Page 26 of The Princess and the Fraud

“No need to get nasty about it.” Aaron wrinkled his nose, turning away as if suddenly the whole conversation had become nothing more bothersome than a bee buzzing in his face. “Did you ever get that house you wanted?”

I froze. “W-What?”

“That house. Your mother’s dream house.” He gestured at me lazily with his free hand, raising his coffee with the other. “Keep your mouth shut, and I’ll buy it for you.”

I’ll buy it for—I blinked, but the words were still slow to make sense. My lips parted, but I couldn’t speak.

“But only if I get married. Do anything to sabotage it, and we’ll both be empty-handed.”

I held perfectly still under the proposition. My pulse roared in my ears, drumming to the beat of confusion. He was offering to buy the house as long as I kept quiet about his scheme. The flippant offer last June was a real one now.

I wouldn’t have to give up on Mom’s dream. I wouldn’t have to stoop so low to ask Grant. Sure, Mom wouldn’t have probably loved the fact that I extorted someone to get her house, but she wasn’t here to stop me. “It’s—it’s going to auction at the beginning of April. April fifth.”

Aaron thought about it. “I can get the money by then.” Then he scoffed a little. “So it isn’t cheating, accepting my offer now, hmm? Blackmail is easier to swallow?”

It was meant to be a dig, but I ignored it. I should’ve felt hopeful—Aaron was offering me everything I’d spent years chasing. My mother’s dream house, finally within reach. But instead, the pit in my stomach only deepened. The urgency of Samuel Barber’s sonata didn’t come to a satisfying end—it hung there, unfinished, with static in the air. I was making a deal with the devil, threatening him for my own gain, but instead of relief, all I felt was a quiet, creeping dread I couldn’t shake.

“Whatever it is,” I said after a beat, lifting my chin and shoving the sinking feeling away. “It’s a deal.”

“Fantastic. Now, if you don’t mind.” Aaron stepped to the side, near the foot of his bed, and gestured toward his hotel room door. “Kindly get out.”

CHAPTERSIX

“Isn’t this nice?” Annalise, who sat across from me at the oak table, beamed. “Finally, a chance for us to sit down and have brunch together. I’ve missed this!”

Caroline sat beside her, picking up her mimosa flute. “Finally palatable company.”

Annalisetinkedher own flute to Caroline’s. “Hear, hear!”

They waited for me, so I rushed to lift my mimosa. “Cheers.”

There were two restaurants on the estate, one on the hotel’s side, one on the country club’s side. The hotel’s restaurant was open to the public by reservation, but the country club’s was for members only. Neither restaurant had that impressive of a kitchen, which led to a limited menu, but the country club’s restaurantdidhave bottomless mimosas that we’d been going through.

Well, Caroline was. I was still nursing my first, and Annalise ordered a flute of plain orange juice first, saying she needed totemper her stomach.

The three of us sat at a six-person table, with Caroline and Annalise on one side and me on the other. I wasn’t exactly sure why Monica, our server, had sat us here, but I didn’t argue. Really, I felt awkward enough letting one of my coworkers wait on me, especially since I was with two highly influential people at the club. The Hollands and the Conans were in the top tier.

“Here are some extra plates for you.” Monica set a tray of bread in front of us. I avoided eye contact. “Do we still need a few more minutes to order?”

“If we could, please,” Annalise said gratefully. “In fact—we’ll be yapping for a bit. Can I wave you down when we’re ready?”

“Of course.” Monica tipped her head and backed away from our table. I didn’t miss the look she shot me.

It wasn’t just Monica that left me feeling uncomfortable, though. It’d been the first time sitting down with the two of them together since everything with Grant, and everything felt strange. Uneven. The emptiness of the seat beside me was hard to ignore, and not even because I missed Grant. I just hadn’t realized how grounded he’d made me feel, as if having him at my side made me less like an outsider.

Which was ridiculous. I shouldn’t have felt like an outsider with my best friends. What was wrong with me?

“How are you liking married life?” I asked Annalise.

“It’s good.” She shook her head with a small smile. “Sometimes it’s weird to wrap my head around the fact that this is the rest of my life. But I like it.”

“I can’t even imagine,” Caroline muttered. “Married to one person for the rest of your life?”

“The horror,” Annalise said with mock dismay.

I studied Annalise. Did she know about Aaron’s scheme to marry Fiona? I tried to remember if she’d said anything suspicious. Had Aaron fooled her, too? And Michael? Or was Michael in on it? I was never good at playing detective, but I couldn’t help but try to figure it out.

“How have things been for you?” Annalise asked me, leaning her chin onto her fist. “We’ve texted here and there, but fill me in. Any dating news or anything?”

---