Satin Princess(32)

I wince. But who else can I blame but myself? She warned me that I wouldn’t like her answer. I can’t say I do.

But it’s honest.

“Thanks for talking to me, Courtney.”

She offers me a parting smile and heads for the door. “Get some rest, darling.”

“I’ll do my best.”

But the moment the door shuts behind her, I reach for my phone. I’ve spent the last twelve hours flitting in and out of sleep. And when I do fall deep into unconsciousness, my nightmares find me. I’m not interested in yet another power nap.

What I need is a conversation. With someone who understands me.

“Hello?”

“Chris,” I breathe, thankful to hear his voice.

“Jesus, Jessa!” he says, as though someone has just punched the lights out of him. “Are you okay?”

“Safe and sound,” I say. “Or at least, safe.”

“That’s not comforting at all.”

“It’s been a rough few days,” I admit.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know where to start.”

“How about we start with this: where’s Freya?”

“Gone,” I say. “I don’t know where. She disappeared right after she poisoned me.”

“WHAT?!”

Right. There’s a lot Chris doesn’t know. I take a deep breath and dive in.

“She actually tried to poison the baby, I guess. But it didn’t work. The baby is fine.”

“Well, fucking hell. Thank God for that.”

“Her name isn’t actually Freya either,” I tell him. “It’s Marina.”

“Why does that sound so familiar?”

“Marina,” I say. “As in Marina Stepanov.”

I can practically hear the sound of his jaw dropping. “No… no fucking way.”

“Way,” I say. “Big way.”

“Anton’s dead wife? But I thought she was, you know, dead?”

“So did I. So did he.”

“So… it was a ruse?” Chris asks. “She faked her own death?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I guess she wanted revenge,” I say. “And she wanted to be as dramatic about it as possible.”

He lets out a low whistle. “It’s like some fucked-up action movie. Shit… I can’t believe this.”

I nod in agreement. “I was in disbelief yesterday. Now, it feels almost… normal. Or at least, not quite so ridiculous.”

“There is no way in the world that anything about this is normal,” Chris argues fervently. “Where the hell are you?”

“Some fancy-pants hotel in London,” I tell him. “In ‘The King’s Suite,’ they call it.”

“Is that a joke?”

“As far as I can tell, it is not.”

“Can we rewind a little, please?” Chris asks, sounding like he’s got a headache coming on. “Start from the last time we talked.”

“Right. Yeah, of course. You called me while I was still at Laurel Manor with who I thought was Freya. I hung up and tried to get out of there like you told me to. But I’d already drunk the weird ‘tonic’ she gave me that morning that was supposed to help my morning sickness.”

“You drank it?”

“I didn’t know she was a full-on psychopath!” I say defensively. “At the time, I thought she was my friend. And yes, I trusted her.”

His silence is telling. I know exactly what he’s thinking.

“You wanna say ‘I told you so’ before I continue?”

“No,” he says grudgingly. “I don’t.”

“I started to feel really bad and then I started to lose consciousness. But not before she told me who she was.”

“That must have been terrifying.”

“Yes, but I was scared for my baby, not for me.”

“How did you get from there to ‘The King’s Suite’?”

“Anton,” I say simply. “He got there just in time. Freya—Marina—heard him coming and made a run for it. He found me and brought me here. He brought in a team of doctors, too. They pumped the toxins out of me and saved the baby.”

I can’t quite read the silence I get this time around. “Chris?” I say when I can’t bear it anymore.

“Quite the knight in shining armor, huh?” he mutters.

I frown. “Why do you sound disappointed by that?”

“Of course I’m not,” he says, affronted. “I’m so damn glad you’re safe. You and the baby.”

“But?”

“For God’s sake, there’s no ‘but,’ Jessa. I just… I’m reluctant to give him the credit for saving you when you wouldn’t even be in this mess if it weren’t for him. That’s all.”

“He didn’t know she was alive either, Chris.”

“I mean, who the fuck knows anything at this point?” he asks. “He’s clearly a master of deception. Just like his wife.”

I flinch at that one. It hurts deeply to hear Marina being called Anton’s wife. It hurts all the more because I know it’s true.