"Say the name who sent you."
My hand hovered over the waistband as if it could change the answer.
Cora's voice cut in, brisk and sharp. "Make it fast. We don't waste morning on theatrics."
"Morning is when the staff is thinnest," I said. "Do what you said, and I leave before lunch."
Cora sniffed. "You think you bargain with the Ashfords? You dress like Jordan Campbell, you move like Jordan Campbell, you stay silent like Jordan Campbell, and you take the check to the bank. Got it?"
I tightened my hand around the silk. "Got it."
She stepped close, inspecting the dress, the shoulders, the way the bodice hugged the wrong person. Her fingertips brushed the pendant at my throat and froze.
"That jade," she said. "Where—?"
"It was in the wardrobe," I said. "I didn't touch it."
Cora's eyes narrowed to suspicious slits. "Jordan wears only family things. If you break protocol, you break the whole operation. This house is calibrated. You make a wrong move, and they lock you in a room with no exits."
"The house is a machine," I said. "I'll be a switch."
She laughed without humor. "You and a hundred other switches. Jordan wanted a body double who can last an hour under a camera and two minutes under Mr. Ashford's temper."
"That's why I'm here," I said. "Two minutes is enough."
"Two minutes haven't been enough before," Cora said. "You know why?"
"No
