Cruel Money (Cruel 1)

“I think she went home with Lewis. Maybe he isn’t really on your side,” Katherine said with a laugh.

“The bet is over, Katherine. It’s done.”

“Is it now?” she purred.

“Forget about it. This isn’t fucking happening anymore. You can leave your games behind. I’m not going to play them anymore. I only did this, so I could spend uninterrupted time with Natalie in the first place. Now, I don’t give a fuck what you think.”

“A bet’s a bet,” Katherine said with a shrug. She stroked my cheek. “If you want to quit, I’ll be happy to collect early. Say tonight? My place?”

“That’s not happening.” I swatted her hand away. “It’s over. I’m going to go make things right with Natalie.”

“Well, I suppose I could tell Natalie the truth then.”

I froze. “You wouldn’t.”

“I mean…if you’re going to back out, then I think she probably deserves to know how you’ve manipulated her.”

“I never manipulated her.”

Katherine laughed. “Yeah. Sure. Why don’t we tell her and find out?”

“I’ll tell her myself then,” I said, seeing my opening.

“Or we can wait until the bet is over. We’ll find out who wins, and no one has to be any wiser.”

I’d underestimated Katherine. Of all the people for me to underestimate, this had to be the worst. I had known what she was capable of. I had known the measures she took to win at all costs. I should have said no. I wished I could go back to that pool when it had suddenly become serious and just laughed and thrown the whole idea aside. But it was here now. We were too far in. And any way I looked at it, I was fucked.

But right now, it wasn’t my biggest concern. The fact that Natalie had seen Emily kiss me. That she’d left with Lewis. I needed to talk to her. To explain.

“Whatever, Katherine.”

“Happy hunting,” she said cheerfully.

I pulled out my cell phone to text Lewis and saw I already had a message from him.

You’re such a fucking idiot.

Yeah, thanks, man. I jotted out a text back.

Don’t I know it? Is she at your place?

Yeah, but I don’t know if she wants to see you.

Be there in ten.

I stuffed my phone back in my suit pocket, rushed out of the building, and hailed a cab to go make this right.

Natalie

30

“Here,” Lewis said. He handed me a glass of amber liquid. “Scotch. It should help.”

I didn’t question his judgment. I just downed a large gulp of the stuff. I coughed repeatedly as it burned its way down my throat. “Smooth.”

He grinned at me and then plopped down beside me. “You have to get used to it. It’s the good stuff though.”

“It tastes like fire.”

“But it feels like forgetting your life,” he said, holding up his glass to mine. “Cheers.”

I clinked it and downed another large gulp. It wasn’t as bad as the first drink, but, man, it wasn’t easy either.

“So…Emily, huh?”

He winced and then took another drink. “Yeah, that’s Emily.”

“When did they break up?”

“I really don’t think I should be the one to tell you about this.” He stood and reached for more scotch.

“Yeah, well, the one who should have told me about this was making out with her.”

“They weren’t making out,” Lewis said. “It was one kiss, and we don’t know what it means. You just left. You didn’t even ask him.”

“What would I ask exactly? Why did you lie to me? Why are you kissing some other woman that I don’t know anything about? How much of this is just a game to you?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “It’d be a start.”

“I’m too angry for his fabricated answers right now. Just tell me the truth.”

“Natalie, why don’t we talk about something else?”

I finished off my scotch and passed him the glass. “I met your ex-girlfriend Addie. We could talk about her.”

“Are those my only options?” he asked with a wince. He rubbed the back of his neck and checked his phone.

I sighed and flopped backward on the couch. I’d already had Lewis remove the stupid wings attached to my back and flung off the thousand-dollar shoes I was borrowing from Katherine. I kicked my white-stockinged feet up onto Lewis’s lap and held my hand out for my drink.

His eyes roamed my scantily clad body for a heartbeat too long before he passed me my drink. I’d forgotten that I was still just in a corset, garter, and stockings. My cheeks heated.

“Sorry,” I said, straightening.

“Hey, no, you can lie back down. It’s fine,” he said, but he had to clear his throat to get the words out.

“Tonight is so fucked.”

“I think you should talk to Penn. You’ll feel better.”

“Yes, I know what you think.”

But would I feel better? Knowing more about Emily. Knowing why he’d kissed his ex-girlfriend and not told me he’d met her the week before. I didn’t really think so. But then I remembered the bracelet tucked away in my purse, which I’d hastily discarded as soon as we entered Lewis’s posh penthouse. The crown that dangled from it and the constellation it symbolized. Maybe I owed him a conversation.