Page 12 of The Lies of Bryn van Doren

Jessica doesn’t fight her smile as she admires the pretty man who stands before her. If she didn’t know him half as well as she does, she’d swear he was hiding a halo underneath all that hair.

“Any chance you could add an apple pie to that grocery list?”

“Mmm. Pie and port. I like where your head’s at, dove. I’ll be back in a few.”

By the time Stefano returns to the apartment, Jessica has managed to clear her small closet of all her belongings, and the mess she had been drowning in earlier is merely a memory. The pie Stefano brings home is cold, but it’s a gift she won’t take for granted from the one and only man who has never left her side. While they pop it in the oven to warm it up, Stefano helps her clear her things from the bathroom. She doesn’t have much. Their space would never allow it, and her tips from her waitressing gig don’t carry the reputation of ever going very far.

When her bags are packed, stacked neatly beside the door, Jessica looks around at their little piece of Brooklyn Heights, crestfallen she’ll have to leave.

“I know that look. That look calls for pie. Come on, it’s ready,” Stefano insists. He takes her hand and leads her into their small kitchen before he uncorks a bottle of tawny port. After he pours them each a glass, he hands her a fork, and they both dig into the pie without bothering to even slice it properly.

“Okay. You’ve stalled long enough,” Jessica mutters with a mouthful. “Who’s this woman you were blathering about? And what’s the job?”

Stefano takes a slow sip of his wine, staring at her all the while over the rim of his glass. Jessica quirks an eyebrow at him, and he swallows loudly before he sets aside his wine and looks her straight in the eye.

“Her name is Beatrice Deveaux. She came in for a drink and—”

“Wait, you met her at work? You hate the patrons at—”

“Yeah, I know. Trust me. Half of them remind me of my father. The other half are practically clones of my overly entitled grandmother—but she was different. I swear, she walked into the room, and I felt it.”

Jessica stares at him dubiously, her fork stuck in the pie as she murmurs, “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had a thing for her.”

“Oh, shut it,” he grumbles as he digs for a bite of his own. “Youdoknow better, and this woman is old enough to be my mother.”

“All right. So, what’s her deal?”

Stefano pauses again, shoveling a fork-full of warm, apple filling into his mouth, his hazel gaze locked with Jessica’s brown one as he chews. She squints at him suspiciously, and he shifts uncomfortably under her perusal.

“Stefano!”

“She runs an underground business,” he blurts. “I didn’t get a lot of details. She didn’t want to talk about it out in the open. But she told me she’d pay three times as much as I was making and, if all goes well tomorrow, I could start immediately.”

“An underground business? What kind of underground business? What would you be doing? Stefano—”

“Listen, it’s as I said, I don’t have all the details. But what she told me is she’s been looking for a gatekeeper. She said she’d been watching me for a couple weeks and thought I’d be perfect.”

“A g—a gatekeeper?” Jessica stutters, her tone dripping in disbelief. Without missing a beat, she reaches for his glass of port. “I think you don’t need this. I do. From the sounds of it, I’m going to be taking care of my sick mom and my insane best friend.”

“Give me that.” Stefano snatches his glass away from Jessica, who manages a small giggle, in spite of her mounting worry. “I know it sounds crazy.”

“Huey…” Jessica starts and then stops. She sets her fork down and reaches her hand out, signaling for him to do the same. He does, giving her fingers a slight squeeze as he places his palm on top of hers. “I know it’s been frustrating for you to find your place. You are—extraordinary and exceptional and unique in so many ways. And as much as I know you hate it, you can’t escape the fact that you were bred for a certain kind of lifestyle. I know this sounds like something strange enough to be right up your alley, but—”

“It’s a risk. I know. But you weren’t there. You didn’t meet her, Jess. I’m telling you, there’s something about her. I can’t put my finger on it, but just the possibility alone…” His voice trails off as he looks down at their conjoined hands. “This might sound crazy, but this is a leap I’m willing to make. Even if, at the end of it all, I have to be Hugh for a little while longer.”

“Okay then,” says Jessica with a resolute sigh. She lets go of his hand and reaches for her fork once more, her attention focused on the pie as she tells him, “I’m going with you tomorrow. And don’t even try to stop me. No way am I letting my best friend go on some weird-ass interview for some undergroundgatekeeperjob all by himself.”

“I’m a big boy, Jess. I think I can manage an interview in the middle of the day—underground or otherwise.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t need to be worried about youandmom. I’m coming to ensure I can check one of you off my list. Like I said, you can’t stop me. Now, drink your wine. I could use a buzz right about now.”

Stefano smirks at Jessica as she shovels a big bite of pie into her mouth, and then he downs the rest of his wine in a large gulp. Setting his glass on the counter, he starts to make his way out of the tiny kitchen, smacking her backside as he passes.

“Pour me another. I’m going to turn on some tunes.”

Jessica clings toStefano’s arm as they stand out in the cold, mid-morning air, staring at their destination’s storefront.

“A lingerie store? She wants to meet you here?”

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