by K. A. Linde
“Natalie,” Leslie said in surprise. She offered me her hand. “It’s good to see that you’re doing well for yourself.”
No thanks to you, was what I wanted to spit at her.
But, instead, I played nice. I took her hand, and we shook amicably. I saw Penn’s eyes dart to that handshake and then away. Part of me knew that most of Leslie’s ire that day had been focused on her son, and I was the unfortunate person who had gotten in the middle of it. It didn’t make it hurt any less.
“Thank you. It wasn’t an easy journey,” I said pointedly.
“I bet not.” Then, she nodded her head at me. “All the sweeter then.”
She smiled once in acknowledgment of her part in what had happened. I figured it was as close as I’d ever get to an apology. Better than I’d thought it would have gone.
“Next week,” Jane said, “I am bringing you into the club to get your opinion on the New Year’s party.”
“Sounds good. Pencil me in.”
I slipped out of the pew, prepared to return to my seat with Lewis when I glanced up and saw Penn. He was speaking to the couple who had been sitting in the space reserved for Katherine’s family.
Penn’s voice cut through my exit. “Natalie, have you met Katherine’s brother?”
I shifted back toward him, unsure of how to proceed. I knew that Lewis must be watching us. That he wasn’t comfortable with me being around Penn. But it would look rude to just completely ignore him.
“I didn’t know Katherine had a brother.”
“It’s a common misconception.” The brother, tall and handsome with an easy smile, held his hand out, which I shook. “I’m David, and this is my wife, Sutton Wright.”
His petite wife beamed back at me. She had dark hair that fanned out to blonde at the ends. She was stunning in an unassuming way, and when she spoke, I heard a trace of a Southern accent. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“Your accent is adorable,” I said before I could stop myself.
Sutton covered her mouth and looked up at David with a glare when he started laughing. “Is it that noticeable?”
“It reminds me a bit of being back in Charleston.”
“Oh! You’re one of us!” Sutton said. “I’m from Lubbock, Texas. Middle-of-nowhere West Texas, but these Northerners act like it’s another planet.”
I laughed and decided instantly that I liked this Wright girl. “Oh, trust me, I know.”
“How’s Jensen?” Penn asked. “I haven’t seen him in the city much.”
“Trying to knock up his girl,” Sutton said with a laugh.
“So…busy,” Penn offered.
“Who is Jensen?” I asked, wondering how they all knew each other.
“My oldest brother,” Sutton explained.
“We met when he was here, getting a degree in architecture,” Penn explained. “The Wrights run a construction empire.”
I raised my eyebrows at Sutton in surprise. She didn’t seem like the kind of person who fit in around here, running an empire.
But she held her hands up. “I just run a bakery. I leave the business to my siblings and David.”
“Wow. Well, it was great meeting you,” I told Sutton honestly.
I couldn’t even believe that David was related to Katherine. He looked like he’d gotten out of the Upper East Side, too. Completely out. How had he done it?
“You, too! Us Southern girls have to stick together.”
Penn stepped toward me before I could walk away. “Can we talk later?”
I bit my lip. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“It wasn’t a good idea to come talk to me the other night, and you did it anyway. How is this any different?”
“Live and learn,” I muttered and then made the mistake of looking up into his baby blues.
“Natalie, please, five minutes at the reception.”
“What do you have to say to me then that you can’t say to me now?”
“I don’t want an audience,” he said and then nodded toward Lewis, who was staring unflinchingly at us close together.
I took a step back from him. “No,” I whispered. “I can’t.”
“Nat, this is important.” And he sounded like it really was. Though I had no clue what he could possibly need to tell me.
“I’m sorry,” I said with a shake of my head. Then, I turned and walked back to where Lewis was seated.
“Have a good chat?” he asked in a clipped tone.
“He was introducing me to Katherine’s brother.”
He slipped an arm across my shoulders. “I don’t like him that close to you.”
“He’s part of this world too, Lewis. I don’t think he’s going to go away,” I grumbled. Stupid Upper East Side.
“I know. Just old rivalries rear their head.”
“It was literally nothing.”
“Number one rule of the Upper East Side, Natalie: it is never nothing.”
I turned to look at him in surprise. Uncertain of how to respond to that. But then the wedding music began, and I didn’t have to.
Katherine
33
“You can still get out of this,” Lark said anxiously.
I was standing on the raised platform before the enormous trifold mirror my hair and makeup team had brought in for the occasion. I’d kicked everyone out of the room, except Lark, a half hour ago. I knew that the five other bridesmaids—who I’d picked seemingly at random, but primarily because they had the most number of Crew connections—hadn’t been happy by the arrangement.
But they weren’t my friends.
I didn’t have friends.
The crew I’d grown up with my entire life was family. Lark, Penn, Lewis, and Rowe. I would have had them all back here with me. But instead, it was just Lark, trying to talk me over the cliff. Not off it.
“Okay, this is what we’ll do.” Lark immediately went into planning mode. Her work as a campaign manager shone through as she saw me as just another project she had to fix. A fire she had to put out. “I’ll distract everyone by sending them for alcohol. We’ll scamper to the back door and grab a cab back to my apartment. Poof, runaway bride.”
