Page 66 of Ruby Mercy

At least, that’s what I used to think.

But now, Rayne is back.

Things have changed.

Her nostrils flare. “I’m not going through this with you again. Not after everything I’ve already put up with. I refuse.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that you have to choose.” She lifts her chin, unjustifiably haughty. “I’m giving you an ultimatum: her or me.”

I’m sure Viktoria expected this to be a difficult decision, one I’d need to ruminate on. Or maybe she was cocky, expecting me to choose her without a moment’s thought.

Right now, there is only one clear choice in front of me. Only one possible path.

I give Viktoria a sympathetic smile. “I think you’re going to want to sit down for this, darling.”

23

RAYNE

“I am the dumbest woman in the world.”

“You’re not dumb,” Harmony scolds. “He’s just a deceitful prick.”

I drop my phone into the cupholder as I swerve around a Volvo going ten under the speed limit. “I knew that, too. I’ve known since the day I met him exactly what he was. Yet I let myself fall for him.”

There’s a beat of hesitation. “You mean fall for him, like… love?”

I wince. “How pathetic is it if I say yes?”

“Would you stop it? You’re not pathetic and you’re not dumb!” Suddenly, the call goes fuzzy, and I hear Harmony apologizing to someone. “You’re making me shout at work. I look crazy in front of my coworkers.”

“I waited for him for years, Harm. He never reached out or called to check on me, but deep down, I was waiting on him to come back. Definitionally, that is pathetic.”

I haven’t even told her the worst part: that ItoldKirill I waited for him. In the heat of the moment, with his mouth on mine, it felt like the right thing to say. I wanted him to know that what we were doing wasn’t just meaningless sex.

It meant something to me.

Hemeant something to me.

My face flames with embarrassment.

“Love makes fools of us all.”

“It didn’t make a fool of you,” I complain. “You’re in Italy with a handsome man and delicious pasta and actual culture.”

“You thought I was a fool when I moved over here, though. Remember?”

She’s not wrong. When she told me she wanted to move across the world to be with a guy, I told her I’d prep my air mattress for her inevitable disastrous return.

“It seemed crazy,” I admit.

“Love always does! Taking a crazy risk is how you’re going to find your own handsome man.”

“What about the pasta and culture? Will I find that, too?”

“I can’t promise that,” she laughs. “But I know you’ll find your happy ending, babe. You’re doing the hard part right now. Having faith that Kirill could be a decent person wasn’t stupid; it was hopeful. That’s an essential part of the Happily Ever After equation. So, I love that for you.”

---