Page 59 of I Knew You Were Trouble

‘Yes,’ I reply, ‘which is good. We need to get ahead of Jon’s plans for global domination…’

She chuckles at my poor joke.

‘But it’s also a lot – mentally, I mean.’

‘And emotionally,’ she adds.

‘Yes, that too.’

‘And is Margot going with you?’ she asks, an innocent enough assumption.

‘Uh, no.’

‘Oh, are you sure you want to go alone? I could come?—’

I interrupt her. ‘That’s lovely of you to offer, Poppy, butwaybeyond what I could possibly ask of you. You’re already doing so much.’

‘Sure, no worries.’

Do I confess now or let Poppy find out through other means? No, I should be upfront. Poppy has always been transparent with me, something I value, especially considering my current situation, and she deserves the same respect.

‘Actually, I’m flying via Amsterdam. Willem’s coming with me to Italy – Adriana’s brother,’ I clarify needlessly.

‘Oh, right,’ she says, drawing out ‘right’ with her Australian twang.

‘He insisted,’ I add hurriedly, shifting in my chair. I don’t want Poppy thinking I’ve arranged some sort of romantic tryst. And hopefully she can’t tell that my libido has kicked into high gear at the mere mention of his name.

‘I’m glad you’ll have someone there to back you up,’ she says with an obvious undercurrent of doubt.

Bugger, she’s onto me.

‘And you have everything you need from Marie – information-wise, I mean?’ she asks.

‘Uh, yes, thank you. I’ve got Lucia’s address, and the address of her gallery.’

‘So, you’re just showing up out of the blue?’ she asks with a tinge of surprise.

‘That’s the plan,’ I say cheerfully.

‘Ahh.’

‘You don’t think it’s a good idea? That’s how Willem handled it when he broke the news to me. He showed up unannounced.’

‘And how did that make you feel?’ she asks. Poppy must be wearing her psychologist hat right now, but it’s a fair question.

‘Honestly? Blindsided,but– as I said to Willem earlier this week – I wouldn’t have believed him if he’d approached me any other way.’

‘Hmm, okay.’

‘How would you do it?’ I ask, now curious.

‘I’m not sure. Maybe contact her and ask to meet in a neutral location.’

‘Under what guise, though? Tell her we want to buy some art, then when we meet say, “Just joking. You’re dating my fiancé”?’

She chuckles. ‘Okay, okay… There’s no good way to break this kind of news.’

‘No, there isn’t. At least Willem’s had experience. Lucia will be number three.’

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