Page 99 of The Boyfriend Experience

I pause. Waiting for him to say something. He just stares at me, thinking, I guess. Running everything though his mind.

I look at Jordan, who just shrugs. Then he says, “Lawton. I really am starting to feel like a marriage counselor here. You need to say something.”

Law looks at him, then back at me, and says, “How crazy does a bitch have to be to tell me a lie like the one she told last night?”

“What did she say?” I ask. “Sisters? I mean, that makes no sense at all. All anyone has to do is look at her birth certificate.”

“She had one, Oaklee. With your father’s name on it.”

“That’s bullshit! We’re the same fucking age for God’s sake!” I’m careful not to raise my voice and bring Jordan’s father back in here a third time. “My dad never said anything! And she never said anything! I didn’t know who the fuck she was until she showed up in my college dorm room! And she met my father, Law. She came to my house a couple times that first year. You’d think my dad would’ve acted weird… or… or something! But he didn’t. This is all lies. All of it. She’s insane! We are the same fucking age! It’s not even biologically possible!”

And then I know what he’s gonna say, so I point at him and growl, “If you accuse me of being her twin, I will… I will punch you in the eye.”

Law lets out a long breath of air, then looks over at Jordan. “So…”

“So…” Jordan says. And he’s smiling. Like… what part of this is funny? I want to slap him. But then Jordan turns to one of the other guys in the room. The one in a suit. He nods to him and that guy smiles as well. He says, “OK, we’re on it. Come on, Finn, we’ve got shit to do.”

And the two of them leave the office, and the three of us just look at each other.

Jordan is the first to speak. “Well, I think I owe you something for taking this game in the first place, Lawton. So, if it’s OK with you two, we’re gonna take it from here.”

“Take what?” I ask. “From where?”

“He means,” Law says, “he’s going to fix this for us.”

“If that’s what you want?” Jordan asks.

“How? How do you fix crazy?”

“She knows Oaklee and Vivi Vaughn broke into her place last night, Jordan. It would not surprise me in the least if she’s pressing charges right this minute. She says she has surveillance.”

“Oh, shit!” I say. “Vivi said she took care of that!”

Jordan presses a button on his desk phone, says, “Eileen, get me Oliver Shrike on the phone, please.”

“Sure thing,” Eileen says back.

Jordan looks at me, then Law. He says, “I can take care of all of this. Luckily, Oliver will be interested in protecting his family. So he’ll most likely go along. But if any of this twin shit is true—” He looks at me.

“It isn’t!” I insist. “She’s lying about all of it! She is not my stupid sister! She’s just a jealous freak who wants to steal my life.”

“If it’s all lies,” Jordan continues, “then she’s one crazy bitch and we need to be careful. Sociopaths don’t react the way we would. They have no guilt, they have no conscience, and they will most definitely strike back.”

Just as he says that, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I take it out and check the screen. “Shit. Now what?”

“Who is it?” Law and Jordan ask at the same time.

“The brewery.” I tab accept and say, “Yes?”

“Oaklee?”

I roll my eyes, because she called me, right? But I don’t want to get pissy at people who have nothing to do with my very bad morning. So I say, “Yes, Dana. What’s going on?”

“Um… you might want to turn on Channel Five if you’re near a TV.”

My stomach sinks again. “What now?” I whisper back.

“Hanna’s doing an interview. You’re really gonna wanna see this. Because… just turn it on.”