Page 10 of King of Deception

“Smoking a cigarette.” He casually shrugged.

“How convenient.”

My car finally arrived, and the young valet got out with a smile, handing me the key. “Here you go, miss.”

“Thank you.”

“You good to drive?” the waiter asked.

Tilting my head, I blinked. “What is it with men asking me if I can do stuff tonight? You’ve never seen a woman indulge in a few drinks? Jesus!”

He lifted up both hands in the air, chuckling. “Hey, again… sorry for caring enough.”

“Yeah! Why, by the way?” I raised my voice, slightly irritated.

Turning the corners of his lips upside down, he shook his head. “Common courtesy? If my sister was going through all of that tonight, I’d like to think that someone was there looking out for her.”

“Well, I’m not your sister,” I snapped, stepping into my Hyundai.

“Thank God!” he hollered, smiling.

Settling behind the wheel, I pouted at him before slamming the door shut and turning on the ignition.

Heading home, I drove slowly and very carefully while trying not to think about the grueling night I’d had.

four

Haunted

Abel

For the rest of the weekend, close family members and a couple of the bride and groom’s best friends stayed in my uncle’s Montauk house. There were ten bedrooms, so plenty of room for everyone.

On Sunday morning, and after we had all packed, we gathered in the garden to enjoy breakfast in the sun. We also wanted to say our goodbyes to the happy couple before they left for their honeymoon in Paris.

Looking around, I noticed that Adele wasn’t anywhere in sight. “Does anyone know where my sister is?” I chuckled as the housekeeper poured my coffee.

My father frowned while my aunt Matilda winked at me, mouthing, “Toby.”

Ah… once again, I had guessed exactly what was about to happen before it did. Shaking my head, I glanced at my uncle from under my eyebrows, and he licked his lips, shrugging. “Well, it was a success. Everyone seemed to enjoy their time.”

Except for Ella, I thought. I had failed to get the stunning, neurotic, and misinformed stranger out of my mind. Ella… it was a name straight out of a fairytale. And just like Cinderella, the beauty had disappeared into the night before I had a chance to know more about her. But if I were to ask any questions now in front of everyone, was I any subtler—or wiser—than my brash little sister?

In the back of my limo, I began to reset my mind into work mode, checking emails and responding to messages while Brett drove us back to New York. I then realized that I had missed a text on my friends’ group, reminding us of my friend Nathan’s birthday party tonight. Stifling a grunt, I made a face as I typed, That’s tonight? Why did I even bother sobering up from the wedding, then?

Soon enough, my friend Armen responded, You really shouldn’t have.

Very funny.

Calling my assistant, I knew that she wasn’t going to be too thrilled about being disturbed on Sunday.

“Hey, boss.”

I appreciated the breeziness she added to her tone. “Hey, sorry to be calling on your day off. I just need to push tomorrow’s eight a.m. to ten. Think you can help with that?”

“Sure, but you have a ten a.m. with the marketing team.”

“Yeah, that’s in-house. We can move it to after lunch.”

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