Page 74 of Cinderella Is Faking It

“No.”

“Kids?”

“No.”

“College?”

“No.”

“Kissed Cordelia?”

“Yes.” His knife came down in a hard chop and stayed down, as his quick reply registered. His eyes flicked up, his face drawn into a sharper frown than usual. Under different circumstances that face, when he was holding a sharp knife, could have made me nervous. But I doubted he’d stab me over tricking him into admitting a kiss.

“Are you two together?” I continued my questioning, pasting on a saccharine smile.

“No,” he huffed and continued chopping. “Enough prying.”

“Oh come on. It was just getting interesting.”He had probably spoken a total of 100 words to me over the last couple of weeks, despite the fact that he kept driving me to dinners and luncheons and Beck’s place. But if you multiplied that by 5 years, him and Cordelia must have had a few noteworthy conversations.

“Why don’t I start interrogating you?” He asked, his voice sharper than his knife. “Starting with your reasons for going to Clandestine with August Beckett.”

My stomach soured. That club was supposed to be a secret. Beck had said that they prided themselves on discretion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Delilah, you are out there wearing Cordelia’s name tag. I know where you go, who you talk to, and who takes you to sex clubs. Clandestine’s walls may be impenetrable - pun intended - so I don’t know what went down inside, but if I was able to find out you went there in the first place, others can easily do the same.”

“I- That’s-” Shit, shit, shit, shitty shit.

“For some reason, Cordelia doesn’t mind you spending all this time with Beckett, and she thinks Clandestine’s discreet enough. But if I get even a whiff of a scandal because of your actions-”

“Oh, leave her alone, Victor.” Cordelia waltzed into the kitchen in a pink tweed dress, Fitzwilliam traipsing behind her like a shadow, and leveled an icy glare on him. “Even if someone found out Cordelia Montgomery went to a sex club, we’d spin it in our favor.”

“Cordelia, I’m so sorry,” I said.

“Listen, Del, I’m not worried about sex scandals. You’re out there to make me look good. The world seems to think that I’m weak and incapable just because I don’t like leaving my property. So, actually, I think going to a sex club could easily be spun into an amazing narrative. I’d just get Refinery29 or InStyle on the line and give an interview about how empowering it is to claim your space in the boardroomandthe bedroom.”

Victor let out a sound that couldn’t be described as anything but a growl. Cordelia didn’t even look at him. Instead, she took my hands in hers, pulling my full attention to her. “Are you being safe?” she asked.

“Uh…” Not the conversation I saw myself having ten minutes ago. “I’m on the pill.”

“That’s not enough. Condoms?”

“I, uh, Cordelia, that’s…”

“You can put them on the shopping list if you want. Just put down which brand and size to get and we’ll keep you in stock.” She waved a hand in the general direction of the refrigerator, where the shopping list was pinned. “A pregnancy scandal wouldn’t be quite as easy to get out of.”

“I don’t need- we- we haven’t even…” I shook my head.

“Oh.” Surprise lit Cordelia’s features. “Wait, so what exactly do you do all day with him?”

“Did you think I was going to his house 8 hours a day to have sex?” I gaped at her.

“Well, I figured some eating and cuddling was involved, too, in between, to refuel, but…” She shrugged.

“I read,” I squeaked. Not necessarily the full truth, but the core truth.

“You? Read?” She asked, the corners of her mouth twitching as if she’d just found an onion in her chicken soup.

“He has over 2000 books.”