23750932750

man can only deal with so much bullshit from them … Speaking of which, here’s our lovely Matilda
Greene now.”
Thank God, I thought, as Matilda stiffly approached us.
“Mr. Castille, what a surprise to see you here,” she said. Her voice was steady, but I knew her; I
could tell by the way she fussed with her charms that this was throwing her for a loop. Sweat broke
out across my brow.
“I bet it is. I can only assume my invitation was lost in the mail. I don’t think, considering my
passionate patronage of S.E.C.R.E.T., that you’d have deliberately left my name off the guest list.”
“You’re kind to forgive the oversight,” she said, wincing at the smell of his breath when he leaned
close to kiss her cheek.
She turned to Will. “And it is so nice to see you again, Will. And Cassie … why I hope you don’t
mind my saying, but you do look a little flushed. Forgive me, but you might have the same thing
Dauphine has. Poor thing just left. I hope it wasn’t the shrimp.”
Matilda’s face was imploring, her words sounding as though she were pressing them into firm clay.
She placed her hand on my forehead.
“In fact, you’re quite clammy. I wouldn’t blame you one bit if you wanted to duck out of this
shindig a little early too, before all the boring speeches. I know how much you hate these things.”
That’s what she said instead of Pierre’s here to do damage, serious damage, not just to
S.E.C.R.E.T., but to you. Leave now. Take Will.
“Are you okay?” Will asked, picking up on Matilda’s concern. “If you’re not feeling well we can
—”
“Yes, let’s. I am a little—”
“Thirsty?” Pierre said, grabbing a glass of ice water from a passing waiter’s tray and handing it to
me. “If you leave now, you’ll miss the best part, Cassie. And I know you,” he said, poking Will in the
chest, “you will be very interested in how the night unfolds. No more secrets. No more lies. They’re
so toxic, wouldn’t you say, Will?”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Pierre?”
But before I had a chance to say, Will, please take me home now before you hear something that
might kill you, kill us, Pierre drained his wineglass and deposited it on another passing tray.
“What am I talking about? I’m talking about the sexy little group these ladies belong to. Has Cassie
told you how it’s financed? They sell off paintings. Valuable ones. I bought one recently for fifteen
million dollars. But turns out they don’t want my money. And I’m not giving them the painting back.
So they’re donating all of it. So generous. So magnanimous. So sanctimonious.”
“Pierre, you’ve said enough,” Matilda said, trying to signal Security. We were a small group, just
Matilda, Will, Pierre and me, but ears around us were pricking up, and not those belonging to
members of S.E.C.R.E.T.
“And they need the money. Sex fantasies are not cheap, Will. Especially when they come with little
prizes in little boxes,” he said, snatching my wrist and holding my bracelet up in front of Will’s face.
“Did Cassie ever tell you how she earned these charms? Or where? Wasn’t this one with me, in the
back of my limo?”
His fingers were roughly digging through my charms, trying to find the one he was talking about. I
wrenched free of his grip.
“Get your fucking hands off her,” Will hissed.
“Will, let’s just get out of here,” I said, my whole body now pressing him away from our little
circle, this awful place. He must have felt it, me vibrating with anger and fear.