Page 103 of Black Castle

“So…” Kenji says into the phone pressed against her ear. “Did anything happen? Did Isadora—”

“No,” she says as she doodles away on her tablet. “She just walked in, looked at me, and walked away. She hasn’t stepped out of her room ever since.”

“But does it look like something is off?” His voice is layered with worry.

“Yeah, definitely.” She pauses to analyze the quick sketch she just made. “But she hasn’t confronted me so…”

“Do you think she came back earlier today or last night?”

“I think it’s last night,” she says, remembering seeing fish casserole in the refrigerator and there was no fish casserole in the house before. She couldn’t have made that today.

“Wow.” His tone drifts off. “I don’t feel good about this.”

“I’m sure it’s gonna be fine.” Her attention is focused on the man staring back at her on her tablet. And her heart aches because she remembers how much she misses him all over again.

“Are you positive?”

“Mhmm.”

“If anything happens—”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll let you know.”

“What about your boyfriend?” he asks. He seems to be taking an interest in Lucan all of a sudden. And Vivienne doesn’t know how she feels about it anymore. It’s as if he’s asking just to prove a point.

“Has he called you yet?”

“Nope.”

“Fuck him.”

She chuckles. Yes, fuck you, Lucan Raskovic.

“I think I’m ready to sleep.” She yawns, then proceeds to add finishing touches to the eyebrow of the man in the image.

“Talk to you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, sure. Good night.”

“Goodnight.”

The call comes to an end. Vivienne places the phone beside her on the desk and continues her sketching. But her door suddenly swings open, revealing Isadora, cheeks slightly flushed but she doesn’t look dead drunk yet.

“Is there a problem?” she asks, placing her stylus on the tablet.

“Do you need anything?” This time, she has to stand up for the situation.

“Yeah,” she draws out, a devious smile lifting the corner of her lips as she shuts the door behind her, taking slow and slightly predatory steps further into the room.

“What?” Vivienne backs away on reflex.

“You know, I was wondering how my step-daughter got caught in a CCTV camera in an airport all the way in Russia.” She pulls a hand from behind her back to show the screen of her phone. “I mean, as far as I’m concerned, I left her to take care of the house in Pennsylvania. So you can imagine my shock when she was caught on camera in Moscow, Russia. And then I started wondering.” She takes casual yet taunting steps further into the room. “Could she have a twin? Am I just tripping?”

“Th-that’s…”

“That’s not you?” She raises a brow. “Right, I thought so too. That can’t possibly be you. I mean you were right here, tending to the house. Come on, how would you have ended up there? It’s stupid, right? Anyone that thinks it’s you must be a damn bloody fool, isn’t it?”

“I-”

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