Page 44 of Dead to Me

I typed back.

Coming.

I opened my black duffel bag. Warren’s name was at the top of my list. I slowly crossed it out. One down. Two to go.

I closed the bag and headed next door.

China opened the door before I knocked.

“Get in here.”

She grabbed my wrist and pulled me in. The room was filled with the scents of hairspray, perfume, and champagne.

Women laughed all around us. Makeup was scattered across every counter. China’s wedding dress hung by the window in its garment bag. Malcolm had sent roses.

A white box sat on the table with a handwritten card. China noticed me looking at it.

“He sent them this morning.”

“How sweet.”

She smiled.

“He really is.”

I glanced at the roses, then at China, and finally at the wedding dress.

My sister didn’t know that one of the men who ruined my life was lying dead just a few floors below us.

She also didn’t know her fiancé would be next. She had no clue that the happiest day of her life was already turning bloody.

China sat in the makeup chair. I took the seat beside her. She reached over and squeezed my hand.

“I’m so happy you’re here.”

I looked at our reflection in the mirror. Two identical women sat side by side. One was dressed for a wedding, the other for a funeral no one else knew about yet.

I squeezed her hand back.

“So am I.”

Milan

By ten thirty that morning, my sister was a bride. Her hair was pulled back in a low bun, with loose curls around her face. Her makeup looked soft and perfect, and tiny crystals sparkled at the corners of her eyes.

China looked beautiful. I hated her. The two feelings were completely separate.

“You’re staring at me,” she said.

I looked away from the mirror.

“I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“How much you look like Mama.”

China’s smile disappeared.