She looks at me, sliding her eyes down and back up my body as if she's sizing me up. She doesn't even look apologetic about kissing Thomas when he’d brought me up with him.
"Oh, you’re another one," she says.
Another one? She sounds bored when she says it.
"Jessica, you need to leave now," Thomas says.
Jessica shakes her head. "Don’t push me away again. I can’t stand it when we don’t talk."
I frown at Thomas.
"Who is she?" I ask him. Maybe he'll answer me. Thomas opens his mouth to say something, but Jessica answers for him.
"Another one of his women," she says.
Okay, maybe not the answer I want to hear.
"What?" I ask numbly.
"Don’t you know? Honey, you ought to have known. You’re not the only one. Thomas never has only one woman."
Thomas shakes his head. "That’s a lie."
"Isn’t it?" Jessica asks him. She looks at me. "Ask him if it’s true."
I look at Thomas. I don't want to believe Jessica. She looks like a past lover, scorned. But suddenly, I really need to know.
"Is it true?" I ask Thomas in a voice that's barely a whisper.
Thomas hesitates. That's already answer enough. "It used to be," he says, confirming it. "But it’s not like that anymore. Not since I met you."
Jessica laughs. "Do you think she’ll believe you? Admittedly, I did, but I didn’t have anyone to warn me." She looks at me. "Trust me on this, honey, he’s going to fuck you and leave you. He’ll keep you around just as long as he’s having fun. He’ll make you feel like you’re everything. When he gets bored, that’s when he’ll dump you, and you’ll be left to wonder what the hell you did wrong."
I shake my head. I don't want to believe her. But Jessica clearly knows Thomas. And he's getting paler and paler as she carries on talking.
His jaw clenches tightly. "It’s not like that," he says through gritted teeth. "It’s different with you, Nicole."
Jessica shakes her head. "Did you tell her about your money, your kingdom?"
Thomas looks angry. "Shut your fucking mout
h," he hisses at her.
Jessica smiles, aware that she’s struck a nerve. "He told you he’s a business person, didn’t he? That he has to take over the family business, right?"
I nod. I don't know what to believe anymore.
"Did he tell you that the family business is running the country? That he’s the crown prince of Elanda?"
I'm confused. My head swims like I’ve been drinking too much. I open my mouth to speak but I can't find the words.
"I was going to tell you," Thomas says, but he doesn't sound as confident as usual.
"Were you?" Jessica asks before I can answer. "Or were you just going to leave back to Elanda after the weekend and never see her again?"
Thomas is furious now. "Where the hell did you hear that?" he asks.
"What?" The news hits me like a freight train. "You’re leaving?"