13

13

Maddie got us tickets to the Lexington Foundation’s gala. Her mom insisted on going with us once she realized what we were up to, and bought me a dress that I suspected was wildly overpriced. It was blue lace with a sweetheart neckline and cap sleeves, and I had to hold it up so I wouldn’t trip as I descended the stairs.

“What do you even do at a gala?” I asked Maddie as we stepped into the foyer. She wore a long deep purple dress with a back that was open but for a few strings of crisscrossed fabric.

“Eat mediocre food, bid on stuff you don’t want, make small talk with people you don’t like.” She opened the closet and pulled out our coats, handing me mine. I’d finally gotten a good winter coat before we left London. “We’re not bidding this year, though. It’s bad enough that I bought the tickets.”

“But there’s a chance that they really are just saving orphans and curing cancer, right?”

“Clara, I admire your positivity,” Nicole said, buttoning her red coat as she walked into the room. She wore a long glittery black dress, her hair pulled into an elegant updo.

“That means no,” Maddie said.

“It does not,” her mom said, giving her an amused look. She paused. “Though it does seem unlikely, given their circle of friends.”

“You don’t think Julian will be there, do you?” I asked.

“He won’t be, I checked,” Nicole said.

I blew out a relieved breath. “Good.”

“Edan, we’re leaving!” Maddie yelled.

“He left like half an hour ago,” I said as Nicole opened the door and led us outside. A black car waited at the curb. The driver hopped out to open the back door for us.

“Oh. Where’d he go?” Maddie asked.

“To dinner with Hannah and Victor.”

Maddie raised an eyebrow, which I ignored.

We piled into the car, and the driver took us to a hotel about fifteen minutes away. I followed Maddie and her mom through the incredibly fancy lobby, tilting my head up to look at the massive chandelier and nearly bumping into a passing woman in the process.

“Sorry,” I said. She just frowned at me, adjusting her pale pink coat like I’d sullied it with my touch.

I wished Edan had come with us. I was out of place with all these rich people, and they could see it. He’d offered to rent a tux and come with us, but I’d told him there was no need. I regretted that choice now. And I was willing to bet he looked really great in a tux.

We dropped off our jackets with a harried man at coat check and walked through the doors into a ballroom. It was already crowded with people. Round tables with white tablecloths and extravagant flower arrangements led to a small stage with large screens hung on either side. Two more elaborate chandeliers hung from the ceilings. Waiters with trays of drinks milled in between the guests. Several people turned and stared as we walked in.

Maddie slipped her arm through mine. Her face was impassive, but I saw her take in a long, slightly shaky breath. She was nervous.

“Were these people your friends?” I asked quietly. A woman in a long ivory dress was shooting a disdainful look in our direction.

“Some of them.” She pointed at two women who rushed over to give Nicole a hug. “Look, a few people still like us.”

We found our seats, and Maddie grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing tray. A waiter offered me a sparkling water when I declined the champagne, and I accepted it and took a sip.

“What’s the plan?” I asked, setting the water down on the table.

She took out her phone. “Well, I’m going to be on my phone all night, because that’s what teenagers do.”

“And that’s helpful because . . .”

She turned in a circle, eyes on her phone. “Because I’m taking pictures of all these assholes so they can’t try to lie about their involvement later.” She lifted her phone slightly. “Oh look, there’s Roman Mitchell right there. Smile, assholes.”

I stifled a laugh.

“I see an old friend of Grayson’s,” Maddie said, still taking pictures. She finally returned her attention to me. “I’m going to go talk to him. Want to come?”

“No, go ahead. Do you know where the restroom is?”

She pointed to the corner, and I stood and weaved through the crowd. An older man glanced at me, his eyes lingering for several seconds on my boobs. He finally found my eyes and smiled. I moved a little quicker.

I heard a familiar laugh suddenly. I froze, and then slowly looked over my shoulder.

Julian stood in a group of men. He wore a tux, and he was still laughing. He looked happy. Relaxed, even. And he hadn’t spotted me yet.

I hurried across the room, dodging a passing waiter and another man who was very interested in my boobs. This place was full of leering assholes, apparently.

I finally made it to the bathroom. I pushed open the door and slipped into the brightly lit room.

