Page 118 of The Princess and the Fraud

At eight o’clock on a Wednesday? “No.”

“Let me get it.” She jumped up, swiping up the ice cream tub. “If it’s Caroline, I’ll shove this abomination down her throat.”

“Don’t poison her to death,” I called, unmoving. “It’d be hard to explain to the authorities.”

Paige’s bare feet padded out of my room, and she called back, “It was just acoincidence.”

I should’ve gotten up to answer the door. It was my apartment, after all. I was just afraid to see who stood on the other side—and who didn’t.

“What kind of place doesn’t have a peephole?” Paige hissed from the living room, trying to be quiet so whoever stood on the other side didn’t hear her. I didn’t tell her that the walls were paper thin, so the person probably heard her, anyway.

The living room was quiet for a moment after Paige opened the door, and I began to grow worried about who actually stood on the other side.

And the last person I expected to see walk into my bedroom doorway was Annalise.

I jerked up, staring at her with shock. “Hey,” I greeted, swinging my legs over the side of my bed. “What are you?—”

She hit me like a freight train, moving at lightning speed that I barely had a chance to move my arms before she wrapped hers around my neck. “Do you know how hard it was to bribe Mr. Roberts into giving me your address?”

“I’m assuming hard,” I said as I moved her hair away from my mouth. “Since it’s illegal.”

“That’s what he said. He wouldn’t budge. I had to resort to staging a whole distraction.” She squeezed me tighter, practically rearranging my insides. “I had Michael pretend to have a medical emergency, and I slipped into the employee wing when Mr. Roberts came rushing out. Went into his office, found his unlocked computer, and pulled up your file.” She pulled back to look at me with teary eyes. “It was very spy-movie like. You’d have been impressed.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her, using the back of my hand to wipe at her cheeks. “Why areyoucrying?”

“Because!” She fell onto the bed beside me, her grip moving down to my hands. “Why is life being so unfair to you?”

“Fate?”

Paige appeared in the doorway. “Coincidence,” she countered, and moved to where the garbage bag was sitting in front of my closet.

“Let me help?—”

“It’s one bag,” Paige said as she hauled it up into her arms, flashing me a grin.

“Stay, stay,” Annalise insisted, worry creeping into her voice. “You don’t have to leave; I didn’t mean to crash?—”

“You didn’t. The Goodwill near my house closes at nine, so I was going to leave, anyway.” With her armful of my used clothes, she gestured at Annalise. “Don’t let her give you ice cream.”

My jaw dropped. “You insisted!”

Paige blew me an air kiss before ducking out of my bedroom, and a moment later, my front door opened and shut. Annalise didn’t waste a second before turning back to me. “You’ve been dodging my calls. You made me resort to breaking the law.”

I hunched my shoulders a little. “I just needed time to think things through.” Or, more honestly, I needed time to think about what to say to her. “I’m sorry I was being a bad friend.”

To my surprise, Annalise smacked the back of my hand. “Don’t say that,” she said sternly. “You arenota bad friend. I’m the bad friend. I should’ve told you as soon as I thought Caroline was acting differently. ThesecondI realized. I should’ve told you when I found out Grant was coming home, but I trusted her when she said she’d tell you herself.”

I would’ve, too, had the roles been reversed. None of us had any reason to believe Caroline would’ve turned on us. “A lot’s happened,” I started slowly. “A lot that I haven’t told you about. But I don’t feel bad about getting fired. I wouldn’t change any of it.”

“Tell me all of it, then.” Annalise readjusted her grip on my fingers. “I’ve got nothing but time.”

But there wastoomuch. I had no idea where to start amongst it all. With kissing Aaron? Or before that, to all the moments we’d spent together? Should I mention it at all? I didn’t want to make her feel worse, bringing up something neither of us had any control over. “Have her and Aaron… have they gotten?—”

“They have a civil ceremony scheduled for Friday.” Annalise looked away and made a face at the floor. “Apparently, you don’t need witnesses in Connecticut, so they’re going… just them.”

My mind filled in an image for me—the two of them bent over a piece of paper, starting their agreement in the most unromantic way possible. There’d be no love between them, no excitement. Then again, that was just how they wanted it. “Just enough time before his birthday,” I murmured, the words sour on my tongue. My stomach twisted, like it was rejecting the thought.

“Ugh, it feels so wrong, doesn’t it?” She shook her head. “So… sudden. I’d have rather Aaron gone with Fiona than Caroline—that’s why I didn’t recommend her in the beginning. I’d even actually thought?—”

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