Page 19 of So Close to You
Nerissa turns slowly.
There she is: stiff, beautiful, and furious.
Her pale eyes hold an emotion far more intense than should exist between them in a professional setting.
“You were living with her, weren’t you?” Seraphina continues. “This meeting was enough to figure that out.”
Nerissa stares at her for several seconds. Something inside her hardens, because the accusation is completely unfair. She takes a step forward, deliberately invading her personal space. Seraphina backs up until she bumps into the metal filing cabinets.
“Daphne was real, Seraphina,” Nerissa murmurs. “She was there, in my bed, day and night. She wasn’t a ghost calling me in secret from a car.”
The blow lands exactly where she intended. She sees it in the slightest tremor that crosses Seraphina’s expression.
“And I left her,” Nerissa continues, moving even closer. “I hurt her because I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”
Seraphina’s breathing quickens.
“You have no right to be angry with me over that,” she replies, though her voice visibly falters.
“Oh, really?” Nerissa raises an eyebrow. “Do you think it’s unreasonable that I felt that way while you were going home to your husband?”
The word husband hangs between them as if she had uttered something obscene. Seraphina clenches her jaw tightly.
“This is different…”
Nerissa lets out a short, disbelieving laugh.
“Of course. Because your feelings are always special, and mine are just logistical inconveniences.”
“That’s not it,” Seraphina protests, shaking her head, her eyes shining.
“Then explain it to me,” Nerissa demands, taking another step forward. Now there’s barely enough space between them to breathe. Seraphina’s scent reaches her with unbearable intensity. “It drives you crazy seeing her near me because it reminds you of something very simple: you don’t own me.”
Seraphina swallows hard. Anger begins to simmer inside her.
“I’m not trying to possess you,” she whispers.
“You aren’t?” Nerissa catches hold of her wrist. “Because right now it looks a lot like jealousy.”
Seraphina’s pulse hammers beneath her fingers.
“Let go of me,” she says, though she makes no real attempt to pull away.
“Get used to seeing her, Director Chapman. Daphne is part of the project. She’s going to be here all the time.”
Seraphina looks up at her with a devastating mixture of anger and vulnerability.
And because of that, Nerissa decides to finish the job.
“At least she was willing to hold my hand in public.”
The silence that follows is brutal.
Seraphina stands motionless, wounded to the core.
And that should make Nerissa feel better.
But it doesn’t.
