Page 100 of House of Scarlett
Skeletal fingers of pain wrap around my heart and squeeze.He did this on purpose. As a way to try to hurt my motherafter her death.What the hell is wrong with him?
I have no answers to that question. All I know is that I have to get away from him.Now.
“Excuse me. I need to find my date.”
I turn around and stride blindly in the opposite direction, not caring where I go, as long as it’s anywhere buthere.
Harlow’s heels click behind me as she rushes to catch up. “The bar. They’re by the bar.” She threads her arm through my elbow. “This way, hon. They’re right over here.”
I can barely see through the unshed tears in my eyes, reeling like I’m experiencing loss and grief all over again.
Except this time, it’s caused by the death of a dream.
My father will never be the man I want him to be. He has never been capable of being that man. I was crazy to hold out hope this long. Why didn’t I see it before?
Gabriel’s easy expression vanishes the second he catches sight of me and Harlow. He swings his head from side to side as if looking for a threat. But there’s no one for him to protect me from, because it’s my own fault that I’m devastated.
“What the fuck happened? Are you okay?” he asks quietly, pulling me into his side.
“Lawrence happened. He donated Lourdes’s necklace that was supposed to be Scarlett’s,” Harlow says, filling him in.
“Fuck.” Gabriel squeezes me closer to his side. “I’m so sorry, ladybug.”
“We’ll buy it then,” Jimmy says, holding out his hand to Harlow. “Come on. You’re going to put your bid down, and we’ll get it for her.”
I shake my head in Gabriel’s arms. “Let it go. Lucy Byers said she’d bankrupt me to keep it out of my hands.”
“Who the fuck is Lucy Byers?” Gabriel asks, his tone sharp enough to kill.
“A pretentious bitch who doesn’t know the meaning of the wordno,” Harlow says.
“And one I kicked out of Curated this week for being horrendous,” I add, dipping my head. “She was saying stupid things ...”
Gabriel’s finger lands under my chin and lifts it until I meet his serious blue gaze. “About me.”
I nod. “And Chadwick. And my store.”
“Fuck that bitch,” Gabriel growls. “She’s not getting her hands on your mom’s necklace. I don’t give a fuck if we have to steal it and pay Meryl off.”
“Let me and Harlow worry about the necklace,” Jimmy adds in a low voice. “I’ve got dirt on Lucy’s husband too, if we need it.”
I haven’t spent much time around Harlow’s husband before, but I’m liking him more and more with each passing second.
“It’s okay. It’s just a necklace.” I suck in a deep breath, trying desperately to find some calm. “It’s fine. Just ... let her have it.” Even as I say the words, a tiny piece of my soul withers.
“Not a chance,” Harlow says with a militant expression on her face. “We’ll be back, Scarlett. You two ... go find our seats for dinner.”
As Harlow and Jimmy walk away, Gabriel squeezes me against his side again. “I’m so fucking sorry, ladybug. I don’t know the whole story here, but your father is definitely a prize asshole for donating something that was your mom’s without offering it to you first.”
I shake my head. “I don’t even know why he would. He doesn’t have a charitable bone in his entire body. It has to be for show. Maybe trying to buy some goodwill for something. I don’t know, but I really don’t want to be here anymore. Maybe we should just go?”
Gabriel squeezes my hand. “We’re not letting some asshole and a worthless twat run us out of here. You’re stronger than that. Get me?”
I don’t know if I am, but with Gabriel holding my hand, I straighten my shoulders and pretend that I don’t have a single care in the entire world. “Damn right, I get you.”
Sixty-Two
Legend
