Page 77 of House of Scarlett
“No,” I whisper, gripping the edge of the tablecloth as I fight the urge to turn around and look.
“Fuck, he spotted us,” Monroe whispers back. “Shoulders back. Tits out. Chin up.”
I do exactly what she says, even though I don’t give a single damn what Chadwick thinks of me now.
His smarmy voice comes over my right shoulder and makes my skin crawl. “Well, well. Some things never change. The Three Cuntkateers are still ladies who lunch.”
That motherfucker.
I pop out of my chair and whip around to face him, with my shoulders back, tits out, and chin up, of course. I survey the young twenty-something blonde on his arm with a polite smile.
“Hello, Chadwick. It’s good to see you getting back in the saddle again.”
His gaze narrows on me, and the intense hatred I read there almost takes me by surprise. “I’ve been in the saddle the whole damn time, Scarlett. You’re the only one who wasn’t getting laid.”
That. Fucking. Prick.
I’m really fucking glad I had my annual exam and STD tests shortly after the last time we had sex, because now I have no idea how many New Yorkers I was sleeping with by proxy. Andthank GodI always made him wear a condom.
The scrape of metal against concrete sounds as Harlow and Monroe jump out of their chairs.
“You literally just admitted to cheating in front of your new hookup? Bad form, don’t you think, Chad?”
“It’s Chadwick,” he says with a sneer at Harlow.
“Chadwick who can’t get a hard dick,” Monroe sings like a nursery rhyme. “Too bad he can’t get laid, since that would take a bitch getting paid. Damn, I really need another line here. I’m going to have to work on my poetry skills for moments like these.”
Chadwick’s face turns dangerously red like he’s cruising toward a heart attack. The blonde beside him giggles, and he whips around to glare at her. “Shut your mouth. Don’t listen to them.”
“Oh, honey,” I say to the girl with sympathy in my tone. “Run the other way as fast and far as you can. I promise there’s nothing good down the road you’re walking.”
Chadwick lunges at me, but I jump back, and the fence stops him from getting closer. “You’re a cunt, Scarlett. A rich bitch who thinks she has everything but can’t get the one thing she wants most—for her daddy to give a single fuck about her.”
I inhale sharply, sucking back oxygen with the pain of his cruel words.
“Oh no, you didn’t—” Monroe bolts toward the fence, but I stop her with a hand on her arm.
“He’s not worth it, Monroe. He’s not worth another second of our time.” Coldness settles over me, and I stare into Chadwick’s mud-brown eyes. “You were the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. Thank God I realized it before it was too late.”
The blonde’s eyes are wide as she clutches her purse to her side and steps back on her towering heels. “I just remembered I have an appointment. I better go.” She’s gone in seconds, power walking away as fast as her stilettos can carry her.
Chadwick’s expression turns even more evil. “You’ll pay for this, Scarlett. I promise.” And then he huffs off down the sidewalk, knocking into people with every step.
“I hate that man,” Harlow says, ice coating every word.
“I wouldn’t call 9-1-1 if he was on fire,” Monroe adds with a shake of her head. “And I wouldn’t even feel guilty about it.”
They each reach out to grasp one of my hands after we take our seats at the table, and I squeeze back.
“I’m just glad he’s out of my life.”
“But what about your dad?” Monroe asks. “How doesn’t he see that fuckwad’s true colors?”
I shrug and shake my head. “I don’t know, but I think it’s time for me to let it go. I can’t carry that shit with me anymore. I’m done with him. Let’s order. I’m starving.”
Forty-Five
Legend
