Hell

HEAVEN'S HEART FELT as if it was encased in ice while she waited in numb silence for the H.R. manager to come back.

The voices outside the manager's office were loud enough for her to hear exactly what everyone was saying.

They were all talking about her, of course.

And laughing at her.

It was enough to drive one insane, and she was certain she would've indeed lost her mind...if she were still her old self.

But she wasn't.

And that was what kept her from breaking down.

The knowledge that she wasn't alone.

Never was.

Never would be.

Fear not, Heaven.

Fear not.

For I AM with you.

The ice around her heart didn't just melt at the warmth of His voice. Her heartbeat also slowed down, and she was able to breathe more easily as His presence invited her to rest. The peace she felt was so tremendous that by the time she heard the door open—-

Micah.

It was God alone who kept her from fainting, God alone who even enabled her to rise to her feet as she watched the other woman walk towards her.

"We meet again," Micah said with a curl of her lip. "Unfortunately."

"o, Micah. You look good," Heaven said softly. The other woman no longer had gaunt cheeks or dark bags under her eyes. And best of all, there wasn't the faintest scent of booze clinging to the other woman's frame.

Micah told herself that she was just imagining the sincerity in Heaven's voice. They were all the same. Women always hated her for no reason, and she would be a fool to pretend Heaven was different.

"Spare me, please," Micah spat. "You know I've never fallen for your goody-two-shoes image. And anyway—-"

She let a moment pass, but only so she could hold Heaven's complete attention as she spoke her next words with vicious relish.

"I'm here on behalf of Hale."

The younger woman flinched just as Micah expected, but what she didn't expect at all was how seeing this didn't give her any pleasure.

You're just imagining things, Micah told herself.

And besides, she had no choice.

She had to get rid of Heaven...before Hale found out the truth and got rid of Micah instead.

Heaven struggled between relying on pride and seeking God for comfort. The prospect of humiliation and more hurt loomed before her, and her weaker self just wanted to end it.

Just turn your back and walk away, Heaven!

You already know she's out to hurt you!

So just go!

But because she knew she would only be tormented by countless what-ifs if she didn't at least ask for the truth—-

"C-Could you..." Heaven had to swallow hard as pain stole her ability to speak steadily. "I j-just want to k-know," she ended up stammering. "How are you and Hale—-"

"Oh, dear." Micah gave her a pitying look. "You don't even know I'm his best friend, do you?"

Liar.

It was what Heaven instinctively wanted to scream.

But she didn't.

Because even though Micah had lied before—-

Her heart was somehow convinced that Micah was telling the truth.

And when she tried to recall the other people in Hale's life that she occasionally heard about from Devon and Harry—-

One was Rush, and the other one was...

"Mikey," Heaven heard herself whisper. "You're her. M-Mikey. Aren't you?"

Micah ignored the way guilt lashed her conscience. "The one and only, darling." Survival wasn't possible without getting one's hands dirty, and Heaven needed to learn this. Hale would also realize that Heaven wasn't really the girl for him, so she was just saving him from an expensive divorce settlement.

I'm only doing everyone a favor here, Micah reminded herself, and that was why she had to see this to the end.

"Save yourself additional embarrassment and just leave," Micah advised the other woman coolly. "Hale doesn't want to have anything to do with you anymore." She stalked to the door while speaking and threw it open.

Perfect.

Dozens of employees were caught standing outside the office, obviously in hopes of finding out something new to gossip.

"I know you're all worried about your boss," Micah said sweetly, "but everything's under control now. I've come just in time to protect your boss from the gold digger, and needless to say, there will be no wedding."

RUSH KENSINGTON FELT as if he had walked into a funeral upon returning to the suite of penthouse offices owned by his friend.

It had been a lot noisier earlier. Merrier even. But this time, it was the opposite. The silence was oppressive, and the tension evident in the way everyone watched his every move.

Rush entered his friend's office just in time to see Hale jerk to his feet.

"What's wrong?" he demanded.

"I..."

Don't fucking know what to say.

Hale couldn't remember the last time he was at a loss for words like this.

His panic had inexplicably disappeared as soon as Micah had hurried out of his office. Even the tightness around his throat had vanished. It was almost as if everything was a figment of his imagination...or a fucking illusion from the Devil himself.

The last thought came out of nowhere, but an icy chill immediately blanketed his bones, and Hale felt as if he was losing his mind.

What the hell is happening to me?

What the fuck did I just do?

And where the fuck do I go after this?

"Hale? What the fuck, man? Are you alright?"

Was he?

When one had just let go of the most important thing in his life, could he still say he was "alright" because he hadn't yet stopped breathing?

Rush could feel something was seriously off with his friend, and when Hale only stared back at him, he finally realized that the other man was in shock.

"What the hell happened, Hale? Why do you look like someone just died on you?"

His private jet had just landed when they received Hale's text about getting married. They had come here, thinking they could surprise their friend by attending his wedding, but instead...

Fuck.

"Did Mikey do something?" Rush asked grimly. Hale's soft spot for Mikey had always made him unwittingly blind to their friend's faults. Mikey had known this, too, and it was precisely the reason why she had kept her secret from Hale all these years.

The other man shook his head, but Rush wasn't buying it.

"If she didn't do something, then..."

Fuck.

"You found out about what happened—-"

Hale's head jerked up at this. "You know about it, too?"

"I'm sorry I never said a word all of these years," Rush gritted out. "But promising her my silence was the only way I could get her to seek professional care—-"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Hale finally realized they were talking at cross purposes.

"You told me you knew—-"

"I was talking about Heaven," Hale gritted out.

"About Mikey being an alcoholic," Rush finished at the same time.

What the fuck?

Rush saw the disbelief on his friend's face, and it was his turn to arrive at the same conclusion Hale had earlier.

The other man clearly had no idea about Mikey's drinking problem. Instead, he had assumed Rush was talking about...heaven?

Hale started feeling something was fucking wrong. "Tell me everything about Mikey being an alcoholic."

"It started a couple of years ago," Rush said wearily. "She lost her first endorsement because she was considered too old , and she couldn't take it."

Hale had a hard time breathing now. A few years ago...could be around the same time Mikey and Heaven were still both with Grace.

"She would have kept it from both of us if she could. But I've always had people keeping tabs on her. That's how I found out. But when I confronted her about it, she begged me not to tell you. She was terrified you'd hate her if you knew she had a drinking problem..."

Just like your parents' killer.

Rush didn't say the words, but he heard it all the same, and the realization opened a floodgate of memories.

He remembered Mikey's decision to retire from dancing because of an "injury"...but not being able to make himself care enough to ask how she was.

Was this his penance, for not giving a shit about others?

"I know it's no excuse," Rush said quietly, "but you know how she is."

Yes, he did know , Hale thought dully, so why the fuck had he believed Mikey without question?

Even as a child, Mikey had always struggled with the compulsion to lie, having seen her own parents build a fortune (and lose it) by scamming people out of their money.

Mikey never knew when to stop lying.

Never knew when to stop hurting others and herself until it was too late.

Mikey would do anything to save her ass.

And that was why—-

"I think I fucked up, Rush," Hale said hoarsely. " Badly . I let Mikey get to me." He felt like the biggest idiot in the world, with how Mikey had easily exploited his guilt over his parents' death and convinced him to turn his back on...

Heaven.

Hale remembered too late that Mikey still had his phone, and...

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Even though he had no idea what Mikey had planned against Heaven, he knew her well enough to know that time was of the essence.

"I need a favor," Hale said urgently. "But Mikey can't know we've talked..."