Page 62 of The Devil She Knows
“Not just that. All of it.” She rose to her feet, shaking her head. “All of it was bullshit. That isnotwhat I wanted.”
Daphne shrugged, a sharp jerk of her shoulders that made her collarbones look like blades. “You got exactly what it was you wished for. You were Hannah’s perfect partner—”
“Who I was in whatever twistedother worldyou sent me to is not what Hannah wants. Hannah would never want to be with someone who—”
“Who what?” Daphne kicked off the television stand and stalked closer. “Lies? Cheats? Steals to get what she wants? Be so fucking for real, Samantha. Take off those rose-colored glasses for one second and think about Hannah. Think about what she wants. You don’t even have to think that hard! She said it herself. She knew she loved you the night you won some fancy award. You looked beautiful and shecovetedyou. You were just another feather in her cap. She wants a pretty, shiny prop. A trophy, atoyshe can take off a shelf when she wants to play with you and put back when she doesn’t. You are only as good to her as what you can offer, and you can’t see that?”
“Hannah isn’t like that. Not the Hannah I know.”
“Again, Sam, the Hannah you know broke your heart and practically called you an unambitious deadbeat loser who cares more about your cats than you do her,” Daphne said,stopping in front of Sam. “Thatis who you’re riding for here, just so we’re clear. Quite frankly I am getting tired of having to explain to you that the sun doesn’t shine out of Hannah Liu’s ass.”
“That is beside the point—”
“Thatisthe point!” Daphne jabbed her finger into Sam’s stomach hard. “ThisHannah,thatHannah, it’s all justHannah! Don’t you get it? Every wish you make, she is still the same person she always was. The same Hannah who has it in her to break your heart. The same Hannah who has it in her to sleep with—”
“Shutup.” She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, nails digging crescent moons into her palms. “You did what you always do. You screwed with my wish—”
“I didn’t meddle,” Daphne argued, letting her hand fall. “Not this time.”
“Excuse me if I don’t believe you, Missyou can’t blame me for getting my kicks where I can, Missif you don’t want to play the game, go home.” Sam crossed her arms, tucking her fists against her sides. “Sorry, but my momma taught me that when somebody shows you who they are, believe them. My bad for taking so long to get with the program.”
Daphne threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, that is rich. I haven’t heard anything that funny in easily fifty years.Wow.” She leveled Sam with an incredulous stare. “Do you even hear yourself?”
“I’m so glad you find my suffering funny.”
“That is not what I said and you know it.”
That didn’t make it not true. “You’re going to stand thereand tell me you didn’t meddle? I wouldneverdo the things I did.”
“No,” Daphne agreed, her gaze lowering. “You wouldn’t.” She reached out with a suddenness that startled Sam, made her flinch, and touched her fingertips to Sam’s bottom lip. When she pulled back, the tips of her fingers were streaked with scarlet, blood from where Sam had bitten herself. “But Hannah’s dream girl would. If you’ve got buyer’s remorse, Sam, maybe it’s because what you want isn’t what you thought it was. You do know what they say—be careful what you wish for.”
Sam’s insides trembled and she could barely breathe. “Fuck you.”
Daphne’s eyes dropped to her hand, her lashes sweeping her skin, casting shadows on her cheeks.
“You want to know what the funny thing is, Sam?” she mused, a thoughtful pinch between her brows. “If you weren’t so hung up on your ex-girlfriend, you could.”
The look she leveled at Sam from beneath her lashes as she brought her hand to her mouth and licked the blood,Sam’sblood, from her fingertips made Sam flush hot, then cold.
She pressed her lips together and swallowed hard. “Your jokes aren’t funny.”
Her voice shook.
“Who says I’m joking?” Daphne dragged her thumb along her bottom lip, wiping away a small crimson smudge at the corner of her mouth. She licked that clean, too, and Sam didn’t know her heart could beat this fast. “You know what they say, the best way to get over somebody is to get undersomebody new. Most people would’ve tried thatbeforemaking a deal with a demon.”
There was a knot in Sam’s throat and a squirmy feeling inside her belly. She swallowed hard. “I guess I’m not most people.”
Daphne’s lips twitched into a smile, and she dropped her hand, brushing it against the skirt of her dress. “No, you really aren’t, are you?”
She sounded almost fond, another trick, probably. This was probablyalla trick. It had to be. There was no way what happened had … and Daphne definitely didn’tactuallywant to … Sam couldn’t wrap her head around it. It had to be a trick.
“Let me guess.” She sniffed hard and swiped her fingers angrily under her eyes, hating that Daphne had seen her cry. “All I’ve got to do is sayI wish? Fat chance.”
Daphne flinched, a quick blink-and-miss-it scrunch of her brows. “Trust me, I have the utmost respect for sex workers—it is the oldest profession, after all—but that’s not what this is. That’s not how I do my business. This wouldn’t be a part of our deal.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed. “Sure it wouldn’t.”
“You don’t believe me? Fine.” She shrugged, eyes sweeping down Sam’s body, gaze lingering long enough that Sam could feel heat rise in her cheeks. “Offer’s on the table.”
