Cruel King Read online

  “That’s probably why he thinks you’re family.”

  She snorted. “Classic, King. Thanks.”

  When she smiled up at me, it felt all strangely normal. Like she hadn’t left for three years and put thousands of miles between us.

  Then, her smile dimmed, and she faced forward again. We passed Bergdorf on our left and stepped into the square, where The Plaza resided just off of Central Park. It was a trademark location with an enormous fountain at the center of the square, tourists galore, and even a few horse-drawn carriages.

  Our close friends, English and Court, would be married here this fall. It was going to be the wedding of the year. Court’s mother, Leslie Kensington, was the current mayor of New York and determined to have the blowout wedding she had been denied by her younger son. I wouldn’t have blamed English and Court if they’d also eloped in Paris, like Penn and Natalie.

  Whitley’s outfit suddenly made sense if she was here to deal with wedding plans. She didn’t care about anyone’s approval and could take the heat off of English.

  “Are you here for the wedding?”

  Whitley nodded as we crossed the street, narrowly avoiding a gaggle of tourists. “English is frustrated with the wedding planner.”

  “And her soon-to-be mother-in-law, I assume.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “You have no idea.”

  “I think I do. I went to the engagement party.”

  Whitley’s cheeks colored. She’d still been in California when that little catastrophe took place.

  “Was it that horrible?”

  “Worse than horrible,” I confirmed. “I thought for sure that someone was going to come to blows. I ended up leaving early with my date because it was such a fucking mess.”

  Whitley’s eyes widened a fraction, and then she dipped her head to dig into her purse.

  Why the fuck had I said that? Of course I’d dated while she was gone, but I hadn’t had to bring it up. That was just how we’d always worked.

  She had been the best wingman I’d ever had. Who could have known that all of that time we’d been trying to find people for the other to hook up with, the person standing right next to me had been the answer?

  “Fuck,” Whitley said. “English is SOS-ing me. I have to get in there before she does more damage.”

  I nodded easily. “Sure. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

  “Definitely,” she said, but she still wasn’t meeting my eyes.

  I’d fucked up. Maybe I’d said it because I was mad that she’d left before we could figure this out. Now that she could barely look at me, I realized that I didn’t want her to go like this.

  “Hey,” I said, reaching for the sleeve of her fur coat.

  She blinked back at me, her hazel eyes a honey color in the afternoon sunlight. There was something in those eyes, like panic. She looked … terrified. As if she thought that I might say something horrible to her.

  I withdrew suddenly. I didn’t like that look in her eyes. I didn’t like it one bit. And I wasn’t going to get rid of it by asking her out right here on the street when she had somewhere else to be. I’d need to play a longer game for her to see that I was serious.

  “Good luck.”

  Her smile brightened, as if she’d dodged a bullet. “I don’t need luck.”

  She winked at me and then disappeared inside.

  Fuck. I was fucking fucked up about this woman.

  I jerked my phone out as soon as she was gone, dialing Court Kensington without missing a beat.

  Court’s baritone filtered through the phone. “King.”

  “You fucking asshole.”

  Court laughed, low and resonant. “So, I’m guessing you heard Whit is back?”

  “Heard? I just saw her in Percy Tower in a silver minidress. I walked her to English’s meeting.”

  “She was wearing a minidress to the meeting with my mother? God preserve her.”

  “Yeah. I think she’s trying to take the heat off of English, but that’s not the point, asshole.”

  “What? Should I have told you that she was back? Still got a thing for her?”

  I gritted my teeth. Court Kensington, Camden Percy, and I had met at Harvard. We’d become fast friends despite the fact that they had known each other their whole lives and didn’t like outsiders. Court had known exactly what he was doing by not telling me that Whitley was back.

  “That was three years ago.”

  “And?”

  “And … I didn’t want to be blindsided.”

  Court snickered. “Sure. Keep telling yourself that. Anyway, that’s why we’re all going out tonight. We were going to surprise everyone.”

