Now that I was finally moving on, it all came flooding back. I might think I was okay now, but fuck, I wasn’t fine.
“Choose me, Natalie” he demanded.
“Penn,” I said with a shake of my head.
“I know I hurt you, but what we had was real. And I have no idea how you can throw it away if you felt what I did.”
I fought for words. For something to say to that. I hadn’t thrown it away. He had. Fixing trust issues was infinitely more difficult than he was letting on. But as he drew closer, gripping my hand in his like a lifeline, it was hard to see anything but him. And easy to forget everything else.
“Well, well, well”—a voice laced with accusation rolled over us—“what do we have here?”
My stomach dropped to my toes as my gaze drifted up.
“Katherine,” Penn said. He dropped my hand and effortlessly shifted himself in front of me.
Katherine Van Pelt. I should have known that I would eventually see her. I wasn’t lucky enough to be on the Upper East Side and completely avoid her. And now, she was here…at the most inopportune time.
“Hello, darling,” she crooned.
Her dark eyes feasted on the pair of us. She looked spectacular in a blood-red dress fit for a runway. Glossy, dark hair cascaded over one shoulder, and her lips were the deepest, darkest red. She was striking and treacherous and the devil incarnate. She might as well have her tail and horns from Halloween.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” she said. Her eyes flicked over my shoulder.
And suddenly, Lewis was there too. He stepped up next to Penn so that they were both in between us. A solid masculine barrier that said more than words ever could. Who would have guessed the only way they could stand together would be because of Katherine?
No one said anything. Just waited for Katherine to make her move.
“Why are you all standing there like I’m about to attack someone?” Katherine fluttered her fingers at them. “We’re all adults here. Aren’t we, boys?”
Lewis and Penn exchanged a weighted glance and then moved back a fraction of a step. Apparently, they could work in unison when it was necessary.
“That’s better,” Katherine said. She settled her cool, hard gaze on me.
“Katherine, this isn’t a good idea,” Lewis said.
“On that at least, we are in agreement,” Penn said. “What do you hope to gain from this?”
“Gain? Why would I have to gain anything? Can’t someone else lose for once?” She tittered.
I huffed. “I don’t have to deal with this. I’m leaving.”
“Well, that solves my problem,” Katherine said. She twirled a glass of champagne in her hand and cocked an eyebrow at me. “Though I don’t understand why you’re here in the first place.”
“She’s here with me,” Lewis interjected.
“And even if I wasn’t,” I cut in, “I would have come because Jane invited me.”
“Oh, be sure, I noticed you cuddling up with the owner. It seems there is a long line of people who you’ve tricked into feeling pity for you.”
I shook my head in disgust. Only Katherine could turn around the horrible bet she had made and place the blame on me. “Okay. Sure, Katherine. Whatever you have to tell yourself. But I’m not going to just stand here and let you insult me.”
“Good. Leave,” Katherine said viciously. “Get out of my world and don’t come back.”
I was half-turned to go when the words hit me. Her world. No. If I walked away like this right now, then she would feel like she could continue to do this forever. That I couldn’t be in the same space as her. That I couldn’t be near Lewis or at Jane’s parties or even something as simple as walking through Central Park. There would be no end to this.
Katherine had been my friend for a brief period. Or I was a project, was more like it. But I’d seen enough of her to know how she would react to me scampering off to get away from her.
“It’s not your world.” I faced off with her. Ready to go another round in the ring. “And I can do whatever I want, including being here right now or anywhere else you happen to be later.”
“Not if you know what’s good for you.”
I straightened and took a step forward. My eyes were narrowed in anger. “Is that a threat?”
Katherine just smirked. “If you want it to be.”
“Katherine, stop it,” Penn hissed. He moved forward, as if to put himself between me and Katherine in the likely event that I launched myself at her and ripped her shiny brown hair out.
I shoved him away and took another step toward Katherine. “I can go wherever I please. You don’t own New York City.”
Katherine laughed in my face. “Actually, I do.”
“Just let it go,” Lewis whispered, trying to pull me backward.