Cruel Fortune

by K. A. Linde

  She turned to face me with bright purple lipstick and rhinestoned eyelashes. “Natalie! Oh, I’m so glad that you were able to make it. Is my brother being an ass yet?”

  I chuckled and shook my head. “Not yet.”

  “Well, don’t let him fool you.”

  “I don’t know how she can be fooled with us two around,” Etta said, slinking her arm across my shoulders.

  “Fair point,” Charlotte conceded.

  “You two are hilarious. You love your brother.”

  Both girls sniffed as if I’d insulted them even if it was the truth. I understood that. Melanie and I hadn’t always been close, definitely not close like they were, but she was my sister.

  “Okay, before we forget,” Charlotte said, “what are your plans on Tuesday?”

  I shrugged. “No plans. Just writing.”

  “You should come to make our annual gingerbread houses,” Etta added.

  “You make gingerbread houses every year?” I asked.

  “It’s tradition,” Charlotte said with a smile.

  “Our mom is a gingerbread connoisseur,” Etta explained.

  “Like, the best in the city. You had her cooking. It’s fine. But the gingerbread houses? Those are spectacular.”

  “And now, Lewis can’t back out of inviting you,” Etta said with a pointed eye roll.

  I laughed. “You two are devious.”

  “He’d say the same thing,” Charlotte said.

  I shook my head at their careful maneuvering. “You look amazing, by the way.”

  “It’s all Elizabeth. She is a genius. Seriously, pure genius.”

  “Why, thank you, Charlotte,” a voice said as a stunning woman appeared next to Charlotte, inspecting her dress. She pointed out a few things, and the other man working on her dress went to work.

  “Oh, Natalie, this is Elizabeth Cunningham,” Charlotte said.

  Elizabeth turned her keen, dark eyes on me. She was a woman who was reported to be in her early fifties but didn’t look a day over thirty-five. I didn’t know if it was plastic surgery or amazing genetics. Her dark brown hair was artfully twisted on her head, and she wore a crisp black and white dress that was beyond stunning on her.

  “So, you’re the woman Jane had me send another dress over for.” Elizabeth stepped forward and checked the fit on my dress. “Ah yes, the woman at Bergdorf sent over your exact measurements. It looks perfect with your hair. So unique.”

  “Why…thank you,” I whispered, in awe of the designer before me in her natural element.

  “Who normally dresses you?” Elizabeth asked. She tapped her lips, as if sizing me up.

  “What do you mean?”

  “For appearances. What designer do you prefer?” Elizabeth asked me with a predatory smile. “Oh, I don’t care who I’m going to piss off. Let me dress you for your next appearance. I know exactly what line to pair with that silver hair. Where will you be seen next?”

  My eyes shot to Etta’s and Charlotte’s, frozen in shock. I didn’t make appearances. I wasn’t a socialite. Surely, Elizabeth was mistaken. She couldn’t possibly want to feature me with her clothes.

  “She’s going to the Percy wedding with us,” Charlotte answered for me when it was clear that I wasn’t going to respond.

  “Oh, excellent. I’m designing Katherine’s wedding dress.” Elizabeth snapped her fingers at her assistant. I hadn’t noticed the short man standing behind her. He placed a card in her hand, and she passed the embossed cardstock to me. “Here’s my card. Get in touch with my assistant, and we’ll put something together for the wedding.”

  “Thank you,” I stammered.

  Then, Elizabeth breezed out as easily as she’d walked in.

  The man at Charlotte’s feet interrupted my shock by saying, “You’re good to go.”

  “Thanks,” Charlotte said, stepping off her pedestal.

  “I…” I blinked rapidly. “What just happened?”

  “Elizabeth has excellent taste,” Charlotte said.

  “You’re in great hands,” Etta agreed.

  “But…I’m not anybody. I’m not a socialite or a celebrity.”

  Charlotte and Etta exchanged a glance.

  “You’re dating our brother. That makes you somebody,” Charlotte said.

