FRAGMENTS OF US
"Are you even listening to me?"
Lily’s eyes snapped toward Rose. She forced her facial muscles into a smooth, polite, perfectly calm smile, even as Kendrick’s broad thumb rubbed a hard, agonizingly slow circle into the bare skin of her lower thigh, right above the lace band of her stocking.
"Of course I am listening, Rose," Lily said, her voice dropping into a soft, remarkably steady register, though every nerve ending in her body was screaming in alarm. "You were speaking about the Claire Group’s desire for a... formal alliance."