  Fuck. So, that was what that was about.

  “I’ll see you tonight,” Court said.

  “Yeah, whatever, fucker.”

  Court laughed and then hung up.

  I shouldn’t have been this worked up about it, but Court wasn’t wrong. I’d never really gotten over what could have been with Whitley. She’d made herself perfectly clear that she didn’t want to try this by moving across the country. And I didn’t think that I could change her mind now … but I was willing to try.

  3

  Whitley

  English crashed into me. “There you are!”

  I wrapped my arms around my best friend with relief. “Sorry I’m late.”

  “It’s fine. I’m just glad that you’re here.”

  She looked as sensible as she’d wanted me to dress. Her blonde hair pin straight with soft makeup and a neutral lip. She was in a Chanel suit with classic nude pumps. The friend I’d made at UCLA—who blew rockstars backstage at concerts because she had a thing for trauma to escape her Valley roots—was really and truly gone. Now, she handled rockstars with aplomb and was only flustered by the mayor of New York City, who was also about to be her mother-in-law.

  “Are you sure about that?”

  English laughed as she got a good look at me. “You’re going to give Leslie a heart attack.”

  “Let’s hope not. She’s not a bad mayor.”

  “Fuck, I missed you. Promise you’ll never leave the city again.”

  “I’ll give it my best.”

  English looped her arm with mine. “What took you so long anyway?”

  “Well … I ran into Gavin King.”

  English choked. “You’re kidding?” Her smile was predatory. “How was that?”

  “It was … I don’t know.”

  I never could judge Gavin exactly. I’d been his wingman for so long. I watched him go home with more women than I could count on both hands. I’d never been jealous until we slept together. And even then, I’d had no right to be jealous.

  But still … I didn’t know if his flirting was him being his normal self around me or if it meant more. The look in his eyes right before I left had made me reconsider moving back. I couldn’t do this if he wanted to talk about what had happened. I’d moved on. I was well past that moment in my life. I might have feelings for him still, but that didn’t mean I needed to act on them.

  “Oh, you’re going to hook up again.”

  I scoffed. “Bad idea. We all know what happened last time.”

  “Yeah. Yeah. Bad girlfriend. I know the drill, Whit. You’re the one who gets revenge and who leaves behind glitter bombs on ceiling fans and watches the world burn before admitting that someone hurt you.”

  I bristled under that assessment, but somehow, from English, it was almost affectionate.

  “But Gavin isn’t dating anyone.”

  “He never is.”

  “No,” she said, pulling me to a halt before we reached the tearoom. “Like, he hasn’t even been bringing anyone to events.”

  I snorted. “Okay. Sure. He just told me he took home the girl he brought to your engagement party.”

  She arched an eyebrow. “One, we should consider why he told you that. And two, I haven’t seen him with anyone since then.”

  I did the math. The engagement party was in July. That was almost nine months ago. There was no way he hadn’t been with anyone in that long. That was … unheard of for the Playboy Prince of Manhattan.

  “I know his reputation precedes him, as does yours,” she said pointedly. “But maybe he’s growing up.”

  “I doubt it.”

  English laughed. “Fine. Have it your way. Just come save my life, would you?”

  “My pleasure.”

  We strode into the tearoom. I recognized Leslie Kensington from the campaign advertisements and the news. She was currently campaigning for her third term, which would be voted on this November. Some part of me wondered how much of the fancy wedding was related to her campaign and how much was a mother wanting what was best for her son. A large part of me thought it was the former more than the latter.

  Leslie was too composed to make a face at my appearance, but the wedding planner blanched as I was escorted over.

  Leslie rose to her feet and shook my hand. “You must be Whitley. We’ve heard so much about you,” she said.

  “Mayor Kensington,” I said with a grin. “I’ve only ever seen you on the news.”

  “Leslie, please, why don’t you take a seat?”

