Page 13 of King of Deception

He offered me the perfect excuse. “Precisely. Uh, you see… he was pretty hammered and didn’t quite understand the gravity of it. When they took him out, he dropped his watch. I’d like to send it back to him.”

“Young men these days, huh?”

“I know.” I also knew what was coming.

“Well, I’m proud of you, son. Vicky and Philip did a great job, and thank God, you’re not one of those losers.”

“Thanks, Uncle Danny.”

He said things like that all the time, which made me rather uneasy. The way my family put me on a pedestal was irritating at times as if I were never allowed to be human or make mistakes. Adele with her uncontrollable flings. Lily and her excessive spending. Cousin Jacob and his drug problem. I was the Boy Scout of the Drakos-Engelbert empire, and I didn’t always like it.

“Well, anyway… I’ll have Heidi send you the guest list right away.”

“Thank you. And go easy on aunt Matilda… it’s just a phase.”

After spending the next thirty minutes swimming laps across the pool, I pushed myself out of the water, readying myself for a night with the guys. I may have grown out of whatever Armen was still into, but that didn’t mean that we couldn’t have fun as a group. After years of practice—at work and in life—I had learned to tune out what I didn’t approve of and focus on the positives.

After getting dressed, I picked up the wrapped gift that Iris had prepared and got into the car. While I took a work call on the way, Brett silently glanced at me in the mirror. When I was done, he cleared his throat. “You know? I still remember Mr. Doherty’s twenty-second birthday.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes.” He nodded and sniggered. “I drove you there with Ms. Hanford.”

“Ah…” There it was. “Well, she’s Mrs. Tunney now.”

“Huh.”

Pressing my lips together, I slowly nodded and stared out the tinted window. Something about wedding and birthday weekends always made people scrutinize us singles with a magnifying lens. I didn’t particularly enjoy that my housekeeper and my driver felt the need to do it on the same day.

At Nathan’s place, the party was already at full blast. Stepping into the pool area, I was greeted by two—no, three—groups of young actresses in their bikinis, sipping colored cocktails and donning glow-in-the-dark accessories.

On the other side, a shaggy-looking band was jamming to some old song while one of them surrounded the group with the smoke from his vape.

Before I made it inside, one of the ushers stopped me with an inviting grin and a tray of mini-cupcakes. “Coconut, date, and chocolate THC treats?” she tilted her head.

“Sure.” I picked one up, and just as I was about to bite into it, Armen’s hand grabbed it from between my fingers.

“No,” he severely drew it out. “What are you doing? A downer? You just got here! Come with me,” he grabbed my wrist, popping the cupcake into his mouth instead.

Leaving the present on the gift table in the foyer, I followed my friend toward the other side of the house. Nathan and Chadwick were lounging with a few others.

When my phone vibrated in my pocket, I pulled it out and found a text from Heidi, my uncle’s assistant, with the guest list.

And I scrolled and scrolled until I found the only Ella. Ella Rose Boraine.

I instantly began to judge myself, feeling a little bit like a creep. But after two shots of vodka, I convinced myself to look the other way.

five

The Invitation

Ella Rose

Friday rolled around again, and even though I had been under the impression that everything was fine at work, something happened that signaled otherwise. Right before an important meeting that had been scheduled ten days ago, my boss called me in my office.

“Ella, listen, ah—I need the quarterly report in an hour. Can you do that for me?”

“Um, sure? But don’t we have to be at Mr. Engelbert’s office in ten minutes?”

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