JULIAN IS HERE,I texted Maddie as the door swung shut behind me.

“Excuse me,” a voice said, and I looked up to see an annoyed-looking older woman with a helmet of blond hair trying to get past me.

“Sorry,” I said, moving away from the door. A text dinged on my phone, from Maddie.

Where are you?

The bathroom.

OK, stay there for a minute. I’ll tell you when the coast is clear.

I lowered my phone to see I wasn’t alone. A woman stood at one of the sinks, hands braced on either side. Her dark hair was cut into a bob, and she was leaning forward so it shielded her face. She wore a long gold dress with spaghetti straps, a sparkling diamond bracelet on one wrist.

She straightened suddenly, taking a deep breath. I saw her blink back tears, her eyes red. She noticed me in the mirror and quickly lowered her gaze.

“Are you OK?” I asked hesitantly.

“Yeah. Fine.” She grabbed a black clutch from the counter and pulled out a tube of lipstick.

I stood there awkwardly as she applied it. She was beautiful, with dark eyes framed by long lashes and lightly tanned skin, like she’d just come from vacation somewhere sunny.

She glanced at me again, arching one eyebrow.

“Sorry,” I said. “I would leave, but I’m hiding from my ex.” I held up my phone. “My friend is running interference.”

Her now-pink lips turned up slightly, and she made a sound almost like a laugh. “I just ran in here because I saw my ex-boyfriend. That’s what I hate about these events. Everyone you ever knew is always here.”

“Yeah,” I said, like running into my ex-boyfriend at a fancy charity gala was a normal event in my life.

“He wasn’t even supposed to be here—I checked—but there he was, smiling at me like I’d actually be happy to see him.” She threw her lipstick back into her clutch. “And his parents just died, so I think I have to actually be polite if I talk to him. Which I do not want to do, so here I am, hiding in the bathroom like I’m at an eighth-grade dance.” Our eyes met in the mirror, and she seemed to notice my startled expression.

She turned to face me. I could see the moment she recognized me. She took in a small breath.

“You’re Clara,” she said. I nodded. “What are you doing here?” She looked down at my phone. “Who is your friend out there?”

“Maddie. Madison St. John.”

She grimaced like she didn’t approve.

My phone buzzed, and I looked down at the message from Maddie.

Mom’s leaving, she can’t be in the same room with Julian. I’m walking her out and then I’ll come to the bathroom.

I returned my attention to the girl, who hadn’t given me her name yet. Her wide brown eyes flicked from my phone to my face.

“Do you know the St. Johns?” I asked. She nodded. “And you dated Julian?”

“A few years ago,” she said. She paused, and then said, “I saw your video.” She glanced over at the stalls, as if checking to make sure we were alone. The doors to all of them were half open. “When I saw it, and you said that Julian had gone into a rage and killed Grayson, my first thought was, Yep, that tracks.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said softly. “But no one else seemed to . . .” She cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders. “Anyway. I’m sorry about what happened. About no one believing you.”

“A few people did.” I gestured at her.

She blinked, and then tried for a smile. She edged around me, headed for the door. “I should get back out there.”

“It was nice to meet you . . .”

“Scarlett,” she said. She paused and looked back at me for a moment, like she might say more. She seemed to change her mind, pushing open the door and disappearing through it.

Maddie walked in not long after and found me leaning against the wall, scrolling through my texts. Maddie had sent a group text to me, Edan, Hannah, and Victor about Julian being at the gala, and they were all reacting.

“Do you want to go?” Maddie asked. “I sent Mom in the car, but we can get a cab.”

“I’m fine if you are. We just got here.”

She looked relieved. “OK. Good.”

We walked out of the bathroom. I took a quick glance around, but didn’t see Julian. The ballroom had filled up even more, fancy dresses and glittering necklaces everywhere I turned.

“Hey, do you know a girl named Scarlett? She dated Julian?” I asked Maddie.

“Yeah.” She gave me a confused look. “How do you know her?”

“She was just in the bathroom. Crying.”

Maddie stopped and turned to me. “Crying?”

“Why do you say it like that?”

“I can’t imagine Scarlett crying. She’s so . . .” She made a face. “Uptight.”

“She was upset about seeing Julian. Which she mentioned before recognizing me.”