I ran my hands down the front of the one-of-a-kind Elizabeth Cunningham designer wedding dress. The bodice was strapless with a sweetheart neck. Made out of the softest, most delicate white lace with dozens of tiny white buttons running up the back. It swept down to my feet with an impressive train that would flow out behind me as I walked down the aisle. A twenty-foot empire veil would be affixed to the intricate braided design at the top of my head. White. Perfect virginal white.
“No wedding. No Camden,” Lark continued.
My eyes found her in the mirror. “I can’t.”
“Physically, you are able.”
“I can’t,” I repeated.
“But you don’t love him!” Lark gasped. “How can you do this when you don’t even like him? It can’t just be the money. We all have money. The crew has money. You can have mine. I don’t need it.”
“Lark,” I said, shaking my head.
“Is it the bet?”
I frowned. My dark red lips turning down at the corners. The bet. What a stupid fucking idea. The fucking bet that had ruined everything. Taken Penn from me. Forced me into actually going through with this arrangement. Even wrecked our tried-and-true crew. Little holes splintered in our unflappable love and loyalty.
“No. I just have to do this.”
“I don’t want to see you unhappy,” Lark told me.
I almost laughed. But I couldn’t even manage it. Unhappy. I’d been unhappy for years. What even was real happiness? It didn’t belong to a girl whose father had lied, cheated, and stolen everything from her. Who ended up in prison, destroying my mother, who hadn’t even been able to look at me for years. It certainly didn’t belong to a girl whose brother had abandoned them all at the first sign of trouble.
I wanted my old life back. The one before the fraud. The one when I’d had every
thing. When I had been on top of the world. And I hadn’t had to love or even like Camden Percy to build that future for myself.
It wasn’t as if Penn was going to suddenly change his mind. To go back to the boy I’d known who worshipped at my feet. I’d been so naive then. Thinking he’d always come when I called. And now, he wasn’t here to save me. But to feed me to the wolves.
“I’ll manage,” I finally got out.
“You’re miserable. Camden makes you miserable. He’s abusive. Katherine, please listen to me. We’ve all been saying it from the beginning. We know the kind of person that Camden is. You do, too. You shouldn’t subject yourself to his whims.”
She was right.
Camden was abusive.
Not physically. He’d never hit me. But he didn’t have to, in order to land blows.
Emotionally, he twisted me around his little finger. Mentally, he fucked with the way I thought. And, when we fucked…well, it wasn’t just fucking. There was passion, fueled by anger and dominance. His need for submission from me. Another game he played. At least the sex was good. That was about all he had going for him other than the string of Percy hotels he owned.
“Why are you so set on this?” Lark asked.
I didn’t even know how to explain it to myself. It wasn’t just about security. I had the penthouse overlooking Central Park. I still had a dwindling trust fund that I could probably stretch if I had to. It was more than that. It was an arrangement. Something Camden and I had crafted together for our mutual benefit. I was getting the better end of the deal, as he now knew exactly how little money I owned. We’d had to fork over tax and bank account information before signing prenups. It worked. We worked somehow…even when we hated each other.
“Maybe I don’t want to fail at one more thing.”
Lark sighed. “It wouldn’t be a failure. You deserve better.”
A knock sounded on the door, and the wedding planner, Virginia, burst in. “Time to go, Katherine. Are you ready?”
Lark shot big, round eyes at me, silently begging me to change my mind. But I couldn’t.
“Yes,” I told Virginia.
“Great. I have the veil. Let’s get you both in position.”
Lark and Virginia helped me down from my pedestal and picked up the long train of my dress. We marched down the hallway and into position at the back of the church. Virginia tucked my veil into my hair and then moved to cover my face.
I held my hand up. “Leave it.”
She shrugged and left my face uncovered. I wanted to face this down with clear eyes. Alone. As always.
The music started. Virginia hurried bridesmaids out on cue. Lark shot me one more look of despair before stepping into the church in her dark red dress with a bouquet of white flowers.
“Okay, let them get all the way down, and then it’s your turn.” Virginia beamed at me. “Don’t forget to breathe.”
“It’s just another runway,” I muttered as she turned back to face the entrance.
“Canon in D” filtered through the church as it moved from the strings of the quartet I had chosen. The sound bloomed and magnified. The doors opened before me. I stood, silhouetted in the atrium, as the hundreds of guests rose to their feet to face me.
For a split second, I faltered. Debated. Wondered if Lark was right. If I should turn around and run. But it was a moment, and then it was gone.
I stepped forward. Virginia straightened out my train and then the never-ending veil as I walked past row after row of guests. Their faces were a blur. I kept my eyes focused forward as the altar came into focus. The priest in his ceremonial attire. A line of bridesmaids and groomsmen. Everyone identical. Then, Camden standing in a tuxedo that had been handcrafted by a designer in London. I wasn’t close enough yet to discern his expression. That was probably for the better.
