Page 29 of Murder on the Upper East Side

‘Yeah.’ She glanced back to their table, where Edward now sat sulking into a fresh glass of white. Madison was at the bar, making a show of admiring the Italian silk tie knotted around the neck of a good-looking club member in his late twenties. The antique black-and-white clock above the bar struck eight-thirty, but it felt like midnight. ‘I think the night is over.’

She zipped up her coat and tucked her newly retrieved phone into the pocket.

‘Hey, Theo.’ Ami gave him a small smile, then turned to Hannah. ‘You coming?’

‘One minute?’

Ami groaned, then stepped towards the door. ‘See you outside.’

When they were alone, Theo set his Coke on a small marble-topped table and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. ‘I know we can be a bit much. But I’m glad you came.’

Hannah’s breath caught. Instinctively, she peered behind Theo, back to their table. Elle met her gaze with narrowed brows, then looked pointedly away.

Theo turned, following Hannah’s gaze. ‘Oh,’ he said.‘Look, about that. I never lied to Elle. And I never cheated on her either. It wasn’t me in the photos with Gemma, swear to god.’

‘Right,’ Hannah said quickly. They’d never spoken openly about the Gemma thing before. Discussing the scandal felt a bit traitorous in light of her friendship with Elle. And Gemma, for that matter.

Still, she wanted to believe Theo. Not that it mattered. He was Elle’s ex-boyfriend, forbidden fruit.

‘We’d been growing apart all summer,’ Theo continued. ‘She was travelling for most of it, with her family. And my parents had to spend a lot of the summer upstate. You know we’re opening a new restaurant in Hudson?’

Hannah nodded. Alice had mentioned it, more than once.

‘Anyway, I thought, with school back in session, that might fix things. But then the photos came out, and the rumours started…’

‘If it’s really not you in the pictures, then why didn’t Elle believe you?’ Hannah asked. Subtlety had never been her forte, but he’d been the one to bring up the topic of Elle, after all.

Theo frowned and shoved his hands deeper in his pockets. Hannah bit down on the inside of her cheek. Maybe she’d pushed too hard.

But then he blew out a breath. ‘Fair question. I think Elle had been having second thoughts about being with me for a while. Maybe it was easier to cast me as the villain.’

‘Butyouended things.’

‘Yeah. When it became clear she couldn’t get past the gossip, there wasn’t much point, was there?’

Hannah nodded. The words ‘I believe you’ were lodged in her throat.

‘Hannah.’ Ami had stuck her head back through the door to the club. The butler peered at her with mild amusement. ‘It’s freezing out here.’

‘Sorry,’ she said to Theo. ‘I have to go.’

He smiled. ‘Right. See you at school on Monday?’

‘Come on.’ Ami tugged on Hannah’s coat sleeve.

Hannah gave Theo a small smile, and in spite of herself, her heart gave a little flutter.

1025 November 2016

It was only nine forty-five when the cab pulled up in front of the Millers’ Soho loft – much earlier than they’d planned to get home, but Edward’s presence at the club had zapped the fun from the night. She’d given Ami a stick of gum in the cab, and on their way up the stairs, she checked her sister’s breath again, despite Ami’s protests that she’d only had a few sips of wine and was completely sober.

‘So sorry for having your back.’ Hannah’s voice dripped with sarcasm. ‘You think Dad and Yoko will let you go to another Prescott party if they know you’ve been drinking? You’refifteen.’

‘Whatever. The other Prescott parents are cool with it.’

‘And you think Dad will care because…?’

Ami scowled, Hannah scowled back, and then they fell silent as they approached the third floor.