Page 120 of I Knew You Were Trouble

‘Well, it was more of a hiss,’ says Ursula, and it’s clear she’s getting a kick out of this, ‘but she said I was obviously delusional, and she had no idea what I could possibly be talking about.’

‘What a piss-weak comeback,’ I say. Oops – forgot who I was talking to. ‘Sorry, that was crass.’

‘It is, but I agree – itwasa piss-weak comeback, as you say. Anyway, I gave her my death stare,’ she says, demonstrating, ‘then reached into my handbag and took out the invoices for three identical engagement rings – all charged to Jon Dunn, of course – and handed them over.’

‘Did she get it right away, or did you have to make the connection for her?’

‘Oh, she might have figured it out eventually, but rather than wait for her dull synapses to fire, I took great pleasure in pointing to Dunn’s name and saying, “You matchedthisman with one of the Ever After Agency’s clients, and he is not who he says he is. He’s a fraud and if you had one ounce of professionalism in that bony little body of yours, you wouldn’t havedaredmatch him withanyone!”’

‘Wow. Remind me never to piss you off.’

‘Poppy, if you keep saying “piss” you will piss me off,’ she says with a slight quirk of her left brow.

‘Sorry. So, what happened after that? Did she leave? Didyouleave?’

‘On the contrary, I continued to hand her proof – pages and pages of indisputable evidence that Perfect Pairings wasawareof Dunn’s proclivities but disregarded them in favour of his enormous fee.’

‘Wow, that’s even worse! And where did you getthatinforma—Oh, Marie.’

‘Mm-hmm. And as Clarissa sat there red-faced, looking as if she mightexplode, I outlined my terms for keeping mum.’

‘Which were?’ I asked, rivetted. I knew she’d planned to confront Clarissa Blackheart, but I hadn’t known there would beterms.

‘First, that she issue Kate Whitaker a full refund for their so-called services.’

‘Well, that’s good – Kate will be pleased – and what else?’

‘That Perfect Pairings conduct a thorough audit of their database and weed out any other undesirables. They have three months. You know, if this were any other industry, we’d report them to the governing body. As it is, we need to self-regulate!’

‘Agreed, and awesome job, Ursula.’

‘Why, thank you,’ she replies, bowing her head. ‘Now, your turn,’ she says, a glint in her eye. ‘Tell me where you’re at with the rest of the case.’

28

KATE

Today’s the day. I’m meeting Adriana, Lucia, and Poppy at the Langham this afternoon to confront Jon.

Surprisingly, this past week has flown by, which I attribute to two things: I threw myself into work – even more so than usual – and I actively ignored the gaping hole in my inbox where messages from Willem would be if I hadn’t cocked things up.

I know I need to apologise – ofcourseI do – but the moment I said goodbye to Poppy on Sunday, I had a stark realisation: I need to apologise in person. If I want things to work out with Willem, I’ll need to look him in the eye so he can see how truly sorry I am.Andhow much I feel for him. I’m not sure if it’s love – not yet, anyway – but whatever it is, it’s worth fighting for.

But before I can apologise to Willem with all the care and sincerity he deserves, I must say my piece to Jon and put him and his lies behind me, once and for all.

As I wait for the kettle to boil, I check my messages.

Adriana and Lucia posted to our group chat overnight, saying they missed me at dinner. They both arrived in London yesterday and had invited me to join them, but I already had plans with Margot at mine. Besides, I wasn’t really in the mood for a girls’ night out –norfor another bout of comparing notes on Jon.

Margot was her typical cheerful self over dinner – her signature spag bol – giving me her version of a pep talk. But she suddenly turned serious while we did the dishes.

‘I really wish I could be there,’ she said.

‘Only because you’re drawn to the spectacle of it all,’ I replied with a laugh. ‘You just want to watch the onslaught.’

Her eyes bored into mine, concern etched on her face. ‘It’s not that. If I could I’d go in your place and challenge the bastard to a duel – or whatever the modern equivalent is – I would.’

‘That’s sweet, Margs,’ I said, reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze. ‘But I’ll be with the others. We’re there to support each other as much as to put Jon in the hotseat.’

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