Page 131 of Making Choices

“Buuuuttt,” my duchess’ best friend drawls. “We won’t have to deal with him until the after party.”

Shaking my head, I slant a look at Nadia. “He has a backstage pass.”

“Not anymore,” she crows. “I talked Isaiah into giving that prick’s pass to Bebe.”

I clench my teeth so tightly that my jaw screams. “That was dumb.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Cherub retorts. She pushes out of my lap and back to her feet. Hands on her hips, she glares at me. “He doesn’t get to ruin my night. Apologies to Medusa is my favourite band. Apollo and Sera are my friends. Why should I be forced to share that with him?”

“Apollo intimidates the fuck out of you.”

Cherub scowls. “Does not.”

“Yeah, he does.”

Snagging hold of her hips, I pull her forward and force her to straddle my lap. She squeals and tries to escape me, but I subdue her easily. Over Cherub’s shoulder, I see Nadia shaking her head as she silently laughs at me.

When she notices me looking, she mouths, “Lovesick puppy.”

Ignoring her, I cradle Cherub’s face with my hands to make her look at me. “Pretty sure Sera ain’t comin’ to Australia this time. Your excuses are flimsy as hell—all you’re doin’ is playin’ into his games with underhanded tactics like this.”

“I don’t want to deal with him.”

“And you won’t have to—”

“What do you mean Sera won’t be here?” Cherub cuts me off. “She’s singing.”

“That’s—”

Our conversation dies when my front door opens and Bebe strides in like she owns the place. She slams it shut with more force than necessary, an arrogant punctuation of her encroachment on my privacy. The key I gave her almost two months ago when she was here daily to look after Cherub is dropped back into her bag. When she spies my duchess on my lap, her gaze heats up. I feel my stress levels escalate as Bebe comes into the living room and plonks down onto the couch next to me.

“Well, this looks cosy.” Gesturing toward the image paused on the flat screen, she adds. “What were you watching? It looks like Friends.”

Cherub climbs off me like she’s been scalded.

Instead of reaching for my duchess to bring her back into my orbit, I take hold of Bebe’s hand. Playing my part, I enquire, “How was your shift?”

“Not bad,” Bebe tells me. There’s a malicious edge to her tone when she says, “A couple badly fractured arms, surgery for a mugging victim, and some amputations. The usual.”

Although I know that her comment is mainly for my benefit, Cherub is unaware of that fact. The colour drops out of her face and her throat works visibly as she silently gags, then swallows deep. I watch memories of Fret’s torture flicker in her eyes, darkening the bright blue, before she shakes herself free of the gloom that’s trying to strip her excitement over the concert away.

“We should start getting ready,” Cherub says to Nadia in a voice that tells her best friend to get a move on. Her face is filled with regret when she shifts her focus to Bebe. “Once you two have caught up, you can come up to my room. Nads has laid out some outfits for you to try on.”

“Sure thing.” Bebe smiles wide. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was genuine when she exclaims, “I can’t believe it—my first concert.”

“Yeah.” Ambivalence flickers across Cherub’s face, then she rallies. “I still can’t believe you’ve never seen live music.”

Her best friend scoffs. “I’m sure she’s been to the Opera.”

“I have. Multiple times.”

The disdainful glance that Nadia shoots at Bebe tells me she has misgivings about my ‘girlfriend’ and she proves my thought correct when she cuts the cagey redhead cold to drag Cherub out of the living room.

Good old Nads.

She mightn’t have the best track record, but she hasn’t missed a trick lately.

As soon as we’re alone, I let go of Bebe’s hand and stand. “Dunno why you’re even botherin’ with this pretence—we’re foolin’ no one.”

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