It wasn’t possible he could be here. It wasn’t. Crowne Hall was more fortified than the white house.
Still, my heart hammered.
Theo was a hot shadow at my back, his presence a boiling pressure. I was seated above everyone else, and I folded and unfolded my linen in my lap.
Crowne Hall was known for its extravagant parties, and tonight was no different. All the elite of Crowne Point were here to celebrate my sister’s twenty-third birthday.
I was seated at the very edge of the long, elegantly decorated table, and Gemma was at the center, wearing the Crowne family tiara. Mom didn’t even let me look at the thing. I folded my arms, trying not to feel envy, but it boiled venomous beneath my skin.
Grandpa wasn’t here.
I missed him.
The only one who showed me any sort of affection.
I shifted again in my dress. Something felt wrong.
I looked over my shoulder at Theo, standing sentry against the only wall that wasn’t a floor-to-ceiling window.
“Are you sure it’s on correctly?” I asked. I knew if I had another wardrobe mishap I’d be in deep, deep shit.
Theo gave me a deadpan stare.
I looked back out at the hall, at the rows of perfectly dressed partygoers seated beneath the domed ceiling and massive imported Italian crystal chandelier. No fiancé tonight, it seemed—just us Crownes above everyone else. Which meant I’d been spared.
Barely.
Before long the trill of crystal sounded, and eyes turned to me. It was my turn to do a speech for Gemma. I swallowed my urge to vomit and stood. My old high school classmates were in the crowd, having returned from their lives for the summer. From college or internships, things my family frowned upon, but I dreamed about.
I’m only twenty-one, and as the summer looms to its end, I fear it will be another year I won’t be afforded the same privilege.
Technically I have three younger half-siblings, the triplets my father had with his official mistress before he died. They’re still in boarding school in Switzerland. Some days I envied them. We’d been plucked from boarding school and told to amass influence at public school. Gray and Gemma ruled Crowne Point High. Back then, I thought it was the worst time of my life.
It was nothing to now.
I tapped my crystal glass with a smile.
I gave some bullshit speech about love and family, even looking to Gemma with a smile—she crinkled her nose at me. When I finished, I set down my drink. I was afforded the duty claps owed me. However, when I turned around, giving my back to the room,
everyone went silent.
My gut dropped.
A billion thoughts went through my head.
Did I have panties stuck to my dress? Was it see-through? Did Theo forget to lace the back properly?
We hadn’t been seen by anyone on our way down. What an awful way to learn my new dress was see-through. I was frozen, waiting for the pin to drop.
“Oh my God,” someone whispered.
“What is wrong with you, Abby?” Gemma hissed, suddenly at my side, her perfect nearly nude manicure digging into my elbow.
“Currently? I have a bitch-barnacle stuck to my arm.” I yanked Gemma off me.
Gemma scoffed. “This is low, even for you.”
Fear crawled up my throat, but I couldn’t let Gemma win. Still acting like everything was fine, I caught my reflection in one of the many gilded floor-to-ceiling windows surrounding the room. They opened out to the Atlantic Ocean, sapphire in the night, like looking into a black mirror.