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“What about the girls?” Charlie asks.
I wonder if Scarlet will join them, but I don’t ask the question out loud.
I’ve not seen her in weeks.
The day after I gave her a lift home and held her in her kitchen, she sent lunch to my office. I don’t know how she knew that I hadn’t eaten. I should have texted her or something. Gone out to the estate and begged her on my knees to let me worship the ground she walks on. But I didn’t. I knew I needed to fix the things I broke first. Pay back the money my sister stole.
And then yesterday, she had twenty-four red roses delivered to my office.
Soon. She’d written on the card. Soon.
Elliot shakes his head. “The girls are getting ready with Luce—she has that date before.”
“Montgomery will be rabid by the time she shows up,” Mason taunts. “Watch him pretend to be interested in anyone but her for the night.”
A smile curls my lips as I come back to the now.
“I’m sorry,” Elliot retorts, “but have you forgotten that the mother of your firstborn son wants you fucking dead?”
Mason chuckles. “Bit dramatic, mate.”
“Fuck you,” Elliot mutters, the nerve well and truly struck.
“I’ll be there.” Mason stands, walking around the sofa and ruffling up Elliot’s hair. “Of course, I’ll fucking be there. Is my sister coming?”
“She is,” Charlie tells him.
“Even better. It’ll be good to get the gang back together.”
Maybe. Fucking maybe.
One thing is for sure. There’s only so long I can ignore Scarlet Lowell.
Scarlet
Nina, Megan and I clamber into the back of the Audi together, Lucy having already been picked up by her date. It’s Elliot’s birthday, and we’re all out to celebrate. The first time in over a year that we’ve all been together in one room. I know that Nina’s been freaking out over that fact all week.
I’m pretty sure the vodka she consumed before we left the apartment is helping with the nerves now, though.
“Cockblock the shit out of me tonight, girls. You see me beelining for him, and you slap me. Hard across the face. Okay?”
I laugh as Megan salutes her friend. “We’ve got your back.”
“Thank you.”
“We can just dance,” I suggest, adjusting my strapless black midi dress. “My brother won’t bother you on the dance floor.”
“He likely won’t bother with me at all. It’s me that’s the problem.” She sighs, catching Vinny’s stare in the rearview mirror. He’s grown close to Nina this past year. It’s obvious he’s always had a soft spot for his boss’s ex-girlfriend, but since she had Ellis, they’ve levelled up. I sometimes wonder whose side Vinny would take if he had to pick. “He looks at me, and it’s like a siren goes off in my brain that I have to follow.”
Nina still loves Mason. I’m not sure she’s admitted it to herself yet, but to everyone else, the people who love her, it’s obvious.
“He’s like a penguin,” Megan says, refilling Nina’s glass despite the car making it difficult. The drink sloshes over the sides.
“Who is?” Nina frowns.
Megan smiles up at her. “Mase.” She throws her head back a couple of times and lets out a bizarre squawk. Then says, “Nina.” She hunches back over and pretends to waddle on the spot, mimicking them both.
We laugh together. Even Vinny.
