Page 112 of How to Get Even

Astrid pushed in for a hug, sending the other girls packing as the brim of the oversized dramatic hat got in their way. Paige rescued the glass of champagne she’d been holding as Bella felt Astrid’s strong arms around her, squeezing tight to the point of near pain, until Bella tapped her on the arm.

‘I’m good, I’m good,’ Bella promised, the threat of tears over.

‘Okay,’ Paige replied, her eyes forecasting that she wasn’t convinced. ‘You look like you could do with this,’ she said, handing the glass back to her.

Bella ignored the glass and grabbed Paige for a hug.

‘It’ssogood to see you,’ she said truthfully and nearly started crying again. ‘I’m so happy for you and Olly. We…’ Bella sighed. ‘We would have made a terrible mistake if we’d got married that day. I think… I was looking for the full stop on what I thought I should be doing. I think we both were, really. But he was always more of a friend to me than anything else,’ Bella confessed.

‘Are you sure?’ Paige asked, her own eyes glistening.

‘Absolutely. I promise. On red velvet cakes,’ Bella said, drawing an X over her heart with her fingers. ‘And I think you all know how seriously I take my cakes,’ she said, looking around the smiling faces of the group, these women her friends. Friends she’d missed more than the family who had never really seen the real her, because she’d never really let them. ‘Now tell me, how are you all here?’ she asked as her voice broke with emotion.

‘I thought it would be nice to be here for you tonight,’ Sienna explained.

‘And we agreed, but it was going to be tricky because we needed invites and we couldn’t just ask because you were the one in charge of that,’ Paige explained.

‘And I said, who needs invites, when we can simply crash the event?’ Astrid inserted. ‘But of course, I couldn’t just rock up so – ta da! You like my disguise?’

‘The hat?’ Bella asked, eying the monstrosity that had nearly decapitated one waiter, blinded one of Maurice’s friends and drawn more attention than Zadzisai’s new artwork. ‘The hat?’ she repeated, questioning the collective sanity of the group.

‘And the glasses,’ Astrid insisted. ‘Although I may have perhaps overestimated their suitability as a disguise,’ Astrid admitted and they all dissolved into giggles.

‘But you can’t stay,’ Bella groaned miserably. ‘If Chase finds you here, he’ll?—’

‘He’ll what?’ demanded a horrifyingly familiar male voice from over her shoulder. ‘What will Chase do?’ he asked. And when Bella turned to face him, his eyes flickered to the group behind her and then stuck. ‘Astrid?’

24

If the enemy is prepared for your coming, and you fail to defeat him, then, return being impossible, disaster will ensue.

THE ART OF WAR, SUN TZU

‘Bella? What’s going on?’ Chase demanded, his teeth ground together so hard he could break a tooth.

What was Astrid doing here? Why was she wearing that ridiculous hat and why the hell was she talking to Bella and looking like they knew each other?

And why were four women, two of whom he knew –biblically– all staring at him in different shades of horror? His gut hardened like concrete left out in the sun to dry.

‘It’s not what it looks like,’ the redhead said, while the blonde insisted that ‘Bella didn’t do anything wrong.’

Finally, Bella took a step towards him, or in between them, he wasn’t really sure.

‘Itiswhat it looks like, and Ididdo something wrong. But,’ she said, looking over his shoulder at the people in the gallery, a few he was sure were already looking their way, ‘this isn’t the time.’ She looked at him like she was sorry. Like she felt guilty for something, like it was the end of something and everything in him roared in denial.

‘The girls will go, I’ll make myself scarce. I’ll wait in the office until everyone’s gone,’ she said, finally dropping her gaze.

The group of women behind her all made noises as if to argue, but he could barely see anything but Bella. She brushed Astrid’s arm, who looked at him as if she wanted to say something but she retreated from the gallery with the other women.

Bella moved past him, head bowed as if it were the end of something.

Tej appeared at his shoulder, concern all over his face. ‘Is everything okay?’ he asked.

‘No. I don’t think it is,’ he said as a buzzing took up residence in his ears.

* * *

Bella felt sick. Truly nauseously sick. She paced Chase’s office, praying that none of the other staff would come. Hopefully Chase would tell them that she’d had to leave.

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