Cruel Money (Cruel 1)

“Oh dear Lord,” Penn groaned.

“I’m Penn,” Rowe told them easily. “Just look. Notebook.” He held up a leather notebook. “And give me a second, and I can bore you all with useless philosophical ramblings.”

Penn just shook his head. “You astound me.”

“The ethical theory of life is happiness, and happiness is about right or wrong, which brings me to my conclusion that everyone must follow a set of rules to live a life of something, something,” Rowe droned, sounding like the teacher from Charlie Brown.

Katherine and Lewis died laughing.

“Nicely played, my man,” Lewis said, shaking Rowe’s hand.

Even I couldn’t help but giggle.

“I do not sound like that,” Penn said.

“A little,” I ventured. “But I like it.”

Penn shook his head, but he was a good sport.

Jessica Rabbit unfortunately tried to carry on a conversation the rest of the way to Club Marquee. The problem was, she was utterly dull and kind of a moron. I had no idea what Rowe saw in her other than her amazing breasts. But…maybe that was enough for him. He seemed to tune everyone out well enough. At least he had that talent. Unlike the rest of us.

We pulled up outside of Club Marquee, and Katherine made her debut in her devil’s costume. She dragged me next to her so that the cameras could see that we were a matched set. After a few minutes of short interviews about the charity event, she whisked us all inside.

Club Marquee was a huge multi-floored club in the heart of the Upper East Side. Balconies overlooked the main floor, which was already packed with women dressed in scantily clad outfits and various kinds of ears dancing with men primarily dressed in suits. The three main bars on the first floor were all packed with people, but Katherine directed us to the open booth area next to the DJ. It was a prime location that overlooked the entire room…while also leaving us visible to everyone in attendance. Exactly how Katherine liked to see and be seen.

I stepped up onto the booth with Penn at my back and was surprised to find Camden Percy already in attendance. He was dressed as Clark Kent, complete with glasses.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Katherine asked.

“Hello to you, too, darling,” he said, roughly gripping her and planting a kiss on her bright red lips.

She pulled out of his grip and rubbed her arm. “I see you haven’t had enough to drink. You’re still being almost pleasant.”

“I’ll be sure to be less pleasant later,” he said and grabbed her ass as she scoffed and pushed past him.

I wanted to get far away from Percy, but Penn was staring at the man standing next to him.

“Fuck,” he snapped viciously.

“What?” I asked.

“Penn!” Camden cheered, gesturing us closer. Anything that made Camden that happy could not be a good thing. “Look who I found in the crowd.”

The man next to him was extremely attractive. Tall, dark hair, and a smile that could light up a room. He wore a custom-tailored suit that had to have cost a fortune and held a dirty martini glass to his full lips. He had his other arm slung around a woman in a silky red baby-doll dress and bunny ears. When the waitress handed her a glass of champagne, she passed her a hundred-dollar bill and told her to keep them coming.

Penn placed his hand on the small of my back, and I could feel the tension rolling off of him. But he didn’t say anything.

“Where are my brother’s manners?” the man with the martini glass said. He bent dramatically at the waist to kiss my hand. He looked up at me with baby-blue eyes I’d recognize from a mile off and a smile that screamed troublemaker. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Penn’s older and much more handsome brother, Court. Court Kensington.”

Natalie

28

I hastily withdrew my hand from his grasp. “Uh, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Natalie.”

Penn was seething at my back. I didn’t know their history. Or anything but that his brother was a train wreck. But even if I’d known nothing about Court Kensington, Penn’s reaction right now was enough for me to realize that I should stay far away.

“I must say that your angel is stunning,” Court said with a smile that mirrored his brother’s to a T. It was a little unnerving.

“Well, thank you.”

“And introduce your friend,” Camden said. “She’s a real charmer.”

The woman next to Court finally looked up from her champagne flute and smiled at me and Penn. “Jane Devney,” she said, holding her hand out. I shook her hand as she just barreled forward. “You look so familiar, Natalie. Have we met before? Were you in Paris last summer?”

“Actually, I was.” I stared at her and tried to place her. But she had one of those faces that just didn’t stick.