  “Whit, this is Fanny McEwan,” English said, gesturing to the wedding planner, who was making no secret of her distaste for me.

  “Hello,” Fanny said without extending a hand. “Perhaps next time, we can arrive on time.” She looked around the place. People were definitely looking at me, but she was the only one who cared. Well, maybe the mayor cared, but she was too good at her job to show it. “And maybe in more appropriate attire.”

  I gestured to myself. “What? This old thing? Don’t you recognize Elizabeth Taylor’s old furs?”

  I was lying through my teeth but betting a lot of money that she wouldn’t know that.

  Fanny looked way out of her depth. “I’m certain you know precisely what I’m talking about.”

  “Let’s get back to the menu,” English said, deftly changing the subject.

  The wedding planner looked ready to skewer me, but I smiled brightly, as if I had no idea. The next hour continued in much the same fashion. Despite my extreme attire, I was a good maid of honor. I’d attended a ton of weddings for clients back in LA and had opinions about the sort of grand-scale wedding that the Kensingtons wanted.

  English looked relieved by my input. She was a publicist. Handling events was her thing, but she hated weddings. I was one of the only people who knew that fact. Her last wedding to a cheating douchebag movie star had been a huge Hollywood affair with all the pomp that LA could throw at it. She would have happily married Court barefoot in the sand with just her friends and family in attendance. But she loved him enough to endure this whole thing a second time.

  And I loved her enough to endure the likes of Leslie Kensington.

  By the time we finished the meeting, I was on edge from all the parrying back and forth. English pulled me close, and we exited The Plaza together.

  “Thanks for enduring that.”

  “Anything for you, bestie.”

  “You’re still coming out with us tonight, right? I have that work thing for Fallon, and then I want to get a drink with my girl.”

  “Yes, yes, I’ll be there.”

  “It probably ruined the surprise now that you saw Gavin though.”

  “Surprise?”

  “We were going to invite everyone for your return to the Big Apple.”

  I groaned. “Seriously?”

  “Well, it won’t be much of a surprise.”

  “Thank god.”

  English elbowed me. “So, what happened with Gavin anyway?”

  “Nothing. It was normal, I guess.”

  “You guess? You haven’t dated a man in three years, and the first time you see the one who still holds a piece of your heart, you say, ‘It was normal, I guess.’ ”

  I wanted to growl at her. She wasn’t wrong. I’d given up men entirely after leaving New York. There was too much drama. I’d only casually dated girls before and decided that maybe I’d dive in head first in LA. I’d even had a girlfriend for almost a whole year. Well, on and off.

  Actually, maybe I was back to me being the problem.

  “He doesn’t hold a piece of my heart,” was what I decided to focus on instead.

  English nearly choked on her laughter. “Okay, Whit. I’ll see you tonight at Club 360?”

  “Sure. Sure. I’ll be there.” Then, I thought of something else. “Are you planning to surprise Katherine?”

  English shot me a devious look. “Yep.”

  “Do you want to get stabbed? She hates surprises.”

  “I figure since it’s you, I will be forgiven.”

  “Unlikely. I’ll go see her before we go out. I do some excellent sutures, but I don’t want to do them in public.”

  English kissed my cheek. “I love you. See you later.”

  I headed back the way I’d come, veering toward Percy Tower. Three years ago, when I’d left, Katherine and Camden had just worked out their differences. Of a sort. Now, she’d moved into his penthouse on the top of his hotel with their two kids.

  Two kids.

  It still amazed me that Katherine was a mother at all. Let alone to two little ones.

  I took the private elevator up to the penthouse. It opened to the top floor, and I found Camden Percy striding toward me in a suit that probably cost a few grand. He looked … fucking gorgeous and generally terrifying. He was all thunderclouds and venom and balls of steel. He always made me falter a step, and Katherine Van Pelt was the only one who could come close to matching him.

  “Oh, good,” he said, his voice a low rumble. “I don’t have to tell her then.”

