile.No one needed me to speak, it seemed, including my groom. He liked looking at me, though. He stared lecherously when I smiled or danced, even though I was just going through the motions, none of it bringing me joy.

I held on to my last freedom when I refused to kiss him, hinting at my shyness and good breeding. But even that freedom would end soon. We would get married in fifteen minutes.

“There you go,” my mother said softly, smiling back at my reflection. “See how easy it is? Mother always knows best. You will be so happy.”

I wanted to scratch the smile off my face and scream that she was wrong, but I didn’t move. Her terms were very clear. If I stopped being agreeable, she’d send her assassins to kill Scarab, and I couldn’t risk it. I had to protect him at all costs. Even if that cost was letting Adonis Landizza claim me as his wife and touch me with his slimy hands tonight.

And so I nodded, murmuring a quiet thank you. Her smile widened, and she embraced me from behind, sighing happily.

“Finally, you came around,” she said, pulling back to smooth out the white lace covering my arm. “Here is the daughter you should have always been. I’m so proud of you. I knew I did the right thing.”

I nodded again, bile burning my throat. It shocked me that she believed in my transformation when she herself knew that I was only doing it because she threatened the man I loved. But maybe I was better at fooling people than I thought. I certainly did a great job with Phantom. He believed I used him and didn’t try to contact me at all. I was so grateful. He was safe.

“Adonis will do right by you,” she said, fussing with my white veil that cascaded down my back from an elaborate updo the hairstylist managed to coax out of my nape-long hair. “So much better than that disgusting monster. He didn’t care about you at all. See? I saved you from so much heartbreak.”

I still said nothing, focusing on keeping a pleasant expression on my face. It was harder the longer she spoke.

“If he had truly loved you, he would have fought for you,” my mother said, as if sensing my quiet dissent. “But he only cares about himself, which is always the way with trash. Did you know he disappeared a week ago? We sent him a fine for breaking theterms of his contract, and that cockroach fled instead of paying. He’s probably out of the country by now. You dodged a bullet.”

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