As I got closer to the front, I began to recognize more faces. My crew taking up the front rows. My mother seated so regally beside David and his little Texas bride. Camden’s father, Carlyle, seated next to Elizabeth Cunningham. They’d eloped and somehow kept it from the press. They’d have a big wedding sometime next year. Next to Carlyle was Camden’s heinous sister, Candice, and then Elizabeth’s daughter, Harmony, the whore who hated me. My new “family.”
I skipped back to my side of the aisle and nearly froze in place. Natalie. Our eyes snagged, and for a split second, we stared daggers at each other. Then, she tilted her chin up. A stand of defiance. The bitch had the audacity to show her face and at my wedding nonetheless. I’d give her points for having balls, but she clearly had not taken my statement at Trinity seriously.
I passed Natalie, my blood boiling. And then I landed on Penn. My Penn. I just wanted him to look at me. To object. To do something.
But he just made eye contact with me. Looked sad for me. Pity.
Penn Kensington pitied me.
I’d told Lark that I wouldn’t run. But I hadn’t known until that moment that I’d been hoping it was Penn who would talk me out of it. Not just stand there as I went through with it. He really wasn’t going to stop it.
I swallowed and turned back to the man I was marrying. I was finally close enough to see the smirk on his strong features. A beautiful exterior hiding a dark interior. His look said only one thing—mine.
After tonight, I would belong to him.
He’d own me.
And no one was even going to object.
Not even me.
Natalie
34
Katherine and Camden said I do.
They kissed before the huge crowd.
Sealed their union.
It took a solid hour with mass, and when the wedding party finally filed out, it felt too loud for what had just happened. I knew it wasn’t just me that thought whatever we had witnessed was…wrong.
I had no affection for Katherine. And I liked Camden even less. They probably deserved each other. And yet, I’d seen something in Katherine’s eyes when she walked down the aisle. Fear.
Then, she’d found my face in the crowd and glared at me. As if, of all the attendees, I was the only one who didn’t belong. I probably should be reveling in the fact that she was getting what was coming to her after the shit she’d put me through. But that wasn’t me.
Lewis directed me out of the pew and down the aisle. His mom and sisters were clustered around us, discussing how beautiful and over the top and amazing the wedding had been. It felt like we’d been at two different weddings.
I glanced up at Lewis. “That was painful.”
He frowned. “Yeah.”
“I don’t think anyone else noticed.”
“Well, no one else knows that it’s arranged.”
I hadn’t thought about that. “I almost feel bad for her.”
“She could have gotten out of it.”
“Then, why didn’t she?”
He shrugged. “I really have no clue.”
But I had a hunch, and he was walking right past me. Careful not to touch me or even really look my way. Penn Kensington. Katherine must have thought he’d save her. Her knight in shining armor. But no one was there to save her. She’d had to save herself, and for some reason, she’d thought this was how she did it.
I shook my head as I ducked into the back of the car with Lewis. It was only a half-mile walk between St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the reception at The Plaza. But the snow was coming down even harder than it had when the ceremony first started. No one was going to make that walk when most of the attendees had drivers or had hired someone for the occasion.
We were whisked the scant blocks up to The Plaza, and Lewis helped me out into the cold. We rushed across the snowy sidewalk and up the steps that led into the historic twenty-story building that occupied the prestigious space on the corner of Fifth and Central Park South.
Lewis dusted snow out of my hair and off my coat. “It’s practically a New York City blizzard out there.”
“I am not fully equipped for it.”
He drew me in for a quick kiss and then walked through the lobby and into the foyer that led into the Grand Ballroom. The interior of the ballroom was decorated with thousands of red and white flowers. The classical style of the ballroom was highlighted with the intimate chandelier and flickering candlelight. The entire effect was effervescent and utterly romantic. I had to hold my breath to capture the entire image in my head.
Lewis put his hand on my arm to hold me from walking out of the foyer. I glanced up at him in question.
“I have a surprise for you.”
“A surprise?”
“Well, more for us tonight.”
He removed a small plastic card from his pocket. He passed me the card with The Plaza logo stamped onto it. And, suddenly, I understood.
“You got us a hotel room?”
He shrugged. “I thought it would be romantic. A way to reset.”
Reset was an interesting word choice. I knew why he’d done this, of course. I had been more cautious about our relationship since all of that had come out. I hadn’t been staying at his apartment like I had before. I was the kind of person who lived by the motto, If someone shows you who they are, believe them.
It was why I still didn’t trust Penn. Why I detested Katherine. I couldn’t stomach Camden. And now, I’d never be able to look Edward Warren in the face.
But Lewis…I just felt unease about his actions. I wanted to move on from them. Reset, as he’d said. Maybe this would be the way to do it.
I pocketed the key and smiled up at him. “It’s a good idea.”
He grinned from ear to ear, wrapped his arm around me, and directed me through the doors to the reception. We gave a host Lewis’s name and were immediately directed to our table. As we got closer through the maze of tables, it became quite clear who was also seated at our table.
“Shit,” Lewis muttered.
Neither of us had considered it.
Katherine had put the crew together.
Penn and Rowe were already seated at the table along with a model, who appeared to be Rowe’s date, and four other people I didn’t recognize. There were three vacant seats. One between Penn and Rowe. One for Lewis. And one…for me.