“We never had a moment to be us, did we?” Claire asked.
“No, we didn’t,” he agreed. Placed the sunglasses in his pocket.
“If you really thought I was going to be divorced by the time you came back, why didn’t you wait for me?”
“I thought about it, I did—but then I met Jessie, and…she seemed like a fresh start.”
“But you thought about it,” she pressed.
“Why do you suppose that out of the hundreds of hours of footage Brandy and I shot over the years, the only tape I kept was the one with you in it?”
“Yeah, thanks for reminding me of that,” she said, but there was no bite to her tone.
He turned swiftly and cupped her face in his hands. Surprised, she met his gaze, drawn in by the same ineffable magnetism that had first attracted her.
“Hey,” he said, thumb stroking her cheek. “You know you’re amazing, right? The cat—the whole show—it was tremendous.”
She tilted her head and gave his palm a warm, lingering kiss. “Thanks.”
“We would’ve made a great team,” he said wistfully.
“I thought so, too. Once.”
“But not anymore.”
“Not anymore,” she agreed.
He let his hands drop from her face. Cleared his throat.
“Why are you here?” Claire said.
“Did they choose an interim president yet?”
She smiled. “You’re looking at her.”
“Oh. Oh! Really?”
“Yes,” she retorted.
“Sorry, no. That makes sense. Congratulations. That’s sort of why I’m here, actually. Without the show, I’ve lost a lot of my day-to-day focus. I need something to keep me out of trouble. You know how it is. I’m dropping off the paperwork so I can run in January.”
She cocked her head. “For a trustee position?”
“No, for president. But this is great, you can give me insider tips and all that.”
“I don’t plan to step down in January,” she said slowly.
“Quite right. Hold down the fort until after the holidays, ensure a smooth transition. When does the election take place? The last week?”
“I don’t plan to step down at all,” she reiterated.
“But…you’re not even…I need this, Claire.”
His frustration triggered her own.
“I need it, too,” she said. “You expect me to step aside and prop you up like I did for Jonathan?”
“He never appreciated you the way he should have.”
“Neither did you,” she spat out. “And I’m certainly not giving up the post because you’re feeling bored, or unfulfilled, or, or…weak.”
“Well, that makes this a little easier, then.”
“Makes what easier?”
He walked toward the entrance. “I’m running for club president, and I’m going to win.”
His conceit might have mystified her, had she not been so accustomed to it in just about every man she knew. (Which really meant, every magician she knew.) Even Felix hadn’t been prepared to work as hard as he needed to, at first; he’d just assumed things would fall into place for him.
Now Cal was convinced he’d make a better president than her, despite the fact that he’d been out of town for three years and had no clue how to run the club or optimize the experience for its members, all of which she’d been perfecting behind the scenes.
Behind the scenes, behind the scenes. Her natural habitat.
Well, not anymore.
She’d told herself countless times that real magicians didn’t take credit for their work. If they did, there’d be no magic at all. You couldn’t go around crowing about your achievements. Guess what, it was magnets. Double-sided tape! I memorized the deck!
Jonathan had fed into this belief, of course.
“No one walks onstage and says, ‘This joke is from so-and-so, this illusion is a variation of Triumph, my wife came up with the first and third punch lines.’ That would ruin it. You get to be part of the magic, Claire. The hidden component. That should be enough for you.”
Claire didn’t deserve credit for his shows because she wasn’t taking on any of the risk, she wasn’t onstage. He’d drilled this into her head so relentlessly she’d internalized it. Just like she’d internalized his excuses for cheating on her. How she didn’t “deserve” a faithful husband because it was her own failures that prevented them from having the life they wanted. She didn’t deserve this, she didn’t deserve that, and later: There was no this, there was no that. Later still: There was no she.
She had disappeared from her own life.
Well, she wasn’t going to settle anymore, step aside, or shy away from claiming her due. If Cal thought she wouldn’t fight him for the club presidency, he was in for a shock.
She stood up straight, tall as she could be.
She would take up as much space as she damn well pleased.
“May the best magician win,” she said.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to the wonderful Victoria Marini of Irene Goodman agency for finding this book the perfect home. Thank you to my editor extraordinaire, Maddie Caldwell, who saw its potential, knew how to unleash it, and made the story infinitely better. I am exceedingly grateful to you both!
Big thanks to publicists Daniella deSantos and Tiffany Sanchez, cover designer Elizabeth Turner, production editor Yasmin Mathew, copy editor Laura Jorstad, and Marie Mundaca at Grand Central, illustrator Sylvan Steenbrink, and Penelope Burns at Gelfman Schneider/ICM Partners.
Love to the fearless few who read the NSFW, down ’n’ dirty original version: Sarvenaz Tash, Amy Spalding, Lisa Green, Hope Larson; and the equally helpful readers of later drafts: Dana Davis, Lynne Kadish, Kathy Foley, Mark Herder, Rachel Murphy, Maggie Lehrman, Leslie Rose, Julie Musil. Thanks to Kristen Kittscher and Katharyn Sinelli for writerly support. Thanks to RWA, Sisters in Crime, and Mystery Writers of America for the terrific meet-ups and events.
Lovelovelove to Joe Skilton for supporting me in every possible way while I wrote this, answering my questions about magic, and fixing my various blunders. (“This doesn’t mean what you think it means…”) Any mistakes are my own.
Some of the books I read for research and pleasure while writing (by no means a full list): Art & Artifice; and The Last Greatest Magician in the World, by Jim Steinmeyer; The Magician and the Cardsharp, by Karl Johnson; and The Magician’s Lie, by Greer McCallister.
Thanks to Zach Waldman for use of the “card shaved into chest hair” trick. And to the Academy of Magical Arts, the Magic Castle, and the Magic Circle…thank you for existing!
Thanks to my family, near and far, the Hoovers, Skiltons, Jays, and Murphys for your endless encouragement.
Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Hachette Digital.
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Club Deception Page 31
