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)
“Huh. I didn’t think that you had it in you.”
“Me either,” I admitted.
Penn looked around with a worried expression on his face. As if he were just seeing the room for what was going on.
“Is Camden going home with Fiona?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Uncertain.”
“Jesus, Katherine must be sick.”
He was staring over at her as if he was going to march over there. But I just shook my head. Not a good idea.
“She looks fine to me.”
“Maybe I should go talk to her,” Penn said.
I put my hand out to stop him. “Uh, no. You do realize that even though Katherine is your oldest friend, you also fucked her for, like, a decade, right?”
“I…”
“It’s better for everyone if you don’t. You’ll make it worse.”
His face hardened. “Yeah. You’re probably right. I should just go find Natalie and not get involved.”
“See, you can learn, too,” I said with a laugh.
“Plus, it looks like you have incoming anyway,” Penn said, nodding his head.
I turned and saw English storming across the booth toward me, like an avenging angel. Sam was close on her heels, speaking hastily as if to calm her down. What the hell?
But at the same time, I could see it in her face. I could see that she knew. That it had all come out somehow. Even though I’d been so careful.
A cool feeling of dread settled in my stomach.
“What the fuck did you do?” English spat at me.
I swallowed. “I, uh… what do you mean?”
“You went to see Jane!” she accused me. “You saw Jane, and you were photographed with her!”
Fuck.
32
English
How could he?
My blood boiled. My hands were clenched into fists. I thought about throwing one into his perfect face. This was the most idiotic thing that I could think of him doing. It was so fucking stupid that I hadn’t even considered it. Hadn’t thought for a second that he would do something to put everything in jeopardy.
The minute Sam had come over to me to say that Lark had been trying to call me, I had known something was wrong. He’d handed me the phone, and she’d relayed that images had been leaked, that it was being reported already, viral. Words that made me want to vomit.
And the next: betrayal.
He’d gone, and he hadn’t told me. On purpose.
Why? Why the lies? How could he claim he hated lying and then go see his ex-girlfriend in prison without telling me?
I stood before him, shaking with barely suppressed rage. And he just looked like a child who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Say something,” I demanded.
He sighed. “What do you want me to say?”
“Anything, Court. Is it true?”
“Yes,” he said finally.
Penn sighed next to him, nodded his head at me once, and then ducked out of our conversation. I didn’t blame him.
“There are pictures. Lark has seen them. She was trying to get ahold of me, but I haven’t checked my phone all night. She finally went to Sam, who found me. And now, it’s everywhere.” My voice broke. “Everywhere.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t care!” I barked back at him.
“I thought I was careful.”
I laughed at him. “How exactly could you be careful in this instance?”
“I just didn’t think that I was followed or that anyone saw me.”
“Great. So, at least we know you’re not an expert in sneaking around any more than my husband,” I bit back at him.
He flinched. “It’s not like that.”
“Really? Feels exactly the same, oddly enough.”
“Anna…”
“Don’t,” I growled. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why hide it? Why lie? Fuck, why did you even go in the first place?”
He removed his fedora and ran a hand back through his hair, mussing the ’60s style. “I just wanted to know the truth.”
“From a con artist?” I asked with wide, disbelieving eyes. “You thought someone who literally lied about who she was and stole millions from banks across the world was going to give you a straight answer?”
“I hadn’t seen her since the arrest. I just… wanted to know why.”
I shook my head in frustration. “You want to know why? Why? Are you serious? Because you were an easy mark. That’s why.”
Court winced. He clearly didn’t like that I’d reduced his entire year-and-a-half relationship down to this. But that was the truth. He should have been able to handle it by now.
“She did it because she’s a con artist. She did it because she needed social proof. I’m not even a fucking con artist, Court, and I could tell you that Josh gave me social proof in Hollywood. I could see instantly how Jane, who was lying about her life, would need it. And she got it from you!”
“Yes, but…”
“But what?” I demanded. “None of this explains why you lied.”
“What did you want me to say, English? I needed to go see my ex-girlfriend to get closure? That I was nearly certain none of it had meant anything to her, but I wanted to know for sure. And guess what. I was right. None of it meant anything to her.”