“Oh.” Maddie’s expression softened. “Yeah, I guess that . . . makes sense.” She scanned the room, her gaze settling on something behind me. I turned to see Scarlett standing with a handsome man who looked older than her. He was in his late twenties or early thirties, probably, and I’d have put Scarlett at closer to my age. She caught us staring and pointedly looked away.

“How long did she and Julian date?” I asked.

“Six months? Maybe longer. I don’t know her super well. I wasn’t exactly . . . friendly to her.”

“Why not?”

“Because she was dating Julian. She’s a couple years older than me, and this was back before Julian and I dated, when I was, like, fifteen. I made a habit of being a bitch to all of Julian’s girlfriends.” One side of her mouth quirked up. “You remember.”

I gave her an amused look. “Vaguely.”

The man with Scarlett said something, and she frowned deeply and shook her head.

“Who is that with her?” I asked.

“Her brother, Brian.”

Brian motioned for Scarlett to follow him. She gave him an exasperated look, but trudged along behind him. They weaved around a few tables and came to a stop in front of Julian. I winced, watching as Scarlett crossed her arms over her chest. Brian greeted Julian with a hug.

“Brian and Julian are friends?” I asked.

Maddie looked surprised. “Not that I know of. Brian’s a lot older.”

They both smiled as they spoke. Brian laughed. Scarlett smiled stiffly and said a few words to Julian.

“Looks like they’re friends now,” I said.

Roman Mitchell and a familiar gray-haired man joined them. The older man put one hand on Julian’s shoulder and the other on Brian’s.

“Isn’t that one of the MDG dudes who’s always on television?” I asked. “The older guy with Roman Mitchell.”

“It sure is. That’s the vice president of MDG.”

“Are Brian and Scarlett invested with MDG?” I asked.

“Not that I know of, but they sure look chummy.” Maddie tilted her head. “Well, Brian looks chummy. Scarlett looks ready to hurl.”

The men were all talking to one another, completely ignoring Scarlett. She leaned back, as if looking for an escape route.

Maddie and I glanced at each other, and I could tell we were thinking the same thing. If this group of men hung out together often, maybe they’d spilled some MDG secrets while she was standing right there, invisible to them.

Scarlett said something to the group and practically bolted away from them. She made a beeline for the door, holding her dress up as she walked. She was impressively fast in heels.

Maddie grabbed my hand. “Come on.”

We hurried across the ballroom, nearly breaking into a run as we followed her.

“Scarlett!” Maddie called.

She stopped halfway down the stairs and turned to look at us. Her expression tightened when she caught sight of Maddie.

“Hi,” Maddie said breathlessly as we came to a stop.

Scarlett crossed her arms over her chest again. “Hello.” Her eyes were watery, and she looked down at the lobby below instead of at us.

“Uh, I . . .” Maddie glanced at me. She clearly hadn’t thought this part through.

“Listen, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m having a really bad night, and I just want to go home.” Scarlett’s eyes caught on something behind me, and she swallowed.

I turned to see Julian.

He stood at the top of the stairs, hands casually slid into his pockets, staring at me. He raised his eyebrows, taking one hand out of his pocket to gesture up and down my body. He approved, apparently.

I rolled my eyes and turned away. Scarlett was already at the bottom of the stairs, moving swiftly. Maddie made a move like she was going to follow, but I caught her arm.

“I think her brother might be involved with MDG,” she protested. “Maybe she’ll help us.”

“I know. But she’s clearly upset. We should let her go.” I glanced back at Julian, but he was gone.

“No, let me just—”

“Maddie, please,” I snapped. “Just slow down, OK?”

She blinked, clearly surprised by my tone.

“Sorry,” I said, my voice softening. “I just . . . know how she feels. Let’s give her some space, OK?”

She nodded, reaching down to squeeze my hand. “Yeah. OK.”

“Do you have her number? Maybe you could text her tomorrow, ask if we can meet up.”

“Yeah, I have it.” She looked back at where Julian had been. “Ready to go back in? We could talk shit about Julian to my mom’s friends. They would love that.”

I hooked my arm through hers. “Ready.”

“Wow, you guys look hot,” Hannah said. She was sitting on the couch next to Edan. Closer than was strictly necessary, in my opinion. They weren’t touching, but she could have given him a little space.

