The Lying Season (Seasons #1) - K.A. Linde Page 0,25

left. I glanced between her retreating form and Penn. He gave me a sad look. One that said I should help Katherine. That he couldn’t do it right now.

Fuck.

I whipped around and raced after her. I didn’t care that people were watching. Just that Katherine was hurting. I reached her right before the exit.

“Wait, Katherine. Don’t leave,” I said, grabbing her elbow and hauling her to a stop.

“No, let me go,” she said through her own tears.

“Talk to me. What happened with Camden?”

She sniffled and looked away. “He saw me with Penn.”

“Were you with Penn?” I asked. It was a valid question. Being in a relationship hadn’t stopped either of them before.

“No!” she gasped. “No, I was actually telling him exactly what I’d told you…about Camden. And Camden drew his own conclusions. He said he was going to go see Fiona.”

I winced. “He wouldn’t!”

But of course, he would. Camden had had an on-again/off-again thing with Fiona Berkshire for as long as Katherine had been interested in Penn. It was half the reason I suspected he’d wanted something arranged. Fiona wasn’t quite marriage material, but he didn’t want anyone to interfere in his dalliances.

Katherine just shook her head, her tears damming up. “I don’t even know what he’ll do. We agreed. We agreed not to be with anyone else after the honeymoon.” She choked on her words. I could see it cost her to admit that. “And I haven’t. I…I didn’t think he had either. But now, I don’t know. I don’t know, Lark. I just want to go home.”

“Okay,” I muttered. “Okay, we can figure out what to do about Camden in the morning.”

“You should stay,” she said. “You were talking to that guy. Just because half of our plan is ruined doesn’t mean it all has to be.”

“Are you sure you want to be alone?”

“I’ve never wanted to be more alone,” she said and then walked off into the night.

I cursed colorfully and then turned back to the party. I had no interest in talking to anyone now. Except maybe Penn and Natalie and Camden and knocking some sense into them. Katherine might appear indestructible, but she wasn’t.

And neither was I.

The realization hit me hard. I didn’t know if I could last another six months with Sam in the office. I didn’t know what I was going to do.

It was impossible not to have feelings for him. Even if it was just anger about what had happened, the choice he had made, and the way it had all ended. But I knew that anger was so mixed up with other emotions. Ones that I couldn’t act on. And yet, I had to be around him.

It was like a festering wound. When I was away from him, sometimes, I could forget that I was rotting from the inside. But every time he was near, the wound would throb with a white-hot, pain-filled reminder.

I was done with this party. I couldn’t think clearly. And I was done lamenting the gaping hole in my chest.

Just as I turned to follow Katherine out, the lights switched off. I stalled as everyone in the room screamed. I blinked a few times as my eyes adjusted to the light. A few people turned their phone flashlights on, illuminating the space like a horror film. But the floodlights appeared overhead a few seconds later.

The screams died down, and everyone just looked around the room in confusion. But instead of standing around like an idiot, I immediately went into action. This wasn’t my event. I shouldn’t care less what happened with it. But it wasn’t in me.

So, I hustled past the stunned group toward the stage where I could see a crowd forming. I pushed up to the front and then stopped, my jaw dropping when I saw what everyone was staring at.

Court Kensington was in handcuffs.

His girlfriend, Jane, was also handcuffed, standing next to him, staring blankly.

Penn and Natalie were speaking to the arresting officers, but it didn’t look like they were getting anywhere. In fact, it seemed to only get worse. Because Court couldn’t let anything stand. He had to run his big mouth.

I ran a hand back through my perfectly sculpted hair. Fuck. This was bad. This was really, really bad.

Not just for Court and Jane.

No, it was bad for the campaign.

It was bad for Leslie.

What the fuck was the mayor of New York City going to do when she discovered her son had been arrested? What would the press say when they found