Page 89 of Cruel Hearts

There’s a swishing, and I shrink into the darkness of the room just in case she happens to look my way. She doesn’t, letting herself into the main room using the balcony doors near Mel.

I want to thank her for saying something, even if she made me feel like a complete and utter slimeball in the process, but Stella’s lost her forgiving nature. What Nathalie told her won’t make it come back.

Using the bedroom’s doorway, I leave the room, walk down the hallway, and reenter the main room. I slip inside, and Nathalie’s sitting next to Mel and they’re whispering over plates of tiramisu. Nathalie knows a lot about Ash’s escort service, Ladies and Gentlemen, and the shady dealings he has going on there. I hope Mel’s picking her brain for things we can use.

Any information will help.

“Does anyone know where Stella is?”

“She’s on the balcony,” Nathalie says, her fork poised over the dessert. She doesn’t give anything away.

I make another mug of coffee, my heart skittering. I shouldn’t talk to her now. I should let her think about what Nathalie said, but I miss her and I need to be close to her. Even if we don’t touch. Even if we don’t speak. I just need to hear her breathing. Inhale. Exhale.

Proof she’s alive, and she’s here. Safe.

I step onto the balcony, and she turns to me.

She’s lying on a lounger wearing a satin nightgown and thin robe. The material clings to her skin in the August heat, and perspiration shimmers on her skin.

“Hey,” I say and clear my throat.

“Hey. How did you sleep?”

“I dreamt you were with me.”

She doesn’t confess that she had been, for a little while.

“How’s Quinn?” I ask, leaning against the thick, concrete railing.

Stella smiles. “Crabby. Ornery. That’s Quinn. Thanks for paying for her medication.”

“You don’t have to thank me. She’s your friend, and I’ll do whatever you need.” I pause. “Why didn’t you introduce us? Before?”

Lifting a shoulder in an elegant shrug, she says, “She didn’t fit into your world. I didn’t feel like I fit, either.”

“Where you came from never bothered me, Stella. It only made me admire you, made me want to be a better person.” I flinch. I’ve proven anything but I’m a good person. “Can I sit with you? Just for a few minutes.” I don’t want to bother her if she doesn’t want me around. I know she’ll need time to learn to trust me again. It scares me she might not be able to.

“Okay.”

She doesn’t miss I shove the lounger closer to hers before I lie in it, but I settle onto the cushion and she doesn’t lean away.

The view is beautiful, and I can understand why she’s been lying out here for so long despite the heat and humidity.

“Did you eat?” I ask.

“Yeah. Mel ordered a lot of food. Did you?”

“I can’t. I won’t be able to eat until this is over.”

She touches my hand. “That might take a long time.”

“You don’t think it will go quickly?”

“The Blacks are rich and have powerful people behind them. You know that, Zane. We can’t underestimate anything or anyone. All anyone has done since your parents died is lie to you.”

She’s right. All that comes to mind when I think of Ash is my childhood friend. The guy who treated my sister like a princess because he loved her.

How much of our friendship was a lie?

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