Page 67 of House of Deceit

“Really? That’s great.”

“So then you’re serious about leaving House of Deceit?”

I take a deep breath. This industry is extremely small. Any perceived slight could come back and bite me in the ass years later and damage a career I’ve fought to build tooth and nail.

“I’ve loved my time here as a wrangler, but I’ve been here for ten years, and I am ready to try my hand at something different.”

She leans back and crosses her legs.

“I agree. It’s time. I don’t want to lose you, but I want to help you take this step. He only had one opening on his calendar for the week after next. I went ahead and accepted it on your behalf. Here’s the address and his PA’s phone number.” She pushes a piece of paper across the desk. I pick it up and stare at it, unseeing.

“Thank you for this, Sheila. I really appreciate it.”

“I know you do. I also know you will do me proud. Now get out.”

She waves me away and focuses on her computer once more. The door clicks shut behind me as I return to my office. The paper is stark white against the dark brown desktop. The handwriting is crisp. The opportunity of my life could be sitting in this specific combination of letters and numbers.

Movement catches my attention and I see Charlie getting up from her chair and doing a quick forward fold. I send a quick thank you to Rebel for getting her into yoga. I look back at the address again and feel the slightest bit of hesitation.

“What the fuck am I doing?” I ask the empty office. I run my hands through my hair and stare at Charlie as she moves about the mansion.

My fingers trace my lips like I can still feel her kiss.

With only eight people left, the game is going to start getting real. If I leave now, will I hurt Charlie’s chances of winning?

But this might be the only chance I have. She’s not guaranteed to win and if she doesn’t, this could be my only shot. But what if she gets paired with a shitty wrangler? She could go home and have to move in with her parents.

“Why am I hesitating? She’s going to go home after she’s done with the show, and it won’t matter.”

But I know why I’m hesitating. No matter how much I want to ignore it.

I don’t want to leave her.

That firecracker of a woman has wormed her way into my heart when I wasn’t paying attention. I pick up my phone and type in the number from the paper before shooting off a quick text.

This week has been one of the worst in the mansion. Everyone seems to have moved out of the honeymoon stage and tensions are running high, tempers are running short, and it feels like we are all walking on eggshells.

On top of that, Alec has been trying to talk to me about our blowup last week in our few interview moments, but I don’t think I can take him telling me, for what feels like the millionth time, he’s not interested in me outside of our professional arrangement. Even though I’m pretty sure it’s bullshit, it still stings.

Grumpy from not being able to sleep with all the thoughts in my head, I change into a sundress for the day, adding a few swipes of mascara to my lashes. I want to look nice for my video call home despite my sour disposition.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Rebel asks, exasperation deep in her voice.

“You used my special face mask. I told you I had to get it from Korea, and I have to make it last until the end of the show!” Penelope yells at her.

“If you think you’re going to make it to the final, you’re delusional,” Rebel retorts.

“You’re not going to deny using my face mask?”

“It’s a stupid accusation, and I wasn’t giving it enough credence to deny it. I didn’t use your stupid face goop. Lord knows the chemicals that are probably in that stuff. Now leave me alone.”

Out of patience, I snap. “Can you two please, for the love of fuck, bicker somewhere else? It was probably the deceiver. Hello? We are in the House of freaking Deceit!”

The deceiver this week seems to be going for the things people have either brought into the house or requested specifically for their use.

“There’s no need to be fucking rude, Charlie,” Penelope sniffs at me.

“You two fight almost every single day. Can we not have one day of peace?” I ask her.

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