Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN THEY THOUGHT WAS WEAK
I wanted to go home.
Immediately.
I wanted to take off my dress, wash the evening out of my hair, and pretend none of it had happened.
But the photograph and the tracker made that impossible.
Leandro offered to arrange transportation.
I refused at first.
“I can call a cab.”
He looked at me.
“Clare, someone put a tracking device in your handbag.”
“I know.”
“And your bag was found in Wesley's suite.”
“I heard.”
He studied me.
“Then please let me help.”
I looked at him.
The man standing before me was powerful.
Dangerous, according to rumor.
And capable of making people disappear with a phone call.
But he wasn't ordering me.
He was asking.
That mattered.
I nodded.
“All right.”
His shoulders relaxed.
“Thank you.”
Before we left, Blair appeared in the doorway.
“Well,” she said sweetly, “there you are.”
I turned.
She looked at Leandro.
“Everyone's wondering where you've disappeared to.”
Leandro said nothing.
Blair smiled at me.
“Clare, darling, I hope you enjoyed your little moment.”
I felt my cheeks burn.
Then something inside me settled.
I had spent years allowing people like Blair to make me feel small.
At work.
At family gatherings.
In dressing rooms.
At restaurants.
Everywhere.
Not tonight.
I looked directly at her.
“I did.”
Her smile faltered.
“Excuse me?”
“The dance. I enjoyed it.”
I stepped closer.
“And the dress, in case you're still wondering, cost ninety-eight dollars.”
Blair stared.
I smiled.
“Best money I've spent all year.”
Leandro made a small sound behind me.
A laugh.
Blair's expression hardened.
“You think this makes you special?”
I looked at her.
“No.”
Then I smiled.
“But I think the fact that you need to humiliate someone to feel important says a lot about you.”
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Leandro opened the door.
“Good evening, Blair.”
May you like
He placed a gentle hand at my back.
And we walked away.
