Cruel Legacy (Cruel 3)

She huffed. “Fine. Fine. Be logical about it.”

I cracked a smile again. “That’s what I’m here for.”

“Well, will you go with me?”

“To your sister’s engagement party?”

“Yeah,” she said softly, her cheeks blooming a soft pink. “To Charleston.”

This was something I’d never done before. Go home to my girlfriend’s house and meet the parents. Play the nice guy. All the other girls that I’d dated were from this world. It had been a different thing entirely. With Natalie, this would be important. And I wanted to be there for her.

“You don’t have to,” she said hastily, as if she had overstepped.

“No, I want to go. I’ll go with you.”

“You will?” she said in relief.

“Of course. It’ll be an adventure.”

“A better reason for you to be in Charleston,” she muttered.

I agreed. The last time I’d been there, she’d turned me away.

This time…we’d be together, taking that next step in our relationship.

Chapter 20

Natalie

I was nearly asleep on the flight to Charleston when it hit me. I sat up straight in the first-class seat that Penn had insisted on purchasing for us to return to my home. I’d thought it was a frivolous expense. He’d just ignored me.

I yanked out my laptop and connected to the wifi. I’d been waiting all week to hear back about the restraining order about Lewis. The attorney had said that I’d hear Monday at the latest. But while I’d been waiting, there had been something itching at the back of my mind. Something that I should remember but couldn’t.

Apparently, I’d had to get to thirty thousand feet before I would remember.

Anselin-Maguire.

That was the business deal that Lewis had been working on when we were dating. His father had brought it up over dinner because he had to close the deal over the phone at night. There was also that weird point where he’d had to do business at a party. I’d thought it strange then but hadn’t put much thought into it.

Now, I could see the red flags.

Maybe there was something here to go on.

The name didn’t pull up anything in particular. Maguire was really generic and wouldn’t get me anywhere. So I searched for Anselin instead. I skimmed through a few articles about the company but didn’t see anything out of place.

I huffed. Maybe it was just coincidental that he’d had weird business hours. It had felt like a lead.

I kept searching through the most recent articles until we hit a bout of turbulence, and Penn woke from his slumber. I slapped the laptop closed.

“Are we almost there?” he asked.

“About to descend into Charleston.”

“I didn’t think we were supposed to have bad weather.”

“Afternoon showers are pretty common,” I told him with a smile as I stuffed my computer back into my bag. “Won’t ruin anything.”

He stretched out and opened the window shade to the dark sky beyond. “Why did I decide to take the last flight in? And why do airplanes make me so sleepy?”

“For most parents, when they can’t get their kid to go to sleep, they drive them around the neighborhood. And now, those kids always fall asleep on long car rides. Your parents probably flew you around the neighborhood.”

He rolled his eyes at me. “Hilarious.”

“I thought so.”

The flight attendant came over the intercom, informing everyone that we were about to land and to stow our belongings. It was a rocky landing with the storm overhead, but we landed safe and sound and found Amy waiting for us.

She squealed and rushed me. I laughed, dropping my bag, and pulled my best friend into a hug.

“I missed you like crazy,” Amy said.

“Missed you, too,” I said. “I’m glad to be home.”

“Only because you brought your big hunk of a man home with you,” Amy said, releasing me and hugging Penn. “Glad you could make it.”

“As if I would miss it.”

Amy snorted. “Let’s get the bags.”

Luckily, our suitcases appeared first, and then we loaded up Amy’s Tahoe. It was a lot of car for one person. But if it worked for anyone, it worked for Amy. She chattered the entire way to my parents’ house about the bedroom that she was renovating.

“Did you really have to renovate my old room, like, this week?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t know you were going to come visit or that Mel would get engaged like an idiot. Do you think she’s knocked up?”

I choked. “Dear god, I hadn’t thought of anything worse than her marrying Michael. You succeeded. Congrats.”

“Well, why else would a freshman in college get engaged?”

“Love?” Penn piped in.

“Shut it,” I said at the same time Amy said, “Yeah, right.”

We both burst into laughter. It was so good to have the easy banter of being with Amy. We talked on the phone, but it wasn’t the same. I hadn’t realized how draining it was to constantly be on when I was in the Upper East Side until I let it all roll off my shoulders. No lessons, no cameras, no expectations. I could see why Penn wanted to get away. It was exhausting.