Cruel Legacy (Cruel 3)

“There’s nothing she can do about it.”

Harmony gave me a dubious look. “She’s Katherine Van Pelt. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

I knew she was right. Katherine stayed two steps ahead. And though I’d been trying to figure out what her next move would be, I still had no idea. But there had to be something coming. Knowing her.

It took longer than I’d thought it would.

I hadn’t expected Katherine to be here at all. I purposely hadn’t invited her to our little soiree because I wasn’t ready for this showdown. I’d wanted it on my terms. Not here when I was trying to garner favor with her friends.

But it didn’t seem to matter what I’d wanted. She was here. This had been a long time coming anyway.

So, I waited as she strode toward the booth with venom on her tongue and death promised in her dark eyes.

“What the hell is going on?” Katherine demanded when she reached our booth.

She didn’t look at me. Her eyes were on Harmony. And then more death glares for Fiona. Well, that answered that question. Katherine definitely knew about that.

“Hey, Katherine,” I said with a smile. “We’re having a girls’ night out.”

Her eyes dragged to me as if it was the last thing she wanted to do. “And who invited you to this thing?”

“Invited me?” I asked her. “I think you have it backward. I did the inviting.”

Katherine looked thrown for a second, glancing at her friends and lackeys in disbelief. But then recovered even though her anger seemed to have only intensified. “Well, I’m so sorry to have to ruin things then,” she said dryly.

“Oh, don’t worry. You can go back to your husband. It won’t ruin anything for us.” I stepped into her path before she could enter the booth. “We have this space reserved for the night, and we kind of wanted this to be exclusive. You understand, yeah?”

“This is my booth,” Katherine spat.

“Actually, it’s not,” Harmony said, coming up to my left. “We have the space, Katherine. Just because you normally party here doesn’t mean anything.”

Katherine glared at Harmony. “Cute, Harm. Would you like any of my other sloppy seconds? First, Penn, and now, you’ve even moved on to friendships.” She pointedly glanced at me. As if we’d ever really been friends.

“This has nothing to do with you. We’re just having some fun. You’re the one who always wants to ruin that,” Harmony snapped.

I pressed her backward. I didn’t want this to get ugly. And it would devolve quickly between Katherine and Harmony. Honestly, it had always been like that with me and Katherine, too, but I didn’t want to fall apart here. I needed to be strong. She couldn’t have what she wanted. And she would do anything to get it.

But I’d learned a lesson with Michael back in Charleston. If you backed down from your opponent, then they’d walk all over you. I had no intention of backing down.

“It’s fine, Harmony. Katherine was going to leave anyway. She knows when she’s not welcome,” I said crisply.

I could hear the whispers behind me. The girls who watched me stand up to Katherine Van Pelt. Maybe the first time they’d ever seen that.

“You have no idea what you’re doing,” she hissed at me.

“I think I do. Don’t make me call security,” I warned carefully.

“As if they’d do anything. My husband owns this whole place.”

“Then ask him to make us move, Katherine,” I dared her. “Camden at your beck and call. That’s how it works, right?”

She narrowed her eyes at me. We both knew that she didn’t have that kind of leverage with him. Maybe no one else right now knew, but we did. Our little secret. I watched her realize it. Watched her see that she’d lost. And I smiled.

But it was the smile that must have tipped her over.

“I’m really amazed at all you’ve accomplished, Natalie,” Katherine said with no hint of warmth in her voice. “But I’m surprised that you and Jane are still close.”

My eyes flickered to Jane’s. She hadn’t been at my side. In fact, she hadn’t said a thing the whole conversation. But I wouldn’t ask. Katherine wanted me to ask.

“Isn’t that right, Janie?” Katherine asked, crooking her finger at Jane. “You must not have told her that you were the one who outed her pen name to me.”

My body seized. No. Fuck. It couldn’t have been Jane. Why would Jane have told Katherine?

It made no sense. But at the same time, it somehow did. So few people had known about my pen name. And I knew that Lewis and Penn hadn’t told her. But Jane…Jane had known.

“Natalie,” Jane said. Her usual Jane calm evaporating. “I…I didn’t want to.”

I stared at her in disbelief. Could I fucking trust anyone in this community? I would have never trusted Jane from the beginning, but she had found out by total accident that I was Olivia Davies. But she promised she wouldn’t tell. I believed her. I’d been wrong. Again.