“Okay, this is what we’ll do.” Lark immediately went into planning mode. Her work as a campaign manager shone through as she saw me as just another project she had to fix. A fire she had to put out. “I’ll distract everyone by sending them for alcohol. We’ll scamper to the back door and grab a cab back to my apartment. Poof, runaway bride.”
I ran my hands down the front of the one-of-a-kind Elizabeth Cunningham designer wedding dress. The bodice was strapless with a sweetheart neck. Made out of the softest, most delicate white lace with dozens of tiny white buttons running up the back. It swept down to my feet with an impressive train that would flow out behind me as I walked down the aisle. A twenty-foot empire veil would be affixed to the intricate braided design at the top of my head. White. Perfect virginal white.
“No wedding. No Camden,” Lark continued.
My eyes found her in the mirror. “I can’t.”
“Physically, you are able.”
“I can’t,” I repeated.
“But you don’t love him!” Lark gasped. “How can you do this when you don’t even like him? It can’t just be the money. We all have money. The crew has money. You can have mine. I don’t need it.”
“Lark,” I said, shaking my head.
“Is it the bet?”
I frowned. My dark red lips turning down at the corners. The bet. What a stupid fucking idea. The fucking bet that had ruined everything. Taken Penn from me. Forced me into actually going through with this arrangement. Even wrecked our tried-and-true crew. Little holes splintered in our unflappable love and loyalty.
“No. I just have to do this.”
“I don’t want to see you unhappy,” Lark told me.
I almost laughed. But I couldn’t even manage it. Unhappy. I’d been unhappy for years. What even was real happiness? It didn’t belong to a girl whose father had lied, cheated, and stolen everything from her. Who ended up in prison, destroying my mother, who hadn’t even been able to look at me for years. It certainly didn’t belong to a girl whose brother had abandoned them all at the first sign of trouble.
I wanted my old life back. The one before the fraud. The one when I’d had everything. When I had been on top of the world. And I hadn’t had to love or even like Camden Percy to build that future for myself.
It wasn’t as if Penn was going to suddenly change his mind. To go back to the boy I’d known who worshipped at my feet. I’d been so naive then. Thinking he’d always come when I called. And now, he wasn’t here to save me. But to feed me to the wolves.
“I’ll manage,” I finally got out.
“You’re miserable. Camden makes you miserable. He’s abusive. Katherine, please listen to me. We’ve all been saying it from the beginning. We know the kind of person that Camden is. You do, too. You shouldn’t subject yourself to his whims.”
She was right.
Camden was abusive.
Not physically. He’d never hit me. But he didn’t have to, in order to land blows.
Emotionally, he twisted me around his little finger. Mentally, he fucked with the way I thought. And, when we fucked…well, it wasn’t just fucking. There was passion, fueled by anger and dominance. His need for submission from me. Another game he played. At least the sex was good. That was about all he had going for him other than the string of Percy hotels he owned.
“Why are you so set on this?” Lark asked.
I didn’t even know how to explain it to myself. It wasn’t just about security. I had the penthouse overlooking Central Park. I still had a dwindling trust fund that I could probably stretch if I had to. It was more than that. It was an arrangement. Something Camden and I had crafted together for our mutual benefit. I was getting the better end of the deal, as he now knew exactly how little money I owned. We’d had to fork over tax and bank account information before signing prenups. It worked. We worked somehow…even when we hated each other.
“Maybe I don’t want to fail at one more thing.”
Lark sighed. “It wouldn’t be a failure. You deserve better.”
A knock sounded on the door, and the wedding planner, Virginia, burst in. “Time to go, Katherine. Are you ready?”
Lark shot big, round eyes at me, silently begging me to change my mind. But I couldn’t.
“Yes,” I told Virginia.
“Great. I have the veil. Let’s get you both in position.”
Lark and Virginia helped me down from my pedestal and picked up the long train of my dress. We marched down the hallway and into position at the back of the church. Virginia tucked my veil into my hair and then moved to cover my face.
I held my hand up. “Leave it.”
She shrugged and left my face uncovered. I wanted to face this down with clear eyes. Alone. As always.