Cruel Money (Cruel 1)

What the hell was this life?

“And Rowe?” I asked, uncertain if I even wanted to know.

“Tech,” he said.

It was his friends’ turn to laugh at him in that short, abrupt way of his.

“You working in tech is like saying that Lewis is a financial planner,” Lark said with an eye roll.

I looked between them all as if I was missing something. Who did I know by the name of Rowe in tech? I was sure that I’d heard it before. It was on the tip of my tongue. Shit.

“Rowe designed Crew,” Penn said.

My jaw dropped. “Like…the social media platform?”

“Yep,” he said with a shrug.

“Wait, wait, wait, you’re Archibald Rowe?”

Rowe groaned. “Please. Don’t ever use that name.”

The rest of the room tittered at the name that apparently was never used, except in press briefings and public appearances.

“So, like, Facebook tried to buy you out, and you wouldn’t sell?”

He nodded. “Didn’t need the money.”

“And Crew…” I looked between Penn and all of his friends. Wasn’t that what Penn had said earlier. That I shouldn’t have to meet the crew like this. “That’s…you guys.”

Penn nodded. “Welcome to the crew, Natalie.”

Natalie

5

Oh god.

I couldn’t believe this. I needed a minute to process.

I was so overwhelmed with the money and influence in the room. A billionaire professor, a publisher, a socialite, an heiress, and the most influential tech designer since Mark Zuckerberg.

These were Penn’s friends? His crew? How had he found me interesting at all? Had I been a total joke to him that day?

He had to have known that I didn’t have connections or wealth like him. Yes, I’d been at the right party that day when we met, but he wasn’t stupid. Surely, he’d thought it would just be funny. I couldn’t fathom another reason.

“How…how did you all meet?” I stammered out.

“We grew up together,” Lewis said. “Prep school, all the way up.”

“Crew is what they called us in high school,” Katherine filled me in.

Rowe laughed. “Sure they did.”

“Fine. They called us the Cruel Crew,” Katherine said with an eye roll. “We stole the name and made it ours. It’s what prompted Rowe to design Crew for us, so we had a place for us to meet online. It branched out to our all-girl and all-boy private schools and then, as you know…worldwide.”

I was too stunned to respond. I had only one thing to say to that. “Pass the bourbon.”

Lewis grabbed it and walked it over to me. His eyes glittered with interest and humor. “That’s a good answer.”

“So, what about you, Natalie?” Katherine asked.

“Me?” I asked, trying not to squirm.

“Yeah. Where are you from?”

I laughed. “Nowhere. Everywhere. Depends on the day.” When everyone stared back at me in confusion, I confessed, “My father was in the Air Force. He retired in Charleston. But I was born in California. My sister, Melanie, was born in Texas. And my parents are from Iowa. So…nowhere.”

“Military,” Lark said with a smile of understanding. “That must be why you like this vacation-home-watching thing. I couldn’t figure out who would want to travel that much.”

“I can’t figure out why anyone wouldn’t want to travel this much,” I told them honestly. “Nowhere has ever really felt like home to me. Now, I get to see all these amazing locales and live there for a time while I write.”

“Except Paris,” Penn mumbled under his breath.

“Have something to share with the class?” I drawled, holding out the bourbon bottle and waving it around.

Penn’s eyes darted to mine, and I narrowed my eyes. He removed his hands from his pockets and stepped carefully across the living room. All eyes were on him as he reached forward and plucked the bottle from my hand.

“You felt like Paris was home,” he said casually before tilting the bottle to his perfect lips and drinking.

I watched the way his lips wrapped seductively around the bottle. The amber liquid disappearing down his throat. His Adam’s apple bobbing as he savored the liquor.

I swallowed. Why did he have to be so damn sexy, even when he was so fucking irritating?

“Right?”

“Someone ruined Paris for me.”

I reached to take the bottle back, but he walked it back across the room with him.

“You’re still a lightweight.”

Cleansing breaths. Deep, cleansing breaths. Because whatever was about to come out of my mouth was going to unleash on him.

But it was Katherine who laughed and defused the tension. “Don’t make her snap your head off, Penn. We’re in a safe place. She can drink as much as she wants.”

“That’s right. I can,” I told him.

“It’s not like you’ve always been virtuous,” Lewis said with a smirk.

“You all are enjoying this, aren’t you?” Penn asked.

“Immensely,” Katherine said at the same that Lewis said, “Oh god, yes.”

Lark laughed, and Rowe just shrugged, as if to say, Obviously.

“My own crew. Traitors, one and all.”

But a smile had returned to his face. One that seemed to be reserved for the people in this circle. And, for a second, that smile moved to me. And I felt like I was part of that secret place in his life.