Page 56 of The Retreat
Talia blinked at her. ‘Say that again. I dare you.’
‘I didn’t mean for it to happen. She came by to help me move the Danby. We had a drink, and…’ Flora exhaled, shaky.‘It wasn’t planned. I was upset after our fight. I wasn’t thinking straight.’
‘Do you think this is making anything better? I just caught you and yourintern—’
‘She doesn’t mean anything,’ Flora said quickly. ‘You have to believe me. Imogen was a distraction, that’s all. Because I was heartbroken about us. I just—’
‘Felt like proving my point?’ Talia asked.
‘I was angry. I felt… abandoned. And she was just there. It was stupid and ugly, and it didn’t mean anything, not the way you do. You have to know that.’
Talia’s throat was tight. ‘If I mean so much to you, how the hell did you let this happen?’
Flora looked wrecked. ‘Because I thought I’d already lost you.’
‘So you made sure.’
Silence.
Talia’s voice dropped. ‘You told me I was paranoid. I thought I actually was.’
‘This was the first time I ever…’
Talia put a hand up, silencing her. ‘You could’ve ended it with me. If you were so unhappy…’
‘I don’twantto end it with you,’ Flora said softly. ‘I just made a mistake.’
‘Yeah,’ Talia said. ‘And it’s the kind we can’t come back from.’
Flora reached for her hand. ‘Please don’t do this. I love you. It was one weak moment. It didn’t mean anything—’
‘I know,’ Talia said. ‘That’s the worst part.’
She turned and walked away. This time, Flora didn’t follow.
Thirty-Eight
‘But she said thatyou…’ Imogen began and then stopped. ‘Oh.’
Talia shook her head. ‘She told you that so you’d sleep with her.’ She sighed, as though letting something go. ‘So you’d think you weren’t doing anything wrong. Because she didn’t think you’d have done it otherwise.’
Imogen’s shoulders slumped. ‘So Ididjust cheat with Flora with no excuse.Youwere the victim. Not me. All this time…’
Talia shook her head. ‘If there was you, there were others. At a bare minimum, she was already setting up an affair before you anyway.’
Imogen wasn’t so ready to be let off the hook. ‘I made a choice.’
‘Yes, of course you did. But, as I know, she’s very convincing. And from the sounds of it, far more calculating than I ever gave her credit for.’
Imogen felt like she’d been punched.
‘How long did things continue after I found you?’ Talia asked.
‘A year,’ Imogen told her, embarrassed.
‘She still had you convinced I was the bad guy?’
‘Yes.’ She paused, even more ashamed. ‘That day, she chased me down. She acted like I’d rescued her from you... But it was only because she knew she couldn’t get you back.’
