Page 57 of Every Step She Takes

I have to pause there to collect myself. Then I keep reading.

Another answer comes soon, one that has me flinching again.

Tiana:Bess just called. She told me who you’re meeting today, Mom.

Isabella:She shouldn’t have done that. She seems to forget who pays her very well for discretion.

Tiana:She’s worried about you.

Isabella:If I’m overworking myself or overstuffing my schedule, then as my PA she has every right to tell me so. I would prefer she didn’t take an interest in my personal life, but I understand she might. She should not, however, be tattling on me to her ex-girlfriend.

Ex-girlfriend? Oh. She means Tiana. So the woman I met yesterday, Bess, is Isabella’s PA and Tiana’s ex. That explains the cold shoulder the young woman gave me.

Tiana:Does Dad know?

Isabella:I informed him today. I would prefer not to talk about that.

I fast-forward through texts I can read later. Then come ones from late yesterday afternoon after I’d left Isabella’s suite.

Isabella:Lucy just left. We need to talk.

Tiana:Why? So you can feed me whatever BS she fed you?

Isabella:Lucy explained. She didn’t defend. She didn’t excuse. She just explained. You need to hear that explanation. You need to see her, too.

Tiana:Oh, hell, no. Trust me, Mom, you do not want me within fifty feet of that bitch. I will tell Lucy Callahan exactly what I think of her.

Isabella:I don’t think she’d have a problem with that. I’m meeting her for lunch tomorrow, and I hope you’ll join us.

Tiana:Lunch? What game’s she playing?

Isabella:No game. I want to go public with our story, and I would like you to be part of that.

Tiana’s answer is a torrent of punctuation marks, comic-book profanity, to which Isabella says she’ll call and they can discuss it.

There are no texts from Tiana after that.

So Tiana knew about my proposed lunch with Isabella. She knew about her mother’s plan for us to go public. I will not consider the possibility that Tiana killed Isabella, but if she knew – and was furious about it – who else did she tell?

I open the next text thread. There’s no name attached, so I assume it must be business. It only takes a few messages for me to realize my mistake.

Sender:I’d like to be there with you for this. I can be in NYC in a couple of hours.

Isabella:I can handle this.

Sender:I know you can. I just don’t think you need to be alone while you do it. I’ll get a room at the Baccarat, and if you want to talk, I’m here. If not, that’s cool, too.

The conversation goes on from there. It’s all very circumspect, but there’s enough in the careful and sincere texts to tell me this is no mere friend. Isabella has a lover.

I skim down to texts sent yesterday evening.

Isabella:You’re in NYC, aren’t you? Damn it, didn’t I say I could handle this?

Sender:Yes, and that’s why I’m staying four blocks away with no intention of seeing you until you’ve worked this through with Lucy.

He uses my name as if he knows me. Which means they’ve discussed me often enough that he feels as if he does.

Sender:How did the meeting go? Better than you imagined? Or worse?