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“I’ve been where you are Penny, isn’t it? And you have that ‘distressed mother’ look, you know?”

I look at her, having no idea what to say, and let my hand fall from my belly This is Natalie Trask, and I don’t really have nice things to say about anyone with the Trask name Did Laurel send her? And how did she even find me here?

“Don’t worry, Penny, I have nothing to do with Laurel She et along with her In fact, you ht say we butt heads more often than not,” she says, and I can’t help but trust her She was involved in a pretty big scandal of her oo years ago, where she got involved with Parker Trask, the ed the city into chaos, but she stood by the ht until the very end

“I’e to say, re open

“Well, don’t hate me, but I asked Parker for sos so that I could find you here,” she says, and s open oncefor me? “Look, I know my sister-in-law, and I’ve been in your shoes before I can’t simply stand aside and let Laurel have her way Besides, you remind me of myself, Penny”

“Me?” I ask her, pointing at myself stupidly Natalie Trask is one of those women who seems to have been born to rule the world, a take-no-shit-from-anyone attitude etched deep in their DNA, and I can’t help but be surprised by the fact that she’s co about the woman who founded a sex toy company in her apartment and turned it into athe New York City s a bell?

It’s kinda weird to think about, in a way I mean, this is the wonus on our little ride through Manhattan

“You,” she whispers, reaching across the table and grabbing my hand “You remind me of myself, and I really wish I could help you But I can’t pull Parker into this without plunging the city into chaos again, and no one wants that But I can give you some advice”

“Please do” I sit up straight ininto her eyes as Ito tell me

“Have you ever used any ofto ood,” she continues, my embarrassment the only answer she needs “Maybe you don’t know it, but my vibrator bullets do more than just vibrate”

“What do they do?”

“Well, they do soht help you out You see, Penny, sometimes the truth is like a rotten tooth… It just lies there, uselessly, and you have to pull it out and bring it into the light, even if so wickedly at me, she pauses for a few seconds for dramatic effect “My bullet can help with that”

I look at her and her eyes sparkle

“It can record conversations,” Natalie says with a smile

I lean forward inwith a woman I’ve known forever