Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 545

The floor tilted again.

"You might not know that, because you have only just come back to the world of social media," she went on, "but Lucia certainly knows who Celeste is. Her face and her name and her relationship with Dominic Ford have been on every page for weeks. Every one of those girls standing behind you knew it too, and not one of them opened her mouth while you made a fool of yourself and insulted Sparrow's future sister-in-law. For all you know, this hotel belongs to her. You threatened the owner of the hotel she let you stand in."

"Oh God." My hand went back to my mouth. "What have I done? I did not know. I am sure Lucia did not know either. Sparrow must be so angry with me."

Scarlett clapped, slow, three times. "You trust your dumb friends that much, huh? When I walked over to apologize to Celeste on your behalf, what did Lucia do? Did she not immediately tell me to go back and kneel? And for the record, Tasha, I could beat every single one of those girls into the ground if I decided to. I held myself back for reasons that are mine. But do not push me again. If after everything we have been through, after everything I have done and endured for your sake, I have to put up with this ridiculous little performance and these dumb bitches just to prove that I love you, then you can forget about it."

"My friends are not dumb. They were trying to help me." My voice climbed. "And you. You say you love me, and you hid the fact that you can swim? I nearly jumped into that pool after you. I was worried sick."

"And how exactly did I hide it from you?"

"At Big Bryan's house," I said. "I saw you in the pool. You were drowning. You said with your own mouth that you could not swim."

"Was I speaking to you?" she asked. "Did I turn to you that day and say, Tasha, listen, I cannot swim? And at that time you did not even know we were related. I was there on a job. I was there to get you out. In a house full of enemies, I handed them a weakness to look at so they would not go looking for the real one. Did you ask me about it afterward? Any single time in all these months? No. So how dare you stand there and accuse me of lying to you."

She took a breath and let it out slow, and when she spoke again, her voice had gone flat and tired.

"Your actions today have disappointed me, Tasha. And those girls you call friends, especially Lucia, cut them off. They are vipers."

She turned and walked toward the entrance.

I stood there with my hands at my sides, and something in my chest pulled toward her back like a rope going taut, and I took one step.

"Scarlett..."

Lucia's hand closed around my arm. I turned, and she was standing close, her face arranged into something careful and sorry.

"I overheard part of your conversation," she said. "And I swear to you, I had no idea who that woman was. How could I have known? The engagement was never posted anywhere public, and I am a married woman. I do not sit around following every piece of gossip on the internet."