Cruel Fortune (Cruel 2)

That was when a figure caught my eye almost directly across from me.

There, standing in a suit fit for James Bond, was Penn Kensington.

And he was smirking at me.

Hands in his pockets. Cunning, wicked, delectable. He tilted his head in a come-hither motion. I knew that was a terribly bad idea.

It might as well have just been me and Penn alone in a crowded room in that moment. But I couldn’t make the mistake I’d made at Harmony’s party. I wasn’t subject to his whims. I didn’t want to have another screaming fit.

Still, seeing him like that, I wanted to go.

But I swallowed hard and shook my head. I mouthed, No, to him.

He raised an eyebrow. A challenge.

I held my breath for a second before letting it out again and turning away from him. There…over and done with.

“Let’s go dance,” I said to Lewis.

He smiled down at me, oblivious to what had just transpired between Penn and me across the room. Then he took my hand and led me out onto the dance floor.

Our bodies moved together in the crush of people. Jane flitted in and out of the picture, meeting with friends and celebrities and investors while also trying to make sure that I was having a good time. I kind of loved her. Charlotte and Etta appeared sometime later. Charlotte had changed out of her kaleidoscope dress and into a short, sleek black number. Brodie was at her side with his tongue down her throat half the time. Rowe even appeared at one point on the arm of one of the models. He awkwardly nodded at me and then went back to his date dancing on him while he stood still.

The night was everything Jane wanted it to be. And after my second glass of champagne, I was finally feeling a buzz. Enough of one to stop feeling like there were eyes burning into the back of my head. Like Penn was following us around the room…even though I hadn’t seen him since I told him no.

It was probably just my imagination. But it was as if I had a sense of his presence. Despite the fact that I couldn’t see him.

“Let’s go get another drink,” Lewis said.

He took my hand and pulled me off the dance floor. I mopped at my glistening forehead as he scooted into the bar to get us another drink. I fanned my face and looked around the large space to all the drunken revelers.

And I found him again. Penn. He was standing with Rowe, talking and laughing. Rowe was about as animated as I’d ever seen him. Which basically meant, not at all. Then Penn’s eyes flicked over to the dance floor. His eyes narrowed, brows scrunched together. He craned his neck, as if trying to spot someone in the crowd.

Me.

He was looking for me. I wasn’t crazy. He had been keeping tabs on me. My heart hammered at the realization. That he was here just to…what? Watch me? Spy on me? Wait for the moment I was alone, so he could yell at me again?

My anger flared and then dimmed. He needed to stop. I needed to stop this.

Lewis appeared then with my drink. “Here you go.”

I turned back to look up at him. “I need to go talk to Penn.”

Lewis coughed on the sip he’d just taken. “What?”

“I need to tell him to stop. I don’t want to keep doing this at every event.”

“I would be happy to go tell him that. I believe you said I should use my fist next time.”

My hand touched his, and I shook my head. “No, I need to do this. He’ll listen to me.”

“Doubtful,” he grumbled.

“It’ll be fine. This is important.”

“All right,” he said with a sigh. “But if it looks like it’s getting heated, I’m going to come intervene. I don’t need him pissing you off again.”

I nodded in understanding. “I’ll be right back.”

Then, I took a deep breath and strode toward Penn Kensington and a conversation I desperately did not want to have.

Penn

25

Where the hell had she gone?

One minute, I’d been talking to Rowe, and the next, Natalie was nowhere to be found.

She’d told me no when I showed up to talk to her and tell her the truth. I respected that. Even if I didn’t want to. I could have shown up with some stupid model and flaunted her in front of Nat, like she was doing to me. Hurt her like she was hurting me. But that was petty and would only prove her right.

And after all, I was the one who had hurt her in the first place. I wanted her to be happy. Just not with him. She didn’t get to choose Lewis and move on in my face.

Rowe nudged me and cleared his throat.

“What?”

He pointed in the other direction, and then I saw her. And she was walking toward me. What the fuck? Hadn’t seen that coming. Not after she’d turned me down earlier.