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A Vampiric Kiss 59
59Isabella. I received an email from my old publishing firm. Short, cold and very corporate but in form of an apology.“Dear Ms. Rune,We acknowledge our prior misjudgment in the handling of your manuscript. A formal retraction has been issued regarding the previous publication under Ms. Nadia Rune’s name. We sincerely apologize for any harm this caused to your reputation.”There signature from a real person. Just “The Editorial Board.”Still, I stared at it for a long time. It should have made me feel good. Elated, even. Instead I just felt numb about it. I kept staring at it for minutes.Then I deleted it. The apology wasn’t for me. It was for show, just to cover their own legal tracks.It was something, but still I wasn’t moved.Two hours later, my phone lit up with a message from Madison, a literary agent I hadn’t spoken to since before the collapse.“Saw the retraction. Let’s talk. I still believe in your voice.” Straight to the point, as expected. Again, while I appreciated it
A Vampiric Kiss 58
58Sienna.The courthouse was colder than I expected.Maybe it was the way the walls echoed, or the way everyone avoided eye contact, like they were all pretending this wasn’t a scandal they’d been whispering about for weeks. Maybe it was just me—because I felt like something was still sitting on my chest. Even after everything had come out.Even after Natasha was gone.Even after Nadia had been exposed.The courtroom wasn’t packed, but it was far from empty. A few reporters sat in the back row with notepads they barely pretended not to use. A couple of locals had come “just to observe,” which was code for nosy.Isabella was sitting beside Damian near the front. Her back was straight, her face calm, but I knew that look. It was her “I’m not breaking here” face. I’d worn it enough to recognize the shape of it.I sat a few rows back. Alone. That was intentional. I didn’t want to be seen whispering to anyone.Nadia sat beside her lawyer, eyes dry, mouth drawn tight. She wasn’t wearing he
A Vampiric Kiss 57
57Isabella. It was a quiet kind of storm.The kind where everyone already knew the answer, but we still had to wait for the official words. We stood in my father’s study, Noah, Sienna, me, and my father, and watched as Natasha paced the room like she hadn’t just confessed to multiple crimes just a day ago.The police weren’t here yet. They’d been called, tipped off by the investigator and Isaac, who’d sent copies of the files directly to the city bureau. But Natasha hadn’t run. She stayed, as if she still thought she could talk her way out of everything.I didn’t move. I just watched her from across the room.“You’re all so dramatic,” she said, voice sharp. “I said what I said in the heat of the moment. You think that counts as a confession?”Damian didn’t speak. He was seated in the armchair, his hands resting on the cane between his knees. His face was pale, but alert.Sienna stood beside me, arms crossed.Noah was closer to the door. Watching her, always watching.“You said you s
A Vampiric Kiss 56
56Noah. I didn’t knock when I walked into Natasha’s house. She liked to leave the door unlocked when she was expecting someone. I figured if she was arrogant enough to assume she’d never get caught, she wouldn’t mind the courtesy being ignored.She was in the sunroom. Of course she was. Draped across one of those too-white couches with a glass of wine in hand and a silk robe that looked more costume than comfort. The kind of setup that begged for an audience.She smiled when she saw me.“Darling,” she said smoothly. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”I dropped the folder onto the glass table in front of her. It was filled with printouts, photos, screenshots, testimonies. The works.Her smile flickered for half a second before she reached for the wine again.“Well, that’s ominous,” she said.I didn’t sit down. “Go ahead. Read it.”She took her time, flipping slowly through the pages. I watched the micro-expressions dance across her face: the initial surprise, the twitch of her mouth a
A Vampiric Kiss 55
55SiennaI hated town events.They were always too loud, too decorated, and filled with people who thought cinnamon-scented candles made things festive. I didn’t do “festive.” I did practical. Controlled. Predictable.But Isabella had asked me to come, and that meant I came.So there I was, standing under a string of fairy lights wrapped around a poorly pruned sycamore, watching people sip tiny glasses of sparkling cider like it was an Olympic sport.The event was technically a fundraiser,some vague thing about restoring the old school theater,but it was really just an excuse for the town’s social circle to parade around in their softest scarves and loudest personalities. The local café had catered, complete with gluten-free pastries and pumpkin-flavored everything.Isabella looked good.Calm, even. She wore that green sweater that made her eyes pop, and when she laughed, it sounded beautiful and calming.It had been two days since she got the PI report. Two days since Damian started
A Vampiric Kiss 54
54IsabellaI received the report in the middle of the night,it was in the form of a zipped folder and a six-line email from a woman named Sandra Vega,a former NYPD who is now a private investigator with a specialty in corporate scandals and rich people who lie.I stared at the email for a full minute before clicking it open.“Initial findings attached. Sensitive material. Password: VICTORIAN. More soon.”I opened the file. Entered the password. And held my breath.I released the breath I was holding as soon as the file opened.And then everything changed leaving me in shock with my mouth wide open.The first document was a scanned copy of a sealed court file,redacted in places, but not enough to hide the names.Isabel Hart. Deceased.Natasha Green. Witness.Damian Hart. Declined to testify.There was a death. Not just the car accident I was told. Not just some vague story about swerving on a wet road and a funeral no one let me plan.There was a whole investigation. Buried. Hidden und
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