  Etta nodded. “This is our life. You’ll get used to it.”

  That might have been a bit of what I was afraid of. I couldn’t even believe I was wearing one original designer piece, but to have the designer specifically ask to dress me? I had no idea what that even meant for my life. Fancy house parties, shopping at Bergdorf, club openings…maybe I was falling into the Upper East Side a little easier than I’d thought. Blurring a line that I’d believed to be so solid.

  Penn’s words echoed through my skull, reminding me that no one could straddle the line.

  But I still felt like me. I wasn’t any different. Right?

  Natalie

  24

  One of the stage managers started calling out for everyone to get to their places, and suddenly, the backstage went from disaster to utter chaos. Everyone started frantically running around as they got set for the show.

  “Okay, we have to go,” Etta said. She kissed her sister’s cheek. “Good luck, Charlie.”

  “Break a leg,” I said, still half in a daze. “If that’s good luck in modeling.”

  Charlotte laughed and then waved as she somehow walked in her amazing heels. “See you after!”

  I followed Etta back out of the backstage door. I thought Lewis might be waiting for us there. I needed to talk to him about what had just happened, but he was nowhere to be seen. The minute we were out of the backstage though, a brunette girl threw herself at Etta and started kissing her.

  “Ava, Ava, Ava,” Etta said with a laugh. “I thought you weren’t coming home from Princeton for another week.”

  “I couldn’t leave you waiting,” she said in a slight British accent.

  Etta introduced us as quickly as possible and then all but dragged Ava away. To where, I could only imagine. Hopefully, she made the show to see Charlotte at least.

  I shook my head and then headed toward the stage in search of Lewis. But the crowd was thick. The show was about to begin, and I needed to get to my place. Without Etta as a guide, I was in a sea of strangers.

  “Hey, I know you,” a voice said behind me.

  I turned around and came face-to-face with Addison Rowe. She was not only the twin sister to Archibald Rowe, but also Lewis’s high school girlfriend. Last time we’d been in vicinity, she’d cornered me in the restroom of a charity function to warn me about the crew. Turned out that she was right.

  I smiled uneasily at the woman standing there. “Natalie. You’re Addie, right?”

  “Yeah, that’s me. We met last year.”

  I nodded. Instantly on guard. Getting ambushed in a restroom had that tendency.

  “I didn’t know that you were back in New York.” Addie stepped up to my side as we meandered the crowd together.

  “Yeah, I moved here recently.”

  “You’re looking for Penn?” she asked, shifting her eyes forward. “I think I saw him over there earlier.” She pointed to the other side of the room.

  My stomach flip-flopped at the information. So, Penn was here. Somewhere. I didn’t need another ambush from him either.

  “No,” I got out. “I’m not here with Penn.”

  “Oh. I didn’t know. Well, forget I said anything then. You looked lost, like you were missing someone. I just assumed.” She smiled sincerely.

  I wondered if we could be friends if I kept my mouth shut. But I didn’t trust her. So probably not. “I was looking for someone. I’m here with Lewis actually.”

  Addie’s smile vanished. “Really?”

  I nodded.

  “Well, good luck with that,” she said, dripping sarcasm.

  “Thanks,” I said with equal derision.

  “There he is.” She pointed him out in the crowd. “Go ru
nning back to him.”

  “What is your problem?” I asked. “First, you find me in the restroom to warn me about the crew, and now, you have to make snide remarks about Lewis? Can’t you keep it to yourself?”

  Addie promptly stopped and jerked me to a stop, too. “Did you ever even do what I told you? Did you look them up? Ask questions?”

  “I asked questions. And I got burned, just like you’d thought I would. But this is different.”

  Addie rolled her eyes. “It’s always different.”

  “Whatever,” I said, trying to brush past her.

  “I mean, you’re clearly just the latest.”

  I stilled. “The latest?” I couldn’t help asking.

