Cruel Legacy (Cruel 3)

And I realized I was in so much trouble.

Chapter 10

Natalie

If I’d ever thought that I could handle Penn Kensington, I’d been lying to myself. Unequivocally.

We split our time between his place and my new one the next week, and I tried not to overthink it even though that was my specialty. I just wanted to enjoy it.

I hadn’t given up on my desire to bring down the people who had wronged me. I just felt like Penn and I were a bit more on a level playing field. Yes, he’d put a bet on me. But I had slept with his best friend. Regardless of the fact that I’d thought we’d never get back together and that I was never going to forgive him, it still hurt him. So, we were equals.

And by easing back into things with him, something had shaken loose in my chest. The words had come back. I’d pulled my computer out of the place it had been collecting dust and started writing again. I had no idea what it was, but the fact that it was anything after the bullshit with Lewis and Katherine was a start.

“I like to see that,” Penn said, stifling a yawn as he walked out of my bedroom in nothing but a pair of boxers.

“Totle curled up on my lap under a blanket?” I pulled the covers up just enough so he could see Totle’s little head hidden in my lap.

“Ah, so that’s where the little traitor went.”

“I didn’t want to wake you up. You were sleeping so peacefully.”

“You are taking full advantage of the fact that I don’t have Friday classes.”

I nodded with a grin. “That I am.”

“And you’re writing again?”

“Something. I don’t know what it is.” He opened his mouth, but I jumped in before he could say anything. “And no, you can’t read it.”

He frowned. “I wasn’t going to ask. I know you’ll let me read it when you’re ready.” Then his eyes narrowed. “Unless you happen to be writing about me, and then I think I would like to know before it releases and hits a bestseller’s list.”

“Yeah, well…that was different. You were an ass.”

“Ohhh,” he breathed, planting a kiss on my neck. “Using the past tense. I’m not currently an ass?”

I squirmed out of his touch, disrupting Totle, who seemed completely put out by the fact that he had to move a whole foot and then buried himself under the covers again. I giggled. “You are not currently being an ass. I reserve the right to change my mind if you decide to do something stupid again.”

“Fair. I also reserve that right.” He reached out for his maroon Harvard sweatshirt, and I pouted. He laughed. “Really?”

I shrugged. “You said I could take advantage of no-class Fridays.”

“And you normally can, but I actually have to go into the office.”

“Ugh! Stupid jobs.”

He dropped down onto the couch next to me, rifling through the jeans he’d discarded in the middle of my living room last night. “I’ve figured out the next move for our lessons.”

“Oh?” I asked, closing my laptop and facing him.

“Yeah. I’ve been thinking over where to go next. And I think this is it.” He plucked a black card out of his wallet and held it out to me.

I warily looked at it. “What’s that for?”

“It’s part of the lesson.”

“I don’t need your credit card.”

He rolled his eyes. “Take it, Natalie.”

I gingerly took it from him and stared down at it. I felt immediately uncomfortable. Like I was suddenly going to be sick. I knew that I was constantly surrounded by money, but it was somehow different than holding an unlimited credit card, knowing that the person who owned it had a trust fund in the nine to ten digit range.

“The second lesson is about money. Money for us just…is. It’s not something you talk about because it speaks for itself. If you have the right kind of old money and the right kind of old-money name, you’re in. Otherwise, you’re somehow other. It’s why we look down on Hollywood money. The nouveau riche who we see as a little classless. Money shouldn’t scare you. Spending it should feel effortless. And I know that it makes you uncomfortable.”

It did. I’d grown up with very little, and I’d never had any of my own money until the book deal, but even then, it had been like pulling teeth to get me to spend it. I hadn’t even gotten a cab in the freezing rain.

“So, the other part of this is clothes. As vain and pretentious as it is, the clothes have to match. I love your bohemian clothing. I want you to wear it when we’re together, but if you go out, you’re going to need to play the part. And to do that, you’re going to need a new wardrobe.”