Page 92 of I Knew You Were Trouble

‘That’s why we wanted to tell you,’ Willem continues, ‘to prevent him from doing any more damage than he already has.’

‘But you don’t even know me,’ she says. ‘Why do you want to help me?Eitherof you.’ Her eyes land back on me, and from the way she’s asking, she’s not lobbing an accusation; she’s genuinely curious.

‘Because Jon is a snake and we don’t deserve his lies,’ I reply evenly.

Her expression softens slightly. ‘So, you were the first?’ she asks, and I only now notice her mild Italian accent.

I recall from Marie’s research that although Lucia was born and raised in England, she’s lived in Italy for the past decade.

‘Yes,’ I reply. ‘But it was fast – the courtship – so there’s a lot of overlap between us. And I have no idea if Jon has done anything like this in the past – strung several women along at once – but as far as we can tell, there are only three of us. For now, anyway.’

She nods. ‘And does he know you’ve caught him in the lie?’

‘No. As far as Jon’s concerned, Adriana and I are both in the dark.’

Her eyes narrow again and there’s a flash of intrigue. ‘You have a plan, don’t you?’

‘We do. And if you’re willing, we’d like you to be part of it.’

‘Will it make Jon pay for what he’s done?’

‘In more ways than one,’ I reply.

She nods, then puffs out her cheeks and exhales slowly. ‘I think I’ve always known,’ she says, her mouth bunching to the side. ‘Too good to be true – this handsome, worldly wine merchant enters my life, out of the blue… tells me how beautiful I am, how talented… how he wants to introduce me to his art-dealer friends… That’s why I thought he’d sent you.’ Her gaze lifts to the ceiling and she shakes her head at herself. ‘Sogullible.’

‘I felt exactly the same way when I found out – I still do, sometimes.’

‘Adriana too,’ says Willem.

‘But Jon’s lies are layered and textured and calculated,’ I continue. ‘For one, he’s not a wine merchant.Ora pilot,’ I say, pointing to myself, ‘or a diamond dealer, like he told Adriana.’

‘What is he then – besides abastard?’ she asks sarcastically.

There’s an explosion of laughter from the gallery and we all look towards the door.

‘Sorry,’ she says, ‘I should probably get back to my party.’

‘Before you do,’ I say, flicking a glance towards Willem, ‘there’s one more thing.’

‘Don’t tell me – he’s really an alien. No, no, a time traveller.’ She laughs at her own joke but soon realises we’re not laughing along and stops. ‘Just tell me,’ she says with resignation.

‘You’re seeing him tomorrow night, right?’ Willem asks.

‘How do you know that?’

‘Because Willem and a woman called Marie Maillot have been investigating Jon. That’s how we’ve pieced this together, and there’s every indication that he’s going to propose tomorrow night. Toyou.’

I probably didn’t need to clarify that last part, but I’m not exactly my most switched-on self at the moment. Though I’m not sure who would be in this situation.

There’s a beat of silence before Lucia erupts. ‘He’s going topropose? Well, he can fuck off. I’m not marrying that… that…stronzo.’

I have no idea whatstronzomeans, but I can guess.

‘Of course – no one would expect you to,’ I say. ‘But…’ I hesitate, because what I’m about to ask is big –enormous.

‘But?’ she prods.

‘But it’s better if Jon doesn’t get to propose in the first place.’

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