  “Oh, you know, Lewis. He jumps between obsessions. One time, it was me, then it was baseball, then it was classic novels, then poker, and photography and on and on.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her accusation. These obsessions…they sounded like all the things he had on display at his apartment. He’d claimed they were hobbies. I didn’t know what the difference was.

  “So?”

  “Well, when it’s you, you’re bathed in sunlight, and when you lose his attention, you might as well be on the dark side of the moon. And you’re the latest,” Addie said with a smile.

  “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Maybe. But, if you’re not his latest, then you know about Hanna Stratton, right?”

  “Who?” I had never heard that name in my life.

  And Addie saw it at once. She laughed. “That’s what I thought. Enjoy the sunlight while you can.”

  I scrunched up my brows as she swept past me. I was pretty certain that I didn’t like that girl. She always had some strange, ominous thing to impart on me. If my mother were here, she probably would say that she had a dark aura. That I needed to dispel the taint of it to move on. But I wasn’t my mother, and right now, I was shaken by her words. Because Addie’s comments were oddly similar to something Penn had said at the last party.

  My head was in the clouds when I finally reached Lewis’s side at the front of the stage. Trinity had darkened considerably, and a spotlight was now on the runway.

  “There you are,” Lewis said with relief. “I tried your cell, but you never responded.”

  I touched the tiny purse I had slung over my shoulder. I’d forgotten about it. That would have been easier. “I guess I was distracted.”

  His eyes filled with worry. “What happened?”

  I shook my head. I didn’t know what to think about Addie. I had no idea if I could trust or believe a word out of her mouth. The only reason I even considered it was because she had been honest last time. But I didn’t want to ruin our night, Jane’s night. I’d have to ask him about it later.

  “Elizabeth asked to dress me for Katherine’s wedding.”

  Lewis raised his eyebrows. “Look at you.”

  “The wedding I’m not planning on going to.”

  “You could,” he muttered. “Go as my girlfriend.”

  My stomach flipped at the way he’d said that word. But it did nothing to dissuade me. “I can’t go. I never want to see Katherine again.”

  “I know. I know that you hate her for what she did.”

  “Hate her?” I said. “She tried to destroy my life. She got me fired from my job and blacklisted from ever working in that field again. Hate is not a strong enough word.”

  “But it wouldn’t be about her. It’d be about us.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  He sighed. “All right. We can talk about this later. Look, Jane is waving at you.”

  Jane motioned for us to stand by her at the front of the runway. Court Kensington stood at her side. He looked so much like his brother. It was unnerving. But at least, I didn’t see Camden with them. Court I could handle. Camden made my skin crawl.

  Jane kissed each of my cheeks when we arrived before her. “Natalie, I’m so glad you made it. And look at this dress. Amazing!”

  “Thanks to you.”

  Jane grinned. “I wanted you in something spectacular. Plus, I knew that I had to surprise you, or you’d figure out a way to say no.”

  I laughed. She knew me too well.

  “Court,” Lewis said, holding his hand out.

  They shook. Court’s eyes moved from me to Lewis for a moment with a wry smile on his face.

  “Haven’t seen my little brother around here, have you?” Court asked, craning his neck, as if Penn would just materialize out of thin air.

  “No,” I breathed.

  “I don’t think he’s coming,” Lewis said.

  “He is,” I said before I could stop myself.

  Lewis’s eyebrows rose in question.

  “Uh…someone told me he was already here.”

  “Why?”

  I shrugged. Awkwardness permeated the space between us all. “Just remembered that I knew him.”

  “That you dated,” Court needled. “Right?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. Lewis’s arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me back a step into him.

  “How interesting,” Court said.

  What he was thinking was painted all over him. Court had slept with Penn’s girlfriend, Emily. And I was now with Penn’s best friend. He smirked when he saw me grasp it.

  “Court, darling,” Jane interrupted before I could say anything else, “why don’t you stand over here so that the photographer will have a better shot of me when the show begins?”

  Court grinned at me and Lewis standing together as I tried not to think about what he’d insinuated. Then, he stepped around Jane and turned his focus to the runway.

