“That’s why Katherine is in some off-the-rack piece,” Sloane said as if her friends were daft. “Doesn’t she normally wear Elizabeth Cunningham?”
“She does,” Harmony said with a sly smile.
“I can’t believe she would show up in that dress,” Fiona said, giving in to their catty behavior.
“I mean, just look at her,” Isabel said with a shake of her head, gesturing to Katherine standing nearby. “It’s so sad.”
My eyes found Katherine in a stunning black dress that hugged her curves. I never would have been able to tell that she was in a dress off the rack if I hadn’t just tried on that same dress a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t even know that was supposed to be insulting, except the girls kept going on and on about how humiliating it was. That marrying a Percy was supposed to help her taste and not degrade it.
To me, she looked like the same old Katherine. Just as beautiful. Just as much a snake. And as Camden approached, he skimmed her backside. She shuddered and stepped out of his touch. The thought of them together made me kind of sick. I swiftly looked away.
“It’s good to see her knocked down a peg,” Harmony said.
“I wouldn’t mind watching her fall in the mud,” Fiona said viciously.
Isabel and Sloane snickered, clearly in agreement.
And though I was the reason that this had happened, it made my stomach twist at the way they were talking about her. When I’d spoken with Elizabeth after the charity event, she’d agreed to give me the front row ticket that belonged to Katherine and a dress she’d held in reserve for her as well. I was literally walking in her shoes this weekend. And it felt good to see her stumble, to see her socialite status begin to fracture. It was what I’d wanted after all.
I’d wanted revenge for what she’d done. I’d wanted to take the thing that she cared about. And I had. Or at least, it had begun.
It was another thing entirely to hear people talking about Katherine so quickly after bringing me into their circle. Like vultures ready to eat away at carrion. And I was the fresh new meat.
I saw then how sad and lonely it must have been for Katherine on her pedestal. She’d put herself there. And everyone had hoped for her to fall. I was just the only one who had succeeded in making her stumble.
The girls continued to chatter about Katherine as if she weren’t a matter of feet from us when my phone started buzzing in my pocket. I pulled it out and was surprised to find my sister’s number displayed.
“Excuse me for a minute,” I told Harmony and the rest of the group. I stepped away and answered the phone. “Melanie? Is everything okay?”
“Natalie, I’m so glad that you answered. I know you’re at the Fashion Week gala. I’m so jealous, and I need pictures, but I had to call you.”
“That’s fine. You’re okay?”
“Better than okay,” Melanie gasped. “I’m engaged.”
“What?”
A ringing filled my ears. Melanie was engaged. Only a few hours ago, I’d thought about what it would be like if Penn proposed. It had been a distant thought, but still. And now, my little sister was engaged?
She was seven years younger, and I hated her boyfriend. Hated him with the fire of a thousand suns. They had dated basically their entire lives, and then he’d broken up with her the week before homecoming their senior year of high school so that he could take her best friend, Kennedy, instead. And Mel had still taken him back. She’d only just turned nineteen. What the hell was the rush?
“Michael proposed,” Melanie gushed. “And I said yes. It was magical. I can’t believe it.”
“Me either.”
“Please be happy for me, Nat. I know that you don’t love him, but he’s going to be your brother-in-law soon.”
“Of course. Of course I’m happy for you,” I said, dredging up enthusiasm from somewhere that I didn’t recognize. “Do you have any information? A date?”
“No, no, it just happened. I had to call you. But we’re going to have an engagement party in a couple of weeks, and we want you to be there. Do you think you can make it?”
“Yes, I’ll be there. I’ll bring Penn.”
Melanie squealed. “Yes, please bring Penn. You know I love him.”
I rolled my eyes. “I do remember that.”
“This will be perfect. I can’t wait. Okay, I have to call a bunch more people. Have fun at your gala. I love you!”
“Love you, too,” I told her.
I would definitely be there for that engagement party. And figure out what Michael was thinking…and hopefully fix this disaster.
Chapter 19
Penn
The line at the bar was long enough to make a man want to drink.
I ordered a double when I finally got to the front because I wasn’t going to wait again if this continued. I didn’t remember having this problem in past years. I tipped the bartender extra for having to deal with this many people and then took my drink and Natalie’s champagne far, far away.
My gaze traveled the room again, finding her still standing with Harmony. I took one step toward her when I saw the three people who had approached them. Fiona, Isabel, and Sloane. Three of Katherine’s friends. Socialite types who had more money than brains. They also happened to be three of the women I’d slept with last year to try to get over Natalie and get back at Katherine. Walking over there would not be smart. And it would result in a lot of questions.
I was surprised that the cling-ons weren’t attached to Katherine. I found the form I knew so well standing all alone. I narrowed my eyes in confusion. Katherine, all alone? Since when? She was always abuzz with friends and followers and people who wanted a sliver of attention. But now, those people were with…Natalie.
I frowned. Lark had said that Natalie was some new it girl, but I hadn’t really processed that until this moment. She was in a designer dress, surrounded by all these people she hardly knew, and she had fifteen thousand followers in twenty-four hours. Maybe she really was this it girl.
It was unsettling in some way. She’d asked me to train her, and I had. Maybe I should cancel any further lessons. She was succeeding beyond what I’d imagined she would. This world didn’t take well to outsiders, but I’d made her an insider. And now, she was practically kicking Katherine off of the throne she’d claimed for so long.
Katherine glanced in my direction then. Our eyes met, and we spoke across the room, as we’d done for so long, growing up.
She arched an eyebrow. Clearly saying, “What are you looking at, Kensington?”
I shrugged and tilted my head at the troop of girls surrounding Natalie. “Where are you cling-ons?”
Katherine rolled her eyes. “As if I care.”
I snorted. She cared. Katherine always did. Then Camden appeared. His hand moved to her ass, touching her where I gathered welts had graced her backside from whatever kink he was into. She winced and then stepped out of his embrace. But I saw something else there, too.
Was that relief?
Was Katherine glad to see Camden Percy?
She didn’t meet my eyes again once he was there, so I had no way to ask. But what could have happened on that honeymoon to change how she felt about a man she had hated for years? Maybe it was best not to know.