Cruel Fortune (Cruel #2)(79)

Katherine must not have even looked at the guest list. Or the seating chart. Because my name was even printed on the card in sweeping gold letters. Right between Penn and Lewis.

I hesitated before stepping forward. I swallowed back my rising unease about coming here. It’d be so easy to turn around and walk out the door. Instead, I pulled my chair out and took a seat.

The table was silent. Everyone waiting for someone else to make a move. The other five people were oblivious to what was going on. Though I had no idea how they couldn’t feel the tension in the moment.

“Uh,” Rowe said, leaning forward on an elbow, “this is awkward, right? I’m not making this up?”

Lewis snorted. “Social cues.”

I cracked a smile. Rowe sure knew how to cut the tension even if he was just pointing out the obvious.

“Where’s your date?” I asked, gesturing to the empty seat at Penn’s side.

His blue eyes gazed back into mine, as if to say, That would be you. Instead, he said, “I never RSVP’d. Katherine just assumed.”

“Oh.”

“And you couldn’t ask one of the many beautiful women you’ve been seen with?” Lewis asked, leaning forward. “Who was that one brunette you were with all the time? Shelly?”

“Chelle is my teaching assistant,” Penn ground out.

“Yeah. Nothing going on with her?”

“That would be unethical.” His response was dead and flat.

Lewis shrugged. “Never stopped you before.”

“So,” I interjected at that. I shot Lewis a look of distress. “How about this place? Really something.”

“You’ve seen one wedding in the Grand Ballroom, you’ve seen them all,” the woman to Rowe’s left said to me. She was a standard unit of buxom blonde model. The kind Rowe tended to favor. “But your dress is gorgeous. I saw that at Bergdorf and am kicking myself for not trying it on.”

“Seconded,” said one of the other women at the table. “So jealous.”

I blinked, surprised by the attention. I’d loved the purple off-the-shoulder dress with its old Hollywood feel. The way it’d hugged everything while still looking classy and sophisticated. I hadn’t expected people to be jealous of it.

“Thank you,” I said.

Luckily, the rest of the table kept a steady stream of conversation while the crew sat around, silent. It was almost sad, considering how I’d seen them the first time. How well they knew each other. But also, how easy the banter had been between them. I hadn’t known then that it was bred from lies and secrets and loyalty, not just love. But to see that kind of friendship splintered was upsetting.

Even if it was their own fault. With the stupid bet. It was still sad. A bit like seeing a family fall apart.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait too long for Katherine and Camden to show up. They walked gracefully into the room together as they were announced as Mr. and Mrs. Camden Percy. From the look on Katherine’s face, that must have stung. The wedding party took up their seats at the front of the room, and then dinner was served.

I was damn well ready to leave as soon as we possibly could at this point. Being seated between Penn and Lewis was bad enough. But the anger that they kept venting at each other was something else entirely. I’d seen them together any number of times…even since Lewis and I’d started dating, and they hadn’t been like this. Something must have happened, but I didn’t know what.

I was digging into my dessert when I heard Rowe’s date talking to the other woman who had complimented my dress. My head tilted up, and I strained to see if what I’d thought I’d heard was true.

“And this is a book?” the second woman asked.

Rowe’s date nodded. “It’s insane. Told like a total insider, Jana.”

“Seriously, Michelle? You think someone from the Upper East wrote it?”

“Has to be. No other explanation.”

“I’ve never even heard of it. Tell me the name again.”

“Oh, let me pull it up on my phone.”

My mouth went dry as I waited…and waited.

“Here it is. Bet on It by Olivia Davies.” Michelle pushed the phone in front of Jana’s face.

Which was good because mine had gone pale as a ghost. They were talking about my book. Holy fuck! They were talking about my book on the Upper East Side. Trying to figure out who in the inside circle had written it. Oh god. I’d never imagined.

“It’s so juicy, Jana. And I have thoughts on who I think the characters are based on.”

“You’ve convinced me. I’m going to go get my copy now.” She’d already pulled up her phone to purchase it.

“I need to know who you think Emerson is. She’s a real heinous bitch. I can think of a dozen of us without a blink,” she said with a laugh.

“Heinous bitch is like Upper East Side MO.”

“Totally. I bet it’s Candice. No one is as nasty as her. You’re going to have to tell me who you think it is when you read it.”

“Oh, I will.”

“But Luke.” Jana fanned herself. Unknowingly getting hot and bothered at the thought of Penn sitting only three seats down from her. “He’s so fucking sexy. Don’t blame any of them for fighting for that man.”