Page 37 of Dirty Hearts

“I’m going to bed,” I huffed. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen me in this before.

“Not going to bed with Claudius tonight? Please tell me that’s not what you wear.” She gave me that menacing look.

I wouldn’t bother to tell her that when Claudius and I were together, we didn’t need anything but the bare skin on our backs. She thought she was so hot and the ‘it’ girl just because men lined up to be with her.

I loved her. Love for her was encoded in my DNA, but sometimes she got on my nerves.

“It’s none of your business what I wear when I’m with my boyfriend.”

“God, you’re testy, testy. What’s with you? I kind of thought you’d be away for the next few days anyway. Spending your last days with said boyfriend.” She placed her hands on her hips and sauntered closer to the bed. She had to move the dress higher up her thigh to sit. Maybe she planned to stand all night at wherever it was she was going.

“He’s working.”

“Working?” She quirked a brow. “I wonder what the mysterious Claudius could be doing tonight. What sort of work was so important that he couldn’t spend tonight with you?”

I never missed the hitched tone in her voice. It held an air of bitterness she tried to hide. I could sense it though. I’d never said this to anyone, but I always thought she was into Claudius.

It was the way she looked at him. I could tell. No, I knew it. I knew, too, that she was against me for being with him, and surprised that he liked me and didn’t pick her.

It didn’t take shared DNA to guess that. That was just down to plain old women’s intuition. That was it. Because of that, it always made me wary of talking about him with her.

I spoke to Kelly, but she lived in LA. We saw each other at college, and it was awkward meeting up sometimes.

“It doesn’t matter. He’s busy.”

“Busy.That’s odd,” she cooed. “He knows you’re leaving in a few days, andhe’s busy. I take it he didn’t react that well when you told him about Paris.”

I pulled in a ragged breath and straightened, embarrassed.

She gasped and placed her hand to her heart. The look in her eyes mischievous and cunning. “He doesn’t know. You devil, Ava.”

“I’m going to tell him.”

“When? On the day?” She laughed a laugh of satisfaction.

“No, I’ll tell him tomorrow.” Tomorrow was my deadline. Tomorrow would be when I’d know for sure that I was either going or staying. Either way, I’d tell him that I had the chance.

“Why tomorrow?”

“Because I’m not sure if I want to go.” I frowned, and she laughed.

“Are you serious? Ava, it’s Europe. Fuck, do you realize you’d be the first person in this family to get such an opportunity?” Her features softened, and a slight warmth filled her green eyes.

Those were the main differences between us. When we were little, we used to try to spot any kind of difference we could about each other.

We worked out it was our eyes. Not the color, not the shape or anything physical. But the expression, the emotion that came from within.

We knew what we meant. Maybe it was crazy to be able to tell who a person was from the emotion reflected in their eyes. It was what we agreed on though. It was how I could tell when she was being genuine and when she was not.

Right now, as in this second, I knew she was.

“I know, and it’s hard. I want to go. I’ve dreamed of the chance since I applied, but it’s hard.” Honestly, when I’d applied, I didn’t think I would get the position. Chez la Meire only took on three apprentices every year. Those three people could have come from anywhere in the world.

I’d just thought to apply because I wasn’t one to pass up a chance. I was the take-a-chance-even-if-it-was-crazy kind of girl.

It was crazy that they’d accepted me and even crazier that I was here in my little room contemplating on whether or not I’d be going.

“What are your plans with Claudius, then?” Her voice cut into my thoughts.