Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
We followed Katherine around for a few minutes as she answered questions about the charity and posed for pictures. Then, she waved her hand at the photographers and bustled toward the entrance.
Court snatched me up before I made it inside. “You’re a natural.”
I swatted at him as he dived in to claim my lips. “I just followed Katherine’s lead.”
“Psh,” he said, disbelieving.
My gaze swept behind him to the cameras flashing at us. “Well, I guess we’re out now, aren’t we?”
“That was kind of the plan, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. I’m glad we’re not hiding anymore.”
“Me too. Because if I’d had to watch one guy hit on you tonight in that outfit, my fist would have found his jaw.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled him inside after our friends. “You’re outrageous.”
“On occasion.”
Club Marquee was an enormous multi-floored club with balconies and all sorts of private booths. Katherine already stood in her place of honor in a booth next to the DJ. I didn’t know how she’d gotten there so quickly when the dance floor was packed with women in lingerie dancing suggestively against men in suits.
Court took my hand in his and veered us through the maze of people until we reached the booth. We stepped past the bouncer and found it full of all of our friends. Penn and Natalie had apparently decided to make an appearance. Seemed ballsy, considering how precarious their relationship with Katherine was. Even Camden stood off to the side, surveying the room like it was his job.
“I’m shocked they’re all here,” I told Court.
He shrugged. “Welcome to the Upper East Side. Once you’re in, there’s no escape.”
“Sounds ominous.”
“Can be.”
Court grabbed us both drinks, and I sipped on my gin and tonic. Whitley appeared a minute later.
“Going to need her, Court,” she said with a wink. “She needs to lose her halo.”
Court gestured before him. “By all means.”
I laughed as Whitley dragged me away, and we started grinding to the music. Katherine eventually agreed to join us. I was just missing Lark. I could not wait for that damn campaign to be over. Not just for me, but also for her sanity.
“So, how are things with you and Robert?” I asked Whitley.
She grinned. “I mean, I think I’m generally a bad girlfriend, but he likes it. It’s so strange.”
“He likes that you’re a bad girlfriend?”
“Yeah… like all the things that normally happen to me that drives other guys away, he’s kind of into.”
“Like what?” Katherine asked.
“Well, like getting calls and texts from my exes. I’m not into them anymore, but I still keep up with some of them.”
“You also ruin some of their lives,” I pointed out.
“They had it coming!” she said, gesturing wildly. “But anyway, he doesn’t seem to care that I like my space. That I don’t want to come home to some clingy person after working all day in surgery. He doesn’t seem to care that I’m bisexual. I mean, I like women, but that doesn’t mean I want to hook up with one with him.”
“That seems reasonable,” I said.
“You’d think!” Whitley said. “I don’t know. He’s very accommodating. It’s weird and strangely nice.”
“Sounds like a keeper,” Katherine said softly.
“We’ll see. If we make it past three months, it might be something.”
“You’ve never dated anyone longer than three months?” Katherine asked.
“Oh, I have,” Whitley said. “But… the three-month mark is how I know whether I can handle their bullshit.”
“And whether they can handle yours?” I finished for her.
She snorted. “Something like that.”
For some reason, my gaze dragged over to Gavin, who hadn’t brought a date. When we’d asked him about it in the limo, he’d said he planned to pick someone out at the party. All bravado. But just as I’d suspected, he was watching Whitley. I wondered why he didn’t make a move. It seemed very un-Gavin-like.
But as soon as he caught me watching, he returned his attention to whatever Robert had been saying and ignored Whitley entirely. Bizarre.
“No,” Katherine whispered under her breath. She had stopped dancing.
“What?” Whitley and I asked at the same time.
I followed her gaze and found Fiona had just entered the booth. She was dressed like a Playboy bunny, complete with ears and a tail, just like the invitation had requested. And I knew she was also the last person that Katherine had wanted to see at her event.
Fiona had been Camden’s side piece before Katherine and Camden entered their arranged marriage. As far as I knew, he’d cut off ties with her after the wedding, but he’d stumbled upon Katherine and Penn alone together, and that had all changed. He started showing up to events with her again.
Then, the night of the raid at the gambling ring that had started this entire thing with me and Court, Camden had apparently abandoned Fiona to help get Katherine to safety. Their relationship hadn’t been… perfect since then, but I hadn’t seen Fiona around either. She was a menace.