Page 69 of Snake

“Exactly. Us girls, we gotta look after ourselves.” I hand her the purse. “You got it from here?”

I turn, about to leave, when she grabs my arm.

“You’re wrong.”

My eyebrows shoot up. How can a kid her age sound like an authority on the matter? “Am I?”

“He’s not a bad guy.”

“Suddenly everyone’s an expert,” I mutter, pulling my arm out of her grip. “Cecelia, trust me on this. When you get older, your bullshit radar gets a little more accurate.”

Those blue eyes don’t belong to a child anymore. She gives me such a reproachful look, I take a step back before I can steel myself. “There’s not good, and then there’s bad. You know when you’ve met a reallybad guy, because he gives you nightmares that make you wet the bed.” Cecelia tips up her chin, eyes almost level with mine. “I hope you never meet a proper bad guy, because you’ll never be the same.”

I watch her leave with wide eyes, and let out a peeved huff as I turn to check my reflection.

Why do I look a little paler than before? Probably just the lighting in here. Definitely nothing to do with Cecelia’s haunting words.

Especially because I know who she was talking about.

As I step out of the bathroom, Romi turns in my direction and almost runs into me. I wish Mason was around to see, because then I could point out how I’m not the only one who goes around bumping into people.

Instead, I throw my arms around her and give her a hug.

“Nim! There you are!” Her voice is muffled until I pull back. “I’ve been looking for you all over.”

“I’m on a balcony.” I look down at her and whistle. “Damn, girl!”

She twists shyly for me, holding up her skirt with a white-gloved hand. Her gown is pure white, setting off the olive tone of her skin and her rich brown hair. “Thank you! It’s a Louis Vuitton.”

I double-blink. “Wow.”

She giggles and then bats playfully at my arm. “Oh, go on, Miss Modesty. Like you’re not turning every head in this place with that Valentino of yours.” She leans in conspiratorially. “How much?”

“I couldn’t even guess.”

Romi stares at me a second before bursting out a laugh. “Oh my God, you’re a fucking riot. Hey, come, I want you to meet my parents.” She drags me after her as she weaves her way through the crowd.

We come to a small clearing in the forest of bodies pressed together on the ground floor, and Romi stands on her toes to see over the crowd. “That’s weird. I swear they were here just a second ago.”

That’s when I notice Vicky. There’s a small gathering around her, but she’s got a few inches on almost everyone there except one man. I point at her. “Maybe Vicky’s seen them?”

“Oh, yeah.” When she sinks down, Romi’s eyes are serious. “Did you speak to her?”

I nod. “I’ll catch you up later.”

Romi looks disappointed, but pulls me through the crowd toward Vicky. Vicky sees us approach, and swans away from her guests with an apologetic sweep of her arm.

“Nim.” She rakes me over with her eyes. “Don’t you look stunning.”She still hadn’t emerged from upstairs by the time the six of us left her house earlier today.

“Have you seen my parents, Mrs. Pellegrino?” Romi asks.

It’s so weird hearing that name come out of her mouth and knowing that it’s Knox’s last name too. That Romi knew all along, but neither of us knew she knew.And she probably assumed that I did, so never told me.

“They’ve left. Your mother said she wasn’t feeling well.”

“Oh.” Romi looks crestfallen. “I wanted her to meet Nim.”

Vicky looks at me, her smile frozen into place. “Nim isn’t going anywhere.”

---