Mrs. Riscoff.

“Lincoln Bates Roosevelt Riscoff, what is she—I can’t—”

Lincoln grabbed the comforter and threw it over us. “Mother, leave now.”

“That Gable whore’s daughter? You can’t possibly be—”

“Mother, I suggest you don’t say another word. Whitney is my—”

Mrs. Riscoff’s face paled before she made a choking sound and groaned. She stumbled two steps backward before clutching her arm and then her chest.

“Help,” she mumbled before she fell against the wall and slid down until she hit the floor.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

Lincoln levered off me and whipped on his pants before rushing to his mother’s side.

“Mother. Mother. Hang on.” He turned back to me. “Call 911.”

Twenty-Two

Whitney

Present day

Sweet Jesus. Not again.

Gabi’s eye-shadow palette clatters to the floor as I jump out of the chair and rush to the hallway, my robe flapping open. I yank it shut as I slide to a stop next to McKinley Riscoff, who is on her knees beside her mother.

“Call 911!” She says it again, this time to a passing worker who pulls out her cell phone to dial. “Mother, please stay with me.”

“Oh God. This is bad,” Gabi whispers from behind me, and she’s absolutely right.

I have to get the hell out of here. Last time, I was certain Mrs. Riscoff was faking it, and I was wrong.

“Get her out of here.”

Mrs. Riscoff’s raspy voice sends shivers down my spine. As much as I don’t like this woman, I wouldn’t wish death on anyone. All I can do is comply with her wishes and disappear.

I turn and run for the locker room to grab my clothes and find my aunt. I don’t want to be on Riscoff property for one second longer than I have to be.

I knew coming here was a terrible idea.

Aunt Jackie finds me in the locker room before I can go looking for her.

“What’s going on? We got the alert for a medical emergency, and one of my housekeepers saw you running in here.”

“Mrs. Riscoff. She saw me. She collapsed.”

My aunt’s face blanches, and I know exactly what she’s thinking before she says it.

“Good Lord. Not again.”

That day at the Riscoff estate, Jackie, her two other employees, and I were escorted to the gate and kicked off the property without being paid.

It didn’t take long for everyone in town to find out what happened. Jackie’s cleaning business slowed to almost nothing when word got around about what I’d done. At least, her normal business slowed down. All of a sudden, she was inundated with requests by men to clean houses when their wives were out of town. Because they all thought her niece wasn’t picky about sleeping with clients.

“Sylvia hardly ever comes here. Ms. Riscoff made that clear, and she hired me anyway. I never thought—”

With shaking hands, I pull on my shorts and slip my shirt over my head. “I shouldn’t have come home. This is just another disaster in the making.”