Neither of her parents were randomly killed by the Bratva twelve years ago.
They stand at the bar together, Rachel and Tammy. My favorite duo. The only friends I need.
Ping!
A message.
I slip my phone from my bag, feeling a smirk crawl onto my face. Levi and I agreed no texting tonight. I should switch the phone off, speak to him tomorrow, but my hands can’t help themselves.
Besides, it’s not Levi.
Just some random number who?—
Ping!
Another message…
With animageattached.
I bring the screen closer to my eyes.
(702) 002-8932: I hate to be the one to break it to you Alice, but you deserve the truth. Here. See the photo evidence. Your boyfriend has been cheating on you for at least the last couple months.
It’s a hoax. A prank one of his IT colleagues has pulled.
Except it’s not.
I scroll further down the message thread, and my heart leaps out through my throat. The sounds of laughter, clinking glasses…it all dies. My drumming pulse replaces the Rihanna song I’ve been swaying to.
It’s photoshopped.
It has to be.
I full-size the image, and there it is—Levi locking lips with a woman that isn’t me.
They’re in the dark somewhere, a basement perhaps, and a wall takes up most of the photo. A discreet shot, it looks like. One neither of them are aware of. And how would they be, when their lips are mashed together like that? He’s wedged against a wall, and her legs are wrapped around his waist. One hand holds her hip, and the other her?—
I look away.
Tit.
They’re big. Much bigger than mine. Double Ds, if I were to hazard a guess.
I can’t peel my eyes away. It’s him. I know it’s him. I know nobody else with a square-shaped mole on their left cheek, and combined with the long tufts of mousy-brown hair, there’s no denying it’s him.
Andfor fuck’s sake, he even looks good cheating on me.
I hitcalland give the unknown number a ring, but it cuts out straight away.
A cold sweat breaks out and runs down my neck. My palms clammy, the phone slips from my hands.
Someone picks it up for me. Red manicured nails.
“Maybe you’ve had too much to drink already,” Tammy says, handing it back to me. She falters. “Damn. Your hands are freezing.” She grabs my arm to assess that too. “Jesus, Ali.” Her eyes reach mine, and that’s when they widen. “Christ. What’s wrong?”
“Levi has been cheating on me,” I spit out. “At least I think.”
Drink spills over the tops of the two glasses Rachel holds in her hands. “Are you fucking messing with us?”