Replica

He was standing stiffly, with his back against the wall, hands clasped behind him, looking straight ahead in the perfect imitation of a servant making himself unobtrusive while standing at the ready.

She guessed his age as somewhere around eighteen—unusually young for a servant who was meant to interact with his Executive employers. He should have had to work his way up to the position, but she supposed being a spy meant he could skip all that. Well over six feet tall, he had shoulders so broad they seemed to strain the limits of his jacket. The formal livery couldn’t hide the muscular build that reminded her of a professional athlete, and his deeply bronzed skin and freckled nose suggested he spent a fair amount of time in the sun. Not at all the look of someone who hoped to make a living as “personal assistant” to a man like Nadia’s father. Not what she would imagine a spy looked like, either, though she supposed a spy who looked like a spy wouldn’t be much use.

Ordinarily, Nadia would introduce herself to a new member of her household, even if girls like Jewel and Blair would sneer at her for acknowledging a servant as a fellow human being. However, since Dante was here to spy on her, she didn’t feel inclined to indulge in social niceties, so she tried her best to ignore him as she fixed herself a cup of tea.

He was hard to ignore, and she found her gaze darting in his direction again as she dunked her tea bag. If she had to be spied on by someone, at least that someone was conspicuously nice to look at.

Maybe he sensed her looking at him, because he suddenly met her eyes. She looked away hastily, hoping she wasn’t blushing. Just because she was engaged to Nate didn’t mean she didn’t notice good-looking guys like any other girl, but she didn’t want anyone to notice her noticing a servant like that.

Bracing herself for awkwardness, Nadia turned and headed toward the conference table. Jewel and Blair were still smirking in the corner, and Chloe was still fascinated by something in the depths of her coffee cup. Nadia considered sitting on the far side of the table, but she always sat next to Chloe, and she wasn’t going to allow social politics to change that. She took her seat and sipped her tea, painfully aware of the wall of silence beside her.

Nadia felt as if everyone in the room was watching her every move—with the exception of Chloe, who was trying to pretend she didn’t exist. She felt sure Dante was staring at her, spying on her, but she didn’t dare glance his way again. She looked over at Jewel and Blair and saw that they had both locked on to her and were heading over to the table.

“You poor thing,” Jewel said with stunning insincerity as she set her cup carelessly on the table and reached for Nadia’s hand to give it a squeeze. She inserted herself into the space between Nadia’s and Chloe’s chairs, standing so her backside was directly in Chloe’s face. “I can’t imagine what you must have gone through yesterday.” She shuddered dramatically. Behind her, Chloe slid her chair over, getting Jewel’s butt out of her face—and putting more distance between her and Nadia.

Jewel wanted to play at being a sympathetic friend? Fine. Nadia knew just how to beat her at that game.

Nadia rose to her feet and threw her arms around Jewel, hugging her hard. “It was awful,” she confirmed as Jewel awkwardly hugged her back, her body stiff as a board. Nadia had to suppress a smile, knowing how badly Jewel wanted to pull away. But pulling away from a hug she had seemed to solicit herself would be openly rude, and while subtle, underhanded cruelty was accepted and sometimes even encouraged in girls of their station, open rudeness was not. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your kindness and support in such a difficult time.”

“Well, um, of course,” Jewel said brightly, still trapped in Nadia’s hug.

Nadia wasn’t sure what prompted her to do it, but she couldn’t help darting another look in Dante’s direction. And yes, he was looking at her, with a small smile on his lips and a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. His smile broadened when their eyes met, and he held her gaze for a fleeting moment before he returned to proper servant mode, wiping the expression from his face and staring straight ahead.

Nadia finally released Jewel from the hug, pleased to have so successfully fended off her first attack. But though she liked to think of herself as an understanding person, hurt and disappointment compelled her to voice one more thought.

