Karolina bolted upright in bed. The clock read 2:22 a.m. Make a wish! The thought popped in her head automatically. I wish he dies. Suddenly it didn’t seem hard to understand how regular, law-abiding people became cold-blooded killers. She and Graham had fought before, and Karolina had felt every degree of anger toward him, but this was different. This was hate.
Shouldn’t two Xanaxes last longer than two hours? She should have been mercifully blacked out until at least five. But it was as if the pills had amped her up instead of knocking her out: her heart was pounding arrhythmically, and her entire body was covered by a thin layer of sweat. How on earth was she expected to sleep when that monster had literally ruined her life?
What happened next wasn’t so much the result of a conscious or even rational decision; Karolina barely remembered showering or pulling on jeans and a sweater, and she wasn’t entirely sure she was even awake as she rooted around in the kitchen, looking for car snacks and bottles of water and stuffing them in a backpack. Which was probably why she almost had a heart attack when the lights blazed on around her.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ Emily asked, squinting. She was wearing a half-tee and a Hanky Panky thong and had a satin sleep mask pushed up on her forehead.
Karolina whipped around. ‘Leave me alone.’
‘Gladly,’ Emily said.
‘It’s none of your business.’ Karolina took a Diet Coke from the fridge.
‘If I knowingly let you murder him, it’s going to ruin my life too. I’m not sure how, but I’ll definitely get arrested for being an accessory or something. So please, can we back off the psycho routine and cycle it down to regular crazy?’
Karolina stopped and stared at Emily. ‘Do you really sleep in a thong?’
Emily glanced down. ‘What else would I sleep in?’
‘I bet Regan sleeps in a thong too. No, no, that’s not right. She probably sleeps in one of those Little House on the Prairie nightgowns that make you look like a teenage virgin. A totally innocent schoolgirl except for the fact that she’s sleeping with my sociopath husband.’ Merely saying the word ‘husband’ made her heart beat faster.
‘Seriously, why are you packing a bag at three in the morning?’
‘It’s none of your business.’ Karolina tried to slide past Emily and through the doorway, but Emily put her arm against the frame.
‘You’ve already said that. You can’t go kill Graham. That’s bad optics. The new Quinnipiac poll has your popularity above Bella Hadid’s! Remember – feelings over facts! People care how you make them feel. Killing Graham is not a feel-good ending to this story, at least not to the general public.’
Karolina’s laugh sounded borderline maniacal. ‘I’m not going to kill him. I just need to … talk to him.’
‘Uh-huh. Talk. I’m sure. And have you thought about how Harry is going to react when you break into their house in the middle of the night and go ballistic on his father?’
Karolina stopped. She hadn’t considered Harry. Emily led her by the arm to the kitchen table and poured her a glass of cold white wine.
‘Shouldn’t you be making me chamomile tea or something?’
‘Oh, yes. Tea really helps everything.’ Emily sat next to her with her own glass of wine. ‘The only reason I’m not giving you vodka right now is because I saw you munching Xanax like gumballs a couple hours ago. And I don’t need your overdose any more than I need Graham’s murder.’
Karolina somehow managed to laugh. Emily could make anyone laugh.
‘So tell me,’ Emily said, taking a slug of wine, ‘you were fully going to get in your car and drive to Bethesda and show up in your old house like a total stalker and what? Shoot him? Cut his throat?’
Karolina sighed. ‘I hope you know me well enough to realize that if I were going to murder Graham, I’d at least hire someone.’
‘Well, that’s a relief.’ Emily smiled.
They each took another sip. Karolina could feel her pulse slow.
‘It’s time to tell me that dirt you weren’t willing to divulge before,’ Emily said.
‘It’s too awful to be delicious. It’s really, really sad.’
‘Noted. Now tell me anyway. I can work with awful.’
‘You have to swear not to—’
‘Stop it!’ Emily said. ‘Next time you have one single impulse to protect him, I’d like you to remember in vivid detail shooting yourself full of hormones and going under general anesthesia to harvest your eggs so they could be fertilized with sugar water.’
Karolina dug her nails into her palms.
‘Exactly,’ Emily said. ‘Now dish.’
