Page 46 of A Lethal Game of Trust

“She made me promise not to hurt him,” he continued. “I had a few choice words.”

Words he told me I wouldn’t want to hear. Words I worried might expose too much if I asked in front of Is.

“He won’t be bothering you again.”

My phone erupted. And, without thought or reason, I grabbed my now-poured drink, pulled away from Dom and lifted it to my ear. “Hello?” I asked, already hurrying to my bedroom.

“Leonie!” Mia shouted. “Where the hell is Ghost? I said you could grab some of Dom’s things, not my cat!”

I should have looked at who was calling. “He came in after me and took Ghost himself. I had nothing to do with it.”

“He can’t do this,” she said, suddenly sobbing. “He can’t.”

“He has, Mia,” I told her, sitting down on my bed with a sigh. “It’s his cat, too. He paid for him, he’s the one with a home.” It was out before I could stop myself.

She scoffed, but it was broken by her tears. “Gee, thanks for that. Remind me that he’s kicking me on the streets on Monday.” She paused, her breathing laboured and I felt sorry for her for a second. “Are you still my friend, Leonie?”

Were we ever?

When we went out, I was always the third wheel. We were nice to each other, but we were Issy’s friends. Not friends with each other.

I pulled my cushion onto my lap, running my hand over the silk. Dom didn’t mention having a good night’s sleep, nor if my bed was comfortable. His cock had been hard against me. Had he sorted himself out in my bed? Had he thought of me?

“Oh god,” she wailed when I didn’t respond. “I’ve losteverything. My friends, my house, probably my job… him.”

Her words resonated with me. I straightened at the realisation.Iwould lose my best friend.Iwould lose my house. I would lose myfamily.

“Issy hasn’t said anything to me about you losing your job,” I tried to reassure her. Mia ran socials for Issy’s bakery as well as other boutiques in town. She wouldn’t be losing her job, but she would probably lose a client.

“I thought they were down in Darley for the weekend,” she mumbled. “So, clearly, Issy’s lying to me, too.”

I stayed silent. I didn’t want to confirm or deny.

“And so are you,” she whispered. “I’ve lost everything. And now Ghost.”

My voice was so quiet I didn’t know if she’d hear it over her tears. “Mia, what did you expect to happen?”

“I don’t—I don’t know! I just wanted him to love me, Leo. I just wanted him to love me.” And, at that point, there was no talking to her. She was overcome with her emotions and I just stayed on the phone, playing with the gauze around my hand.

“Do you have anywhere to go on Monday?” I asked when she had calmed.

“Just my parents’ house,” she answered, voice wobbly. “But it’s so far away and the commute will be long.”

I really hoped she wasn’t hoping for an offer to stay at ours.

“If things were different, you could have stayed here,” I said. “But I can’t ask that of Issy right now.”

“She won’t talk to me,” she mumbled. “He won’t talk to me.”

“He’s hurt,” I said, but I wasn’t sure if it was true. He did drink a lot but he didn’t seemhurtper se. More… annoyed, frustrated.

“Are we still friends, Leo?” she asked again.

“Yes,” I said with a sigh. “We are still friends, Mia. But I am his friend, too.”

“I thought if anyone would know why I did it, it would be you. You hate him. You see through the facade he puts on. He’s hurt you, too.”

I couldn’t get into that right now.