Page 106 of I Knew You Were Trouble

I lift my head and glare at her incredulously.

‘Er, no, Margot. No, I’m not okay. I am so far from okay, I’d need apassportto get there. How is any of this even happening?Anyof it!’

I break away from her, crossing to the tall windows and staring out into the lush garden. ‘Less than a month ago, I was just living my life – happily living my life – just normal. All very normal,’ I say, my voice high and pitchy. ‘I went to work and I spent time with my friends and with you’ – I flap my hand over my shoulder towards Margot – ‘and I was engaged to a nice man – a man who Ithoughtwas nice – who I saw every few weeks and it was good. Life was good.’

I spin around and they’re all gawping at me, but I’m not finished, so I ignore their wide eyes and open mouths and start pacing the width of the room.

‘But thenyoushow up,’ I say, my hand shooting in Willem’s direction, ‘and you tell me the mostunbelievablenews. Like, full-on,bonkersnews. And if that weren’t enough,’ I say, rounding on him, ‘thenyou ask me to come here and present myself to your sister as living, breathing proof that our sodding, bloody arsehole of a fiancé was living a double life!’

Willem’s mouth snaps shut and he looks away, appearing sheepish.

‘But even that wasn’t enough… No, suddenly, I’m one ofthreeand I’m flying here, there and every-bloody-where, plotting and scheming as if this isCharlie’s Angelsand I’m Cameron bloody Diaz! Andtoday,I discover that my cousin and my fiancé’s other fiancée are in the midst of a love affair, something neither of them thought to tell me even though we’re in communication all the sodding time!

‘And, yes, Adriana, your brother and I have slept together. Was that misguided? Probably. Was the timing ideal? It was not. But did I enjoy every minute of it? I absolutely, bloody well did, yes. So, if you want to be pissed off at me, particularly in light of this latest development, you hypocrite, then go ahead.’

‘Kate—’

‘I’m not finished!’ I shout at Margot, who presses her lips together. ‘And you want to know the worst thing?Noneof this is me,’ I say, my arms thrown wide. ‘Noneof it – not the complications nor the messiness, not the running about and becoming embroiled in a revenge plot – a revenge plot of all things! It’s not even me to be standing here, screeching like a banshee. I’m typically calm and collected and… and… not, well, like this. And it isespeciallynot me to jump into bed with someone, simply because I fancy the hell out of them, knowing it would only complicate an already complicated situation and would be a stupid,stupidmistake!’

As the words leave my mouth, I realise I’ve gone too far, something confirmed by the hurt on Willem’s face.

‘Fuck!’ I gasp. ‘Willem, I?—’

He holds up his hand and I fall silent.

‘Lucia will be here soon. I’ll leave you all to talk.’

And he does. He leaves and the silence that fills the room is so epic, I can hear my heartbeat hammering in my ears.

What have I done?

* * *

‘Don’t worry, he doesn’t usually stay angry very long. He’ll calm down,’ says Adriana reassuringly. Only it’s not reassuring because I thought Willem was hurt, not angry. She sets a mug of coffee in front of me, made on her brother’s fancy machine.

‘Thank you,’ I say softly, the fight having left my body the moment Willem left this house.

Whydid I go off like that? How humiliating.AndI’ve upset Willem.

‘Ady,’ says Margot, scrutinising me from the other side of the dining table, ‘I think she’s going to need something stronger than that.’

She’s not wrong – a stiff whisky wouldn’t go amiss, but I’m not exactly in the position to make demands.

‘Okay. How about rum?’

‘Surelyyou’ve got something else?’ asks Margot with a laugh, not one to mince words. ‘I haven’t had that crap since uni days and if I catch even a whiff of it, we’ll be re-living Vomagedon 2006 before you can say, “Margot, don’t you dare throw up on that rug!”’

This makes me and Adriana laugh, and our eyes meet briefly before she looks away. I don’t blame her. When I was here last time, we found common ground; we were on the same side. But that was when we were entangled in a simple love triangle. Now that it’s become a lovehexagon– and far more complex than either of us could have foreseen – we seem to be back at square one. She’s wary of me and I’m at a loss for how to fix everything.

‘I’ll see what else we’ve got,’ Adriana says, crossing to the tall cabinet where they keep the liquor.

Margot leaps up and reaches past her. ‘This,’ she says, taking out a bottle of Redbreast.

‘Margot, no,’ I say, recognising the bottle immediately. Jon drank it – it’s very expensive and he ordered it nearly every time we went out. Of course, some places didn’t carry it and he’d always make a big to-do.

‘Not that one,’ says Adriana softly. She takes the bottle and places it back on the shelf.

‘Because of Jon?’ I ask.

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