‘Graham was involved in a fatal car crash in high school,’ she said quietly. ‘I only know what he told me, since there’s nothing written about it anywhere, but he was seventeen and had just gotten his license. He was driving home from football practice and a four-year-old girl bolted from behind a bush. He didn’t even have time to step on the brake. It was instantaneous.’
‘No!’
‘The parents were family friends and they were all out on the Hartwells’ porch having cocktails when the little girl ran in front of the car.’
‘Oh my God.’
Karolina nodded. ‘All I know is the girl’s parents decided not to press charges. The whole thing was a terrible accident.’
‘They didn’t press charges? In the death of their daughter? I’m no lawyer, but I don’t think that’s even their choice. Shadesville. This reeks. There was definitely a deal cut.’
Karolina took a sip of water. ‘I really don’t know, he didn’t give me a lot of detail. Apparently his parents pulled a classic stiff-upper-lip WASP move and told him to buck up and move on. That he was innocent. That it was a tragedy but it wasn’t his fault.’
‘That’ll fuck you up,’ Emily murmured.
Karolina nodded. ‘He needed counseling. And what did he get? A ride to football practice the next day and a lecture from his father on “staying focused.”’
‘They sound like lovely people,’ Emily said. ‘Now I’m certain they paid hush money.’
‘Graham did say his mother visits the little girl’s grave on the anniversary of the accident every year. Has never missed one. A few times she’s run into the girl’s mother there, and they don’t really talk, they just cry together. It’s so, so awful.’
Emily was silent, but Karolina could see exactly what she was thinking. ‘You’re not using this in your takedown plan,’ Karolina said. ‘It’s nothing more than a terrible tragedy.’
‘The Hartwell family – American royalty, if we ever had it – are likely complicit in a cover-up of epic proportions. Who was bribed? What were the circumstances of the accident? Why on earth has nothing ever been reported about the accident? You think the public wouldn’t be interested?’ Emily took another sip of wine, appeared to consider something, and then drained her glass. ‘What’s our goal, Karolina? It’s Harry. It’s custody. To clear your name. But we won’t get there without leverage. Graham and his people are too connected. And … there’s something else I have to tell you.’
‘Oh, God. What now?’
Emily refilled both their glasses. ‘You said Graham refuses to work out at the Senate gym, right?’
Karolina squinted. She didn’t remember mentioning that. ‘Yes. He said it’s too cliquey. Everyone talks shop. It’s not relaxing.’
‘So instead he goes to the Equinox near Dupont, yes?’
Karolina nodded.
‘I’m happy to report that Graham has made a new friend at his gym.’
‘Meaning?’
‘Meaning Graham has recently become enraptured with a very pretty, very fit brunette named Ana. Last week he began coordinating his gym visits around hers. Yesterday he asked if she wanted to get a juice together when they’d finished their workouts.’
‘How do you know all this?’ Karolina asked.
‘Because Ana works for me.’
Karolina’s eyes widened. ‘She works for you how?’
‘I hired her to seduce your husband.’
Karolina’s laugh sounded more like a bark. ‘I hope you didn’t pay her too much, because that’s just about the easiest job in the world.’
‘You’re paying her, actually, and she does charge quite a bit. But it’s fair, I think, considering she’s going to get pictures, sexts, whatever it takes.’
‘You hired a prostitute to seduce Graham?’
Emily appeared horrified. ‘First of all, I didn’t hire anyone. You did. But I didn’t hire a prostitute. She’s a former police officer who now does private work. Lots of corporate things and political stuff. And she’s got an excellent reputation.’
Karolina rested her head in both hands. ‘This isn’t happening. This is like a bad episode of Housewives.’
‘They’re all bad. But I disagree – this is brilliant! You of all people know Graham can’t keep it in his pants, not even for a president’s daughter and his ticket to the Democratic nomination. He’s going to self-sabotage one way or another – we’re merely helping it along.’
‘Is this even legal?’
‘Karolina, get a grip! He certainly has the free will not to try to have sex with her. But what do you think are the chances he’s not going to try?’