  “Wait, you already knew I was back?”

  He arched an eyebrow. “There’s nothing I don’t know about in my city.”

  “Court told you then, huh?”

  He didn’t acknowledge that, just smirked dangerously. “She’s in the nursery with Beckett. Up the stairs, first door on the right.”

  “And Helena? Do I get to see my niece today too?”

  “Helena is with the nanny and her godsister, Gem,” he said of his two-year-old daughter and their all but adopted daughter. “They went to run errands. She should be back within the hour. I’m off to a meeting.”

  “Will I see you tonight?”

  “Where she goes, so do I.”

  Then, he disappeared into the elevator.

  Who would have guessed? A few years ago, they hated each other so much that they couldn’t even enter the room together without clawing each other’s eyes out. Now, they were sickeningly in love. In their own way, of course.

  I took off my shoes and then climbed the stairs to the nursery. I knocked softly once, and Katherine hissed, “Shh, I just got him down.”

  I hesitated a minute before peeking my head into the room. Her eyes rounded in surprise. That was as much of a shock Katherine Van Pelt wanted from her friends. She held up one finger as she rocked her six-month-old against her chest. Finally, she set the big boy down into his crib, fiddled with a white noise machine, and then tiptoed out of the room. Her eyes were all for Beckett fast asleep in the crib. I’d never seen Katherine look at anyone like she did her children.

  She slowly pushed the door closed. “You,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. Then, she pulled me into a hug. “What are you doing in my city?”

  “Surprise!”

  “You know I hate surprises.”

  “To be fair, English was going to surprise you tonight when we went out.”

  Katherine wrinkled her little nose. She was the most gorgeous person I’d ever known. If I hadn’t known that I was bi before I met her, then she surely would have made me realize it. Long, dark hair and endlessly dark eyes with pale skin and forever red lips. Despite her features, she was more Evil Queen than Snow White.

  “I would have let you hold Beck, but he takes forever to go down. He’ll sleep for ages once he’s there though.”

  “It’s okay. I’m moving back, so lots of little baby snuggles from now on.”

  Her eyebrows rose. “Moving back? Since when?”

  “Officially a few weeks ago. But today is my first day in the city.”

  Katherine went straight to the wine fridge and popped a bottle of champagne. She poured each of us a glass and passed one to me. “To my Whitley returning home.”

  I laughed and took a sip of the bubbly. “Thanks.”

  “Who else have you seen? Just English? Lark?”

  “English and … Gavin.”

  Katherine shot me a mischievous look. “Indeed. Gavin King. This sounds familiar.”

  “We ran into each other downstairs. I’m staying in the hotel, and he was here for a meeting.”

  “Coincidental then,” she said with a conspiratorial smile on her red-painted lips.

  “Don’t give me that look.”

  “Why not? Should I not hope for my friends to be happy?”

  “I don’t know. It’s complicated. Robert and I dated before and after Gavin and I got together. I tore their friendship apart.”

  Katherine waved a hand. “That was years ago. Robert is happily dating Harmony.”

  I jolted. I hadn’t heard that. “Harmony? Really? I thought they were just friends.”

  “They were, but I gave them the push they needed, and now … voilà.”

  “You’re such a little matchmaker,” I said with a laugh.

  I had no feelings for Robert anymore. We’d been doomed long before I called it off at Christmas and hooked up with Gavin. Our fate was sealed when he found out at Fashion Week. But I’d never thought he’d end up with Harmony.

  “So, let me give you a little push too,” Katherine said. She put her hand on mine. “Don’t make the mistake that I did with Camden.”

  “What? Moon over someone else for so long that he thinks I hate him?”

  Katherine rolled her eyes. “Let’s keep Penn Kensington out of this, why don’t we?”

  I laughed. “Can we leave matchmaking to later then too? Until I’ve been in the city for more than a few hours? I don’t know what I want here, Katherine.”