Page 113 of King of Envy

I dropped my hand. Little bubbles of exhilaration dodged the barbed nerves in my stomach.

I might regret it later, but fuck, it felt good to put Emmanuelle in her place. I only wished I could’ve seen her face.

That phone call was the first time I’d felt any sense of control since the wedding, and I was going to ride that high for as long as I could.

Newly energized, I picked up my knitting needles and half-finished blanket. Liya always made fun of me for my “old lady hobby,” but the mindless repetition of the movements boosted my serotonin like nothing else.

I was just getting into the groove again when my phone rang.

I frowned. It was the front desk. They rarely called unless I had a guest, and I wasn’t expecting anyone.

I picked up. “Hello?”

“Good afternoon, Ms. Kidane,” the concierge said. “There’s a Maya Singh here to see you. Shall I let her up?”

Surprise washed away my confusion. “Thank you. Yes, please.”

Maya had never been to my house before. What was she doing here on a Thursday during work hours?

My question was answered a few minutes later, when I opened the door to her knock and found her standing in the hall with a white bakery bag in hand.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to drop by unannounced,” she said as I ushered her in and led her to the kitchen. She sounded a little embarrassed. “But—and I’m fully aware this makes me sound like a stalker—I remember you said you lived in this building. I was already in the area, and I figured you could use a pick-me-up.” She set the white bag on the kitchen island. “Ginger chai cookies from my favorite bakery. They’re basically heaven in a box.”

“Don’t be sorry. This was a pleasant surprise, and you had me at ginger chai,” I said with a smile. “Thank you. This was so thoughtful.”

“Anytime.” Maya drew her bottom lip between her teeth. She studied me, her brow creased with concern. “How are you feeling?”

After the wedding debacle hit the news, she’d checked in on me via text, but this was our first time discussing it in person.

“About how you’d expect.” I removed two cookies from the bag and offered her one. She accepted it but didn’t take a bite. “I’m feeling a little better now that things have calmed down. The press has moved on, but Jordan is still in a coma. I should be by his side more. Instead, I’m here.”

Guilt gnawed at my stomach.

Engagement or not, Jordan was my friend. He was an innocent in all this, and I would give anything for him to wake up again.

My diamond ring glittered on my left hand. A real fiancée would stay by his side. She wouldn’t be hiding at home, knitting and trying not to think about a certain man with a voice like rough velvet and arms that felt like home.

When Vuk held me that day in the bedroom, I felt like I’d finally reached shelter after a long walk through a storm. Warm, comforted,safe.

It didn’t make sense given everything he told me. He should be the most dangerous person I knew, and maybe he was. But not for me.

“Don’t beat yourself up too much,” Maya said. “We all handle trauma in different ways. You’ve been through a lot too, and camping out by his bedside won’t change things. He has the best doctors in the city working on him. He’s in good hands.”

She spoke with such authority, I almost believed her. No wonder her father put her in charge of his company’s entire sales and marketing department. She was naturally persuasive.

“Let’s hope,” I said with a half-hearted smile.

It was strange, talking to someone I’d met only a month ago, but there was something about Maya that made her so easy to confide in.

“Enough morbid talk.” I brushed the crumbs from my hands before I reached for a second cookie. “Tell me what you’ve been up to. I could use some fun gossip.”

I didn’t need to ask twice. Maya launched into her plans for her upcoming birthday party and interspersed it with notes about how it’ll make “Sebastian’s Monte Carlo blowout look like child’s play.” I assumed she was referring to Sebastian Laurent. She brought him up a lot for someone she claimed to hate.

“Shit. I’m going to be late,” she said after she mentioned,again, how she couldn’t wait to see Sebastian’s face when he realized she’d one-upped him on the party front. She frowned at her watch. “I wish I could stay longer, but I have a meeting in twenty minutes.”

“It’s okay. I have the rest of the cookies to keep me company.” I nudged the half-empty bag. “These aredivine.”

“I know, right? They’re so good, I’m kind of mad we aren’t the ones who manufacture them.” Maya threw on her scarf again and hesitated. “If you need anything, text me. I mean it. I know we met not too long ago, but I don’t bring just anyone ginger chai cookies, you know.”

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