Page 28 of I Knew You Were Trouble

‘You could be afriend, someone who’s willing to lie for him.’

‘Him who?’ asks Margot, and we all look to her. ‘Who do you think Kate’s lying for? Your brother or that conniving arsehole who’s screwed you both over?’

I sigh. If there were medals for anti-diplomacy, Margot would win gold.

‘Excuse me, but who are you?’ Adriana asks her – a fair question.

‘She’s my cousin,’ I reply before Margot can say something snarky. Well,snarkier. I shoot Margot my please-shut-your-mouth-this-instant look – one she is extremely familiar with – and she presses her lips together, contrite.

‘Look,’ I say, my attention back on Adriana. Her chin lifts and she openly meets my gaze, but I’m not fooled by the bravado. ‘When Willem came to me last Friday,’ I continue, ‘I was completely blindsided and, at first, I didn’t believe him either. I thought he’d got the wrong man… I thought perhaps you’d been engaged to Jon in the past… But when he told me about you and showed me evidence of Jon’s duplicity, I had no choice but to admit the truth. As hard as that was.’

She swallows hard and her eyes gloss with tears.

‘I promise that Willem hasn’t made this up and he hasn’t asked me to lie. This isn’t a ruse to break up you and Jon.’

I reach into my handbag and take out my phone, then open to the photo of me and Jon at Oblix, right after he proposed. We’re at our table, the lights of London visible behind us, and I’m holding up my left hand, the diamond ring glinting and both of us beaming. Without looking at the photo – it’s still too raw – I walk over and show it to Adriana.

‘You see, I really am engaged to the same man you are – Jon Dunn.’

‘AKA Arseface,’ Margot chimes in.

‘Margot,’ I say, spinning around and glaring at her.

‘What?That’s his name,’ she states unapologetically. ‘Jon Arseface Dunn.’

There are several beats of silence, and my breath catches in my throat, then we all start laughing at once, even Adriana – albeit somewhat reluctantly.

When the laughter wanes, Willem crosses to his sister and gently rubs her arm. ‘Ady, I’m sorry for surprising you – with Kate, I mean – but I didn’t know what else to do.’

Adriana sniffs, then give him a tight-lipped smile. ‘I just didn’t want to believe it,’ she says with a shrug. Her tears start flowing, and she buries her face in his shoulder. He wraps her in a hug, his chin resting on her head and the muscles of his back straining against his T-shirt as he speaks to her in Dutch with a soothing tone.

I look away.

Amongst all the emotions coursing through me – including satisfaction at having helped Adriana accept the truth – what I can’t justify is my attraction to Willem. It’s terrible timing, for one thing, but it’s also horribly inappropriate considering the situation.

Eventually, he steps back and looks down at her, asking her something softly in Dutch. Probably if she’s okay.

She nods, then her gaze lands on me. She stares at me for a time, and I let her. I don’t mind because I’m as curious about her as she must be about me.

God, she really is very pretty – far prettier than me. And I know from Willem that she’s twenty-nine, teaches the Dutch equivalent of Year Four, has travelled extensively, and is fluent in three languages other than Dutch (English, French, and Spanish).

She’s beautiful, clever, accomplished…

No wonder Jon fell in love with her, I think with a sharp pang of jealousy.

Although, the jealousy doesn’t last. The logical side of my brain overrides it almost instantly. Because Adriana – or Ady, if she ever lets me call her that – is not my rival. I can tell, simply from the thoughtful way she’s regarding me, that I have a new ally in this, this…mess.

‘I want to ask you something,’ she says eventually.

‘Anything. And I mean that – ask me anything.’

She takes in a deep breath. ‘How did Jon propose?’

That’s not what I thought she was going to ask and my eyes widen in shock.

‘You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.’

‘No, I said I’d tell you anything and I meant that. Only…’

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