Chapter 7

"Goodbye, Poppy. Have fun with Luke. You're going to need it," Claudia boasted as she quickly left the boutique.

It only took a second for Poppy to note that comment was odd. What did she mean by that? "Wait! What do you mean by 'have fun with Luke'?"

Rushing to the door, Poppy watched as the wealthy woman scooted into a town car, only looking back at her for a moment to give a sly and almost devilish grin. The look on her face made Poppy's skin crawl. Something seemed off about this, but she didn't understand why. As she watched the car roll away, Poppy had no idea that this brief interaction would change her life forever.

While Claudia was off to a life of luxury, Poppy was about to embark on an adventure of a lifetime, whether she wanted to or not. Thanks to the selfish woman who just left her store, Poppy would soon find out that crimes shows and TV dramas were nothing like the real thing.

***

In the car, Claudia started laughing hysterically over getting by with her little plan. "Did you see that bitch's face? She thought for sure I was going to kick her ass for using my name. She really gave me all these clothes for free. Stupid twit doesn't have any idea what's going on and she's going to be stuck with Luke the loser."

Looking the clothing items over, Kasey seemed impressed as he held up a silk blouse from the stack. "They are actually pretty good. You'd look nice in this. She has decent taste, and I can see you wearing some of this stuff."

Yanking it from his hand, she looked it over, feeling the fabric. "Hum… it really isn't too bad, is it? I figured it was that bargain bin knock off stuff, but it's real quality. I guess the girl has some class after all, even with that tacky retro look she was wearing."

"Yeah, she's a little eccentric but has a cool style." Pushing the clothes to the side, Kasey said, "Anyway, while you were in the changing room, I switched out the business cards like you told me to with the ones with your name on them. She's a real designer so this is a perfect cover. Everyone knows you always liked fashion."

With a shrug, Claudia seemed to not care much. "Well, little miss knockoff can deal with Luke's shitty attitude from now on. Maybe they will be an annoying match made in heaven… Well, before Roman kills them both, anyway. I left my phone and I know that desperate loser tracks it everywhere I go. When I don't show up, he'll go looking for me. He'll be thinking is precious future wifey needs saving from her big strong protector." With a snarl of her nose, she added. "He's so gross. I can't believe I ever slept with that man."

"Can we not talk about you sleeping with Luke? I don't like hearing that stuff."

"Oh, relax. You weren't complaining when I let you set up those cameras in our bedroom so you could watch us."

Kissing her neck, he chuckled. "I just like to watch. Forget all that. Are you sure this plan is going to work? The Poppy chic has a more vintage style, and you look more modern. We really need people to think she's you."

"Sure, it will. Luke will just think I'm into a different fashion trend. Don't worry about it. Her little vintage rockabilly 50's look was cute though. Maybe I'll grab something like that for myself." She laughed. " Just kidding. Not a chance anyone would catch me in that trash. What a geek."

Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, Kasey pulled her closer as he drove. "If you did, you would rock it, babe."

"Always. Now, let's get out of here. I want to get to Milan and do some real shopping. Italy, here we come!"

***

Back at the shop Poppy was cleaning up the dressing rooms when she noticed an expensive Prada bag under one of the benches and a phone going off inside. Picking it up, she hoped she could return it to the owner.

"Hello?"

"Claudia, where have you been? I've been trying to reach you all day," the mans voice seemed urgent over the phone line.

"This is Poppy. Is this Claudia's phone?"

Luke gritted his teeth, annoyed at her games. "Don't give me that shit. Where are you?"

"I'm working… Who is this?"

"Working, my ass. You haven't worked a day in your life. Never mind. I'll just look in my phone and check your location. I'll be there in a few minutes. We need to talk about some things."

"But…"

Before Poppy could say another word, Luke hung up.

"Great. What else could happen? Why doesn't everyone realize I'm not this Claudia woman?"

Going back to work, Poppy placed the purse on the register desk before looking around to see if anyone was lurking. It had been a quiet afternoon and the place was empty for a Friday afternoon. With all the mafia business, she was starting to get a tad spooked. This had to stop soon before she got into some real trouble, and she knew it.

Looking inside the handbag she confirmed it was Claudia's purse, but by now the woman was surely on a plane to wherever fancy destination she was heading.

Thinking about the way the man with her looked at Claudia, Poppy wondered who he was. Why was she leaving while Luke didn't know where she was going? It was her fiancé after all. Was Luke abusive? He seemed to anger easily, and if he was tracking her every move, maybe Claudia was running from something. Maybe him.

Putting everything back in place, Poppy wasn't going to question. She'd just hand over the purse and go back to her daily life. Starting now, she was going to be Poppy Fields, not Claudia Ricci, because it seemed this was getting too dangerous for her to be playing these games.

As she was about to snap some cellphone photos of her new dress design, that was placed on the mannequin for social media, a man stepped in the store, and he didn't look happy.

With a cringe, Poppy turned to him. "Let me explain…"