  “Jesus, he has a way of being such a fucking bastard,” Lewis snapped.

  “While saying so little.”

  “All that time spent with Camden, I think.”

  I nodded. Remembering the way Court had saved me from Camden. So, he wasn’t all bad. But, right now, he wasn’t exactly my favorite person either.

  Lewis dropped a kiss onto the top of my head as the announcements began for the show.

  And Jane nudged me when the first model walked the runway. “I’m so excited! I can’t believe this day is really here!”

  I let her ramble on through the entire fashion show about everything from who’d helped fund the club to all of the other celebrities who were in attendance. The number was staggering. Jane knew everyone. And everyone wanted to be here for it. It almost made me wonder why she wanted me next to her when all these other people were here. We were friends, but it wasn’t like I was famous. Even if being Lewis Warren’s girlfriend apparently made me somebody.

  When Charlotte walked out on the stage, I ignored propriety and cheered for her. Etta and Ava on the other side of the stage did the same. Lewis laughed and joined in, too. Suddenly, everyone was cheering for Charlotte. And on her debut at that! She looked unbelievable up there. The pièce de résistance of the entire thing. I knew she was the spotlight. She was the one everyone was going to talk about. Cameras flashed, and she swaggered back down the stage, soaking up the energy.

  “She’s amazing!” I told Lewis.

  “She loves what she does.”

  The fashion show wasn’t as vibrant without Charlotte. But it ended with a final walk for all the models and Elizabeth herself. The crowd went wild. Then they were gone, the lights came back on, and the show was over.

  That was when a figure caught my eye almost directly across from me.

  There, standing in a suit fit for James Bond, was Penn Kensington.

  And he was smirking at me.

  Hands in his pockets. Cunning, wicked, delectable. He tilted his head in a come-hither motion. I knew that was a terribly bad idea.

  It might as well have just been me and Penn alone in a crowded room in that moment. But I couldn’t make the mistake I’d made at Harmony’s party. I wasn’t subject to his whims. I didn’t want to have another screaming fit.

  Still, seeing him like that, I wanted to
go.

  But I swallowed hard and shook my head. I mouthed, No, to him.

  He raised an eyebrow. A challenge.

  I held my breath for a second before letting it out again and turning away from him. There…over and done with.

  “Let’s go dance,” I said to Lewis.

  He smiled down at me, oblivious to what had just transpired between Penn and me across the room. Then he took my hand and led me out onto the dance floor.

  Our bodies moved together in the crush of people. Jane flitted in and out of the picture, meeting with friends and celebrities and investors while also trying to make sure that I was having a good time. I kind of loved her. Charlotte and Etta appeared sometime later. Charlotte had changed out of her kaleidoscope dress and into a short, sleek black number. Brodie was at her side with his tongue down her throat half the time. Rowe even appeared at one point on the arm of one of the models. He awkwardly nodded at me and then went back to his date dancing on him while he stood still.

  The night was everything Jane wanted it to be. And after my second glass of champagne, I was finally feeling a buzz. Enough of one to stop feeling like there were eyes burning into the back of my head. Like Penn was following us around the room…even though I hadn’t seen him since I told him no.

  It was probably just my imagination. But it was as if I had a sense of his presence. Despite the fact that I couldn’t see him.

  “Let’s go get another drink,” Lewis said.

  He took my hand and pulled me off the dance floor. I mopped at my glistening forehead as he scooted into the bar to get us another drink. I fanned my face and looked around the large space to all the drunken revelers.

  And I found him again. Penn. He was standing with Rowe, talking and laughing. Rowe was about as animated as I’d ever seen him. Which basically meant, not at all. Then Penn’s eyes flicked over to the dance floor. His eyes narrowed, brows scrunched together. He craned his neck, as if trying to spot someone in the crowd.

  Me.

  He was looking for me. I wasn’t crazy. He had been keeping tabs on me. My heart hammered at the realization. That he was here just to…what? Watch me? Spy on me? Wait for the moment I was alone, so he could yell at me again?