“It’s in times like these that you find out who your true friends are,” she said, smiling warmly at Jewel. Chloe had moved far enough away that Nadia couldn’t even see her in her peripheral vision, but she knew her barb had hit home when she saw the smug satisfaction in Jewel’s eyes.

Nadia immediately felt guilty. It wasn’t like she didn’t understand. Chloe couldn’t afford to take any chances with her reputation, especially not in these critical years during which her marriage would be arranged. In fact, she probably shouldn’t have shown up for the class at all. Taking potshots at her was unfair.

Mad at herself for speaking before thinking, Nadia sat back down and picked up her cup of tea just as their tutor arrived to begin class.

* * *

Usually, Nadia enjoyed her economics class. She wasn’t a big fan of math as a general rule, but the teacher, Mr. Guthrie, had a contagious enthusiasm for the topic that rarely failed to draw her in. He was so good that sometimes he could win over even Jewel, an indifferent student if there ever was one. But today, there was so much tension in the room that no one seemed to be concentrating on the lesson, not even Nadia. Chloe was taking pains to ignore her, though she didn’t look happy about it, and anything Nadia tried to say to ease the strain would only make things worse. She was also aware of Jewel and Blair reveling in the discomfort, sharing smug, superior smiles and writing notes to one another that made them giggle.

Mr. Guthrie noticed the passing of notes and gave the girls a disapproving frown, which they completely ignored. The poor teacher was at a disadvantage where his students were concerned, being a lowly Employee who couldn’t afford to ruffle any feathers. The frown was the only sign of censure he betrayed as he continued with his lecture.

Nadia’s attention continued to wander, and she found her gaze frequently drawn to Dante, who stood silent and unmoving at his post against the wall. She felt like he was watching her at all times, but she soon realized that he wasn’t actually looking at her, but at Mr. Guthrie. Nadia remembered her father mentioning that Dante was a “bright young man” who would benefit from the classes. She’d thought that was merely an excuse for his presence in the schoolroom, but he seemed to be genuinely interested—certainly more interested than any of Mr. Guthrie’s official students on that particular day.

After forty-five minutes, Mr. Guthrie declared it time for a break, and Nadia considered the possibility of making her excuses. Only the knowledge that Jewel and Blair would take her withdrawal as a victory kept her from leaving.

Usually, Nadia and Chloe would spend these break times talking, but as soon as Mr. Guthrie called a halt, Chloe was out of her chair and heading toward the ladies’ room. Nadia had a feeling her friend was going to spend the entire break in there, just to avoid having to talk to her—and to avoid having to pointedly not talk to her.

Nadia pretended nothing unusual was happening, hiding her feelings behind a serene expression. She headed over to the refreshments table to make another cup of tea. To her annoyance, Jewel followed her, putting her hand on her arm to stop her just short of the table. Jewel hunched her shoulders a bit and leaned toward her as if sharing a secret, but she didn’t particularly lower her voice.

“I wanted to speak with you while we have a moment,” Jewel said as Nadia came to a halt.

This can’t be good, Nadia thought as she looked at Jewel with an expression she was sure adequately displayed her complete lack of interest in whatever the other girl had to say. But Jewel was never one to take a hint when she didn’t want to.

“I couldn’t help noticing during class that your servant was listening in.” Jewel waved a hand vaguely in Dante’s direction. “I thought you might have a word with him about it before class resumes.”

Despite her respect for manners where her peers were concerned, Jewel obviously felt no compunction about being openly rude to servants. She might have made a pretense of keeping this a quiet discussion between the two of them, but there was no way Dante hadn’t heard her.

Technically, it was bad form for a servant to openly pay attention to what his “superiors” were saying in his presence. Servants were supposed to be as unobtrusive and unobservant as pieces of furniture, so that the Executives they served could pretend they weren’t there. But Nadia had never been a stickler for such conventions, and even if she had …

Nadia blinked innocently and cocked her head. “Really? How shocking. Shall I order him to stuff his ears with