Fifty-One
Nancy’s stomach churned as she stood frozen in place, her heart pounding in her chest as she stood looking at Helen.
‘What are you doing here?’ Nancy finally forced the words out. She hated how small it sounded.
Helen’s eyes, cold and calculating, flicked over Nancy with an almost clinical detachment.
‘You think you can just walk back into my family’s home? You’ve got a lot of nerve,’ Helen said.
Nancy’s chest tightened. It shouldn’t have. It had been years since that job, and she’d been young when she’d worked for Helen. She wasn’t young now. She was confident and capable. She was determined to put that into her words. But they tumbled out in a rush.
‘I came back for Ari.’
Helen’s brow arched, a glimmer of amusement flashing across her face. ‘The thief?’ she said softly, stepping closer, invading Nancy’s space. Her voice dropped lower, a sneer creeping into her tone. ‘She doesn’t belong here either. New money. I always told Paris she was a waste of time. You can’t train them at all.’
Nancy clenched her fists at her sides, fighting to keep her voice steady. ‘Wow. I forgot that you talked like this.’
Helen stepped even closer, her gaze like ice, chilling Nancy to the bone. ‘What you fail to understand, Nancy,’ she began, her voice almost a whisper, ‘is that my world is for the strong. Which is why you ran like a child over a simple spat.’
Nancy felt the anger surge through her, hot and undeniable. ‘You’re not strong. You’re a bully.’
Helen’s face flashed with irritation, but she masked it quickly. ‘Oh yes?’
Nancy took another shot. ‘And your niece is exactly like you,’ she mumbled.
Helen’s eyes narrowed. ‘What did you say about Paris?’ she asked, her voice lowering into something darker.
Nancy stiffened. Her pulse quickened. She had to be careful. She wasn’t here for this.
But she had a chance to reclaim something. If she could just hold her nerve.
‘Paris,’ Nancy said slowly, her voice dropping to a low whisper. ‘She’s a monster, just like you. I’ve been watching her. And that charity you two run? What a joke. You don’t give a shit about anyone.’
‘What do you know about that?’ Helen asked, taking a step closer.
Nancy hesitated. ‘What do I know?’ she repeated, unsure.
Helen studied her for a long moment, her eyes cold, calculating. ‘Staff. You people make me laugh. We give you everything you have. That’s why you hate us. Because you know you need us.’
Nancy shrugged, trying to sound unbothered. ‘You’re a backseat bitch, that’s all. You’re nothing special.’
Helen took one quick step toward Nancy. Nancy, to her enormous shame, flinched.
Helen didn’t do anything else. She didn’t need to. Her smile grew wider. ‘I’m going to find security,’ she said, her voice cold. ‘I think we’re in the arena of trespassing now. Hope that police car is big enough.’
Nancy stood frozen, her chest heavy with dread.
Helen turned on her heel, heading toward the door. As she went, she gave Nancy one last look over her shoulder and started laughing. At last, she vanished from sight.
Nancy stood there, in the silence of the room, with the unsettling realisation that she was right back where she started, with Ari trapped. And now there was a timer on the situation. Security was coming to eighty-six her.