Chapter 2

I was standing at the door of the lounge, still trying to work out how much kicking it in would cost me,

when the carved door clicked open.

When Ken saw me standing there, he hurriedly turned and pulled it shut, panic on his face he hadn't had time to hide.

"Cece? You're back already?"

My gaze drifted, almost by accident, over the gap in the door as it was swinging closed behind him.

Beth stood with her back to the door, fixing her hair. The zipper of her bridesmaid gown was pulled open, baring her snow-white back.

More jarring still was the tattoo at her waist, ringed with a fresh red mark, as if someone had sucked hard at the skin.

I forced up a faint smile and kept my tone flat.

"I left my phone inside. What's wrong with you? You look awful."

He stared hard at my face, and after a few seconds the alarm drained from it, replaced by his usual gentle smile.

"It's nothing. Beth and I had a couple of words, and she got me all worked up, that's all!"

He stepped closer and took my hand.

"There's no rush for the phone. I brought you a surprise—let's go pick it up at the front desk first!"

His so-called surprise was a globally limited-edition perfume,

its amber glass catching the light in an alluring way.

He held it up to me like some prized treasure and gently pressed the pump.

"Do you like it? It's your favorite—"

His words caught on the cool, heavy top notes of gardenia.

He knew perfectly well that I was severely allergic to gardenia—smell it too long and I'd break out in rashes and struggle to breathe.

A flicker of awkwardness crossed his eyes, and he slapped his forehead in frustration.

"I'm so sorry, Cece. I was in such a hurry to place your order that I grabbed the wrong one..."

Behind him, Beth came sashaying over in her high heels, snatched the perfume away, and scolded Ken.

"Do you even know how to shop? You forgot Cece's allergic to gardenia? As punishment you're buying ten bottles next time! And I'm confiscating this one!"

She winked at me, playing the good best friend sticking up for me.

It suddenly came back to me that Beth's favorite scent was exactly this gardenia perfume.

Several times when I'd been close to her, her perfume set off my allergy until my eyes and nose streamed.

Every time she apologized sincerely, said she'd forgotten and would be careful next time,

but the next time, the gardenia on her was just as strong and sharp as ever.

So it turned out it wasn't that she forgot.

It was that she'd never taken me seriously at all.

It seemed the perfume meant to be my surprise had never been meant for me in the first place.

I lowered my eyes and spoke calmly.

"Never mind, it's nothing. I'm tired—I don't want to try on the wedding dress anymore!"

Ken let out a breath of relief and quickly offered to take me home.

The moment the car unlocked, Beth beat me to it and slid naturally into the passenger seat.

She looked at my stunned face and laughed, bright and innocent.

"Cece, if riding in the back didn't make me so carsick, I'd never sit next to this jerk!"

Ken teasingly called her a busybody, but made no move at all to get her out.

I looked at the cute little tag he'd hung on the passenger windshield himself, the one that read "The Wife's Seat," and silently bent down into the back seat.

The car started, and the two of them in front went right back to their usual verbal sparring, trading insults like born enemies.

But from where I sat, I could see clearly—Ken's right hand on the gearshift, and Beth's hand resting on her thigh, and as the car swayed, their fingers secretly hooked and rubbed together,

like two cold snakes coiling tight in my stomach,

sending a violent wave of nausea through me.

After seeing me to my door, Ken gave me a thoughtful reminder.

"Hurry in and rest. You have to be in top form before the wedding!"

He turned to Beth. "What about you? Going home?"

Beth stretched. "Nope. The old man's a pain. I'm going to stay at The Grand Imperial Hotel!"

The Grand Imperial Hotel? That was one of my brother's many hidden businesses back home.

Watching the car vanish down the road, I dialed my brother's number again.

"Brother, look into someone for me. She's staying at The Grand Imperial Hotel—Beth!"