Cruel Money (Cruel 1)

“He’s awful.”

“The worst,” she agreed.

“Why are you marrying him?”

Katherine shrugged her petite shoulders and waved at a girl who was staring at her with round eyes. “It’s a society thing.”

“I couldn’t imagine not marrying for love.”

“Happens all the time,” she said, fluttering her fingers at a group of girls in a corner. “And anyway, it’s not like love matches have a perfect success rate. Love equals divorce a lot.”

“True,” I conceded. “My parents are still together.”

“What a miracle. I suppose you could say that mine are too.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Right through here.”

We moved into the arena and to our seats, which were nearly dead center in the very first row. I could practically reach out and touch the stage, which was lit up before me.

“These seats are amazing,” I groaned in amazement.

“Totally. And I have six of them. But Lark had to work, and Rowe backed out last minute.”

“Why?”

“He said—and I quote—‘Because I don’t want to go.’”

“Classic Rowe.”

“Tell me about it.”

I pulled my phone out. “I’m going to need to take a video and put this up on Crew. My sister is going to kill me.”

“Oh yeah, I heard that your sister came into town, and you all went out without me.”

I hadn’t even thought to invite Katherine that night. I’d been too busy with Amy and Melanie. I was sure that Katherine and Amy would clash. They were a match made in hell.

“Yeah. Sorry about that.”

“No matter. I would have loved to meet your friends. Maybe next time.”

“For sure,” I said because I knew it wouldn’t happen again.

“God, I need a drink,” Katherine said. “Penn, darling, let’s go get drinks.”

“You want to go get drinks?” he asked in a perplexed voice.

My eyes shot to his, and I realized that I could read his discomfort in a way I certainly hadn’t been able to before. And it wasn’t just because he had no interest in being at a Chloe Avana concert.

“Go on ahead,” Lewis said. “I’ll chill here with Natalie.”

“Be right back,” Katherine said, latching on to Penn’s arm and walking back out the way we’d just come.

“I can’t believe she got us these tickets,” I observed.

“Chloe gave them to her,” he said, stretching out in his seat. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Wait, what? She knows Chloe Avana?”

“Katherine is a socialite. It’s part of her job to know people who matter. And to be seen at events like this.”

“Still trying to adjust to that being a job.”

“Aren’t we all?” Lewis said with a laugh.

“I think I’ll stick to writing.”

“How is that going anyway?” He looked genuinely curious.

“Well, I sent my agent the start of a new manuscript, which I’m in love with. But so far, not so great on the other two books.”

He furrowed his brows. “Really? Did you send them to Warren?”

“Uh…yeah. Yep. We sure did,” I said awkwardly, remembering the horribly worded rejection letter I’d gotten the day I first met him.

“And?”

“Honestly, they were kind of mean.” I shrugged. “Rejection is part of the job.”

“Huh. Well, shit. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not like you were the editor who rejected me. You don’t even work in publishing,” I reminded him.

Not that I knew exactly what he did, but I had a feeling that working with hedge funds didn’t exactly mean he dipped his toes into the literature side of his father’s fortune.

“That’s true. Though I do love to read. You can’t grow up in a publishing house and not love reading.”

“Well, one day I’ll get published, and the work will have been worth it. But for now, I’ll continue working as a vacation home watcher and writing on the side. It’s a strange life.”

He laughed. “You think your life is strange? I can’t imagine what you think of ours.”

“It’s definitely different,” I said with a smile.

“Speaking of different,” he said, sitting back up, “what’s up with your friend Amy?”

I chuckled. “She’s a lot, right?”

“I’ll be honest, I’ve never had anyone turn me down for my money.”

“That sounds like Amy.”

“So, you’re telling me that she actually prefers broke artists?”

“I mean, she might be happy with a rich artist if he was hot and looked homeless on occasion. Also, if he was really manic.”

Lewis shook his head in disbelief. “That is the oddest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Well, money doesn’t rule everything. Just because someone is rich doesn’t make them more appealing, and her interests are very particular.”

“That’s fair,” he conceded. “I’ve just seen so many clingy and money-grubbing people that you start to expect it. Someone like Amy…or like you is refreshing.”

“As I enjoy first row tickets to a concert that I didn’t pay for.”

“Come on. That’s not who you are. I can tell that accepting this makes you uncomfortable. I saw it on my yacht when we first met. It’s not that you don’t want to be here, but you don’t want to owe anyone.”