Page 99 of House of Scarlett
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Well, that’s damn good to know, especially since I haven’t heard anything. I was starting to think I was going to have to put together my own fight card to make it happen.”
Jimmy shrugs. “Doesn’t sound like that’ll be necessary.”
“Well, fuck. Thank God. I’ll drink to that.” I turn to the bartender. “Three fingers of Seven Sinners. Make that two of them. The lady likes her whiskey.”
Sixty-One
Scarlett
When we stopin front of the necklace that Harlow is dying to own, what feels like all the blood in my face drains away.
Because I’ve seen that starburst diamond necklace before ... on my mother’s neck in all her wedding photos. It was missing from jewelry I inherited, and when I asked my father about it, he said it was lost long ago.
“Isn’t it just gorgeous? I mean,damn.”
I shove forward, not caring that I jump the crowd of people trying to get a look at the piece that’s encased in glass. In tiny letters, the placard beneath it gives all the details about the necklace, and then the most damning thing I’ve ever seen in print.
Donated by Lawrence Priest, Priest Pharmaceuticals.
Oh. My. Fucking. God.
My father had the necklace all along, and helied to me about it? Why?
I grit my teeth together to stop from turning around to find something metal to smash the glass case and take my property back.
How the hell could he do this?
I’m brought back to the here and now when someone jostles me to reach for the pen attached to write a new bid.
“This will look perfect on me. I have to have it.”
Lucy Byers. Are you fucking kidding me, universe? How is this right?I pray for a smidge of understanding but come up dry.
“Is something wrong, Scarlett?” Harlow asks, and my name comes out louder than she anticipates, because the crowd around Lucy has gone silent.
Lucy spins around, and I want to smack that perfect pout off her plastic face.
“Oh, Scarlett. Is that your mom’s necklace? How charitable of your father to donate it to a good cause.”
Harlow sucks in a breath. “Oh my God. Nooo.”
Lucy tilts her head to the side. “Oh no. You didn’t know he was donating it? That’s justterrible.” The way she says the word, dredged in mean-spirited humor, slices at me.
“You know what, Lucy?” I ask with my chin held high, even though I’m crumbling inside.
“What?”
“You’re a mean-spirited bitch, and I don’t care if I have to spend every penny I have. That necklace will never be yours.”
Her mouth drops open in shock before her eyes narrow. “You fucking cunt. Watch me. I’ll bankrupt you if I have to.”
“Ladies, ladies. Please, I didn’t make a donation to cause arguments.”
My father’s voice crawls up my spine like a spider dragging its web behind it.
Slowly, I turn to face him. “How could you?”
He shrugs. “I didn’t think you’d care. You got everything else of hers. What does one little necklace matter anymore, Scarlett? She’s dead, and she’s not coming back. Besides, I think it’s poetic justice to have the proceeds go to Meryl’s charity. Bury the hatchet between them and all, posthumously.”