‘Zero.’ Karolina sighed. How had they gotten to this point? It was gross on so many levels, but a small part of her was relieved that he would get what he deserved. A sex scandal à la Anthony Weiner. Public humiliation. Exposure for what he truly was. But what about Harry?
‘They’re going on their juice date today. I give it a week. The only questions are when and where.’
‘They’ll go to her place,’ Karolina said. She sounded tired. ‘He’s not a total idiot.’
‘I agree,’ Emily said. ‘Which is why a friend of mine has already been there and set up more spy cams than first-time parents have focused on the baby nurse. How do you think Jude Law got taken down? Or Ben Affleck? Do you really think those so-called nannies were civilians? Hell, no. They had backers like us.’
Suddenly, it felt every minute of three a.m.
Karolina reached over to take Emily’s glass and put it in the sink, but Emily snatched it back and finished the bottle.
‘Try to sleep,’ Emily said. ‘The wine, the Xanax, the plan. You should be good for at least a few hours.’
Karolina watched Emily take another long slug. During all the time they’d spent together, Emily had never opened up about herself. Her business was clearly flagging. Her husband was in Hong Kong. She seemed worn out and maybe depressed.
Karolina was about to ask her but thought better of it.
‘What were you going to say?’ Emily asked.
‘It was nothing.’
‘Please, don’t hold back.’
‘No, it’s not like that. It’s just … Are you happy?’
‘What, you don’t think I’m enjoying drinking refrigerated white wine at three in the morning in Greenwich, Connecticut? Olivia Belle is taking over my industry, and I’m not even making friends in the suburbs.’ Emily glanced at Karolina. ‘No offense.’
‘Listen, Emily. I remember you from the Runway days. You were amazing. A bitch on wheels.’
Emily’s face softened. Karolina saw the curl of a smile.
‘You kept everyone in line. The models would talk about you, you know. You scared us.’
‘I did,’ Emily agreed. ‘And I ran that woman’s life. New York, Paris, Milan. We were everywhere.’
‘Well, nothing’s changed! You’re still that same person. Still every bit as bitchy, unstoppable, and intimidating as the senior assistant I remember from Runway.’
A look crossed Emily’s face. ‘Miranda even wants to hire me back.’
‘For real?’ Karolina asked. ‘What would you do?’
‘Head up special events. Which basically means run the Met Ball.’
Karolina whistled and suppressed a memory of her first Met Ball with Graham. She’d worn Versace. He’d looked so handsome in Tom Ford. The night had been magical, hadn’t it? Or were all her good memories now suspect? ‘Wow.’
‘Yeah. If she’d offered this five years ago, I would’ve jumped. Now I can’t really imagine it. The hours. The twenty-four/seven drama that is Runway. Yes, it would mean New York, but maybe L.A. has made me soft. I’m not sure moving back is worth it if it means working there again.’
Karolina went to the cabinet and pulled out a packet of chamomile tea. ‘Have you thought about the fact that maybe it’s just called growing up? Priorities changing? Which is actually a good thing.’ She filled the mug with boiling water from the instant hot and placed it in front of Emily.
‘You sound creepily positive,’ Emily said, ‘for a person on the brink of homicide.’
Karolina laughed. ‘I should start a new feel-good Instagram page. Post things like “Choose happiness” and “Be the reason someone smiles today.” Hashtag “blessed.” Hashtag “humbled.” I could be the next Glennon Doyle Melton. A woman of the people! Everyone will love me again. How’s that for a master plan?’
Emily was nodding. ‘I like it. I do. I’ll get right on it first thing in the morning.’
‘Before or after you touch base with the professional you hired to entrap my husband?’
‘After. Plus, you hired her, not me. And stop calling him your husband!’
Karolina laughed, and it felt like something released inside her. ‘I’m really going back to bed now.’
‘And I’m really going to dump this tea you so kindly made for me in favor of a Valium. But thank you for the thought.’
Back in her bedroom, Karolina climbed into bed. The sheets were cool and soft on her skin. She opened her Kindle and read a few pages before she felt her eyelids get heavy. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, a thought came so suddenly that she gasped. What she’d missed in all the drama of the previous day was that there wasn’t a damn thing wrong with her body. Maybe, just maybe, she could have a baby after all.