Read Online The Prada Paradox by Julie Kenner - Free Book Online

Very.”

    “You played once, didn’t you?” she asks. “In real life, I mean?”

    “Once,” I admit. “Lost right off the bat.”

    “I can’t even win at Spider Solitaire. PSW sounds like it’s way out of my league.”

    “Mine, too.”

    “But back to Andy,” she says, twisting the conversation back to where we started.

    “He was sucked in as a protector,” I say.

    “But something happened,” she prompts. I can’t remember if I’ve told her the whole story or not, but she definitely knows where we’re heading.

    “Andy took a bullet trying to save his target, but it didn’t matter. In the end the assassin killed the target, and Andy…” I trail off with a shrug. Because what can I say?

    “Wow,” Lindy says.

    “Exactly.”

    “He must be a mess.”

    “I think he’s dealt with it pretty well,” I say, feeling the need to stick up for him. “He was in an impossible situation, and he did his damnedest to keep the guy alive. And once it was over, he found Mel, and now they’re doing whatever they can to help other folks who get caught up in the game.”

    “What do you mean?”

    “Mel used the money she won by surviving the game to fund a kind of project. She and Stryker and some other folks who survived now visit computer gaming conventions and post on bulletin boards and generally do all sorts of investigation to try to find other people who’ve played and lived to tell about it.”

    I shudder a little. The whole thing just sounds too horrible. Getting caught up in some maniac’s version of a good time. I mean, how terrifying is that? (Actually, considering I’d gotten caught up in Janus’s version of a good time, I suppose I could answer that. And the answer is:way terrifying.)

    “So, a lot of people must survive, right? You said she’s got other people helping her?”

    I lift a shoulder. “I don’t think so. Last I heard there was just Andy and two others. Jennifer Crane and her fiancé, an FBI agent named Devlin Brady.”

    “Jennifer,” Lindy says, her forehead scrunching up. “Why is that familiar?”

    “Because you read the script,” I say. “She’s my roommate. Or Mel’s roommate.”

    “Oh, right,” she says. “So is the movie all part of Mel’s grand plan? To get the word out, I mean?”

    “Apparently,” I say. “Andy’s the one who’s actually been shepherding the film rights through, though. I guess he convinced Mel that getting her story out there and clueing the public in to what’s been going on would not only bring more players out of the woodwork, but also might put a stop to the whole thing.”

    “Shine a bright light on the fungus and kill it,” Lindy says.

    “That’s one way of putting it,” I say, as we start walking again.

    “So do you feel better?” she asks after a moment.

    I stop and squint, because I don’t know what we’re talking about. “About what?”

    She just laughs. “You’re so predictable! Not five minutes ago, you were totally second-guessing yourself for inviting Andy over. You need to stop that. You do it all the time.”

    “I do not,” I say, but that’s a big fat lie. Ido. I always have, but it got worse after the attack. And doubly worse after the breakup.

    “You told me yourself you did it today,” she argues. “Kicked Blake out of your trailer and then raced after him to do the interview yourself.”

    “Oh, that is so not fair,” I counter. But I start walking again, which my therapist would undoubtedly say is my attempt to move away from the truth.

    Lindy rushes to keep up with me. “You’d totally decided that he was the love of your life, and then he goes and makes one mistake, and you do a complete one-eighty. I mean, sweetie, Olympic gymnasts don’t flip that fast.”

    “Hello?Are we talking about the same man? He dumpedme. And on national television, no less.”

    “He didn’t dump. He hedged.”

    “Hedged,” I repeat. “Well, that makes sense. Because that way he was safe if someone better came along.” We’d been hot and heavy, or at least I’d thought we were, especially