Cruel Fortune (Cruel #2)(60)

“One was enough for you?” I goaded. “Wanted to write the shit about the bet and then go on and live happily ever after on the Upper East Side?”

“I own everything that happened to me.” She stepped into me then. Our bodies so close. Her anger so hot. Now we were standing in that in-between space where we were as likely to fuck as fight.

“Fine. Own it. Just like you do right now.”

“If you didn’t like what I wrote about you, then you shouldn’t have been so shitty.”

“I liked your portrayal of me,” I said, catching her off guard.

“What?” she asked in shock. Her eyes going wide.

“Yeah. That Natalie was in love with me on every page. Every damn page.”

I’d read it. Cover to cover. My character was…obliterated. She’d unleashed all her rage on the end of the book and practically destroyed me. I’d read it and only seen how much I’d hurt her. And how much she loved me. Two sides of the same coin.

“What?” she murmured softer. Her heart splintering in front of me.

“Yes, you loved me, even when you hated me. Especially when you hated me. But I’m still here, Natalie. I’m still fighting for you. Even if I can’t reconcile that Natalie with the one who is yelling at me right now.”

“It’s because you broke that girl,” she said. Her voice was low and mournful. “You broke her, and you can’t fix it. And you need to stop trying.”

I slipped the necklace I’d been carrying around all night out from my pocket. Then I transferred it to her palm, closing her fingers tight around the crown charm.

A reminder of my love.

A reminder of that night we’d looked up at the stars.

A reminder that this was real to me, even then.

Then, I uttered one word, “Never.”





Natalie





26





I stared into Penn’s eyes. Blue meeting blue. And I read the sincerity there. Heard it in his voice. The knowledge that he wouldn’t give up on me. Not now. Not ever. Not when he still thought he had a chance.

Slowly, I peeled my fingers back and stared down at the small charm in my palm. A crown. Our crown. My throat tightened. I had the sensation like I couldn’t breathe. It was too much.

Why had I come over here anyway? I hadn’t thought it would be easy. But I’d thought it was necessary. Get this over with and out of the way. Then maybe we could all start to move on. But now, it felt impossible.

He knew I was Olivia. He’d read the book. And he hadn’t concluded that I hated him at all. He’d concluded that…I loved him. Fuck…he was right. I’d loved him so much that I wasn’t able to do anything else for weeks. Just write cathartically into the void until the book was finished. Then I’d been dead. For weeks…months. Amy hadn’t even been able to get me out of the house. I’d sent him away, but he hadn’t left my heart.

Now that I was finally moving on, it all came flooding back. I might think I was okay now, but fuck, I wasn’t fine.

“Choose me, Natalie” he demanded.

“Penn,” I said with a shake of my head.

“I know I hurt you, but what we had was real. And I have no idea how you can throw it away if you felt what I did.”

I fought for words. For something to say to that. I hadn’t thrown it away. He had. Fixing trust issues was infinitely more difficult than he was letting on. But as he drew closer, gripping my hand in his like a lifeline, it was hard to see anything but him. And easy to forget everything else.

“Well, well, well”—a voice laced with accusation rolled over us—“what do we have here?”

My stomach dropped to my toes as my gaze drifted up.

“Katherine,” Penn said. He dropped my hand and effortlessly shifted himself in front of me.

Katherine Van Pelt. I should have known that I would eventually see her. I wasn’t lucky enough to be on the Upper East Side and completely avoid her. And now, she was here…at the most inopportune time.

“Hello, darling,” she crooned.

Her dark eyes feasted on the pair of us. She looked spectacular in a blood-red dress fit for a runway. Glossy, dark hair cascaded over one shoulder, and her lips were the deepest, darkest red. She was striking and treacherous and the devil incarnate. She might as well have her tail and horns from Halloween.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” she said. Her eyes flicked over my shoulder.

And suddenly, Lewis was there too. He stepped up next to Penn so that they were both in between us. A solid masculine barrier that said more than words ever could. Who would have guessed the only way they could stand together would be because of Katherine?

No one said anything. Just waited for Katherine to make her move.

“Why are you all standing there like I’m about to attack someone?” Katherine fluttered her fingers at them. “We’re all adults here. Aren’t we, boys?”

Lewis and Penn exchanged a weighted glance and then moved back a fraction of a step. Apparently, they could work in unison when it was necessary.

“That’s better,” Katherine said. She settled her cool, hard gaze on me.

“Katherine, this isn’t a good idea,” Lewis said.

“On that at least, we are in agreement,” Penn said. “What do you hope to gain from this?”