His gaze moved from the television to me. He looked quickly away, grabbing the remote next to him. He dropped it and had to lean down to grab it before he could pause the movie.

“Yes, you both look lovely,” Victor said with a smile.

“Thank you,” Maddie said, flopping down in a chair. I lowered into the other one.

“How’d it go?” Hannah asked. “Find out anything useful?”

“Yes. We ran into Scarlett Wilton,” Maddie said. “She’s Julian’s ex-girlfriend. Edan, did you ever meet her?”

Edan shook his head. He was barefoot, wearing jeans and a teal sweater that made his eyes look even greener. The sweater was old—I could see a tiny hole at the collar and the ends of the sleeves were worn—but somehow that made it look even better on him. It was very distracting.

“Well, Julian was there. And Scarlett was pretty upset about it.”

Edan looked at me quickly. “Julian was there?”

“We avoided him,” I said.

“He stared at her all night, though,” Maddie grumbled. “It was creepy.”

He had stared at me all night. I tried to ignore it, but every time I let my gaze wander, there he was, watching me. Once he’d even tilted his head toward the door, subtly asking me to go outside with him. He wanted me alone, apparently. I hadn’t left Maddie’s side all night.

“Why was Scarlett upset about him being there?” Hannah asked. “Was Julian a jerk to her too?”

“I don’t know her well, but I’m sure he was,” Maddie said. “But the interesting part is, she was there with her brother. Brian Wilton. Brian and Julian looked very chummy, and they were talking to Roman Mitchell and the MDG vice president.”

Hannah pulled her phone out of her pocket and frowned as she scrolled. “I don’t think I have Brian on my list of possible investors.”

“He may not be invested yet. But he is in real estate investment, so there’s a definite possibility that he’s been approached. Grayson tried to get him to invest in the teams, actually, and Brian told him it was a stupid idea. So, I think it’s worth talking to Scarlett, see what she knows. Maybe see if she’s willing to poke around, find out where Dust Storm is.”

“Do you think she’d really be willing to help us? Wouldn’t that sort of be betraying her brother?” Victor asked.

“We can frame it as saving her brother,” I said. “Tell her to get Brian as far away from MDG as possible and screw Julian over in the process.”

“I like it,” Hannah said. “Though we have no guarantee that she won’t turn around and just tell Brian you’re trying to find out where Dust Storm is, and you were trying to use her to do it.”

“I’m pretty sure that Julian and everyone at MDG is fully aware that we’re trying to find Dust Storm. Subtlety is not our strong suit.” I gave Maddie an amused look.

“You have a point.” Hannah laughed. “And, hey, you can start a club! A Julian’s ex-girlfriends club.”

“The most depressing club of all time,” I said dryly.

“I’ll text her tomorrow,” Maddie said. “Or maybe Clara should text her. She seemed to like you much better.”

“Yeah, I’ll do it. Send me her number.”

“Well, you guys did excellent work and got to wear fancy dresses,” Hannah said as she got to her feet. “I’m very jealous. I want the gala assignment next time.”

“You got it,” Maddie said with a smile.

Hannah walked with Victor to the elevator. “We’ll see you guys later. Text us tomorrow to let us know how it goes, OK?”

“Will do,” Maddie said, hopping up from her chair. She walked out of the room as the elevator door closed.

I looked at Edan. Our uncomfortable silence was back. He leaned forward, running both hands down his thighs. He seemed to be avoiding my gaze.

“It was really OK?” he asked the floor. “Seeing Julian?”

“Yeah. There were a lot of people around, and Maddie and I stuck together all night. And . . .”

“What?”

“It sounds sort of horrible.”

His lips twitched into a smile as he finally looked up to meet my gaze. “Tell me anyway.”

“It was actually sort of a relief to see Scarlett so upset about being in the same room with Julian. Made me feel less . . . crazy, I guess.”

He cocked his head. “Do you feel crazy?”

“Maybe that’s not the right word. It’s just upsetting to see him. And it was nice to have it confirmed that I wasn’t overreacting.”

“I never think you’re overreacting, for the record.”

“Thank you, Edan.”

He stood. “I’m going to bed. Good job tonight.” He headed to the stairs, pausing to look back at me at the bottom of them. “You really do look beautiful.”