Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 787(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
“Lu-Lu, mojitos or margaritas to kick off the night?”
I threw myself down next to her, landing spread-eagle on the sheets.
“Mojitos.” You know what? I deserved a night of fun. I had the Royal Bastards right where I wanted them—which was the only good thing happening. On the other side, there was Victor, Adonis, the threat of ending our engagement, Saylor, finding the truth about the secret that led to Winter’s torment, and putting an end to all of that before Mom pulled me out of Regalia. Yes, I needed one night to bask in my single victory. There were many battles left to fight.
Twenty minutes later, Katie and I were knocking back mojitos and stuffing our faces on steak and blue cheese bruschetta while Mean Girls claimed the screen.
“Damn,” I moaned. “Will your chef marry me?”
“Nah, but she’s definitely down for a quick, no-strings hookup with the Pussy Muncher.”
“Ugh. Must you?”
She laughed. “Tell me that list was a bunch of lies? I mean, no shame if you did get busy with your dorm mates. But tell me you didn’t screw that uptight, wrinkled sack of prune piss to get into Regalia U?”
“I did not,” I drew out. “That list was all lies. Written and posted by one of my many enemies, because apparently those come standard in this town. No one can live a normal life, going about their business without getting sucked into drama.”
Katie plucked the last bruschetta off my plate. I was about to snatch it out of her mouth when her staff chose that moment to bring in the chicken and mushroom potstickers.
“If you wanted normal, you should’ve moved to Jacksonville. This is Regalia, boo. D-R-A-M-A is its alternate spelling.”
“Can’t argue with that.” I grabbed the mojito mug off the tray. “More?”
“Top me up.”
“Do you really need to go through all this trouble planning a menu?” I asked while filling up her glass and mine. “People come to dance, get drunk, and hook up. Fancy food ends up a puddle of vomit behind the couch.”
“Eww,” she said with a laugh. “Not behind my couch. I get why you think that, but in this town, the presentation is everything. Any old Dreg can set out a keg and a bowl of pretzels. For a Royal, every event we go to is the main event. A Katie Langford party, though, is the only kind worth attending.”
“Am I invited?”
She pulled a face. “Duh.”
“Are Saylor, Gabriella, Piper, and Everleigh invited?”
Katie flicked over my shoulder. “Michaelson, bring in the bacon-wrapped shrimp, please.”
“Right away.”
“No,” she replied as the door clicked shut. “They’re not invited, and before your head gets too big, it’s not because of you. Annika woke up last night.”
I shot up straight, potsticker slipping through the chopsticks. “She did? I didn’t hear anything.”
“There’s a reason for that.” Katie got up and locked her door. Michaelson wasn’t getting back in with those bacon-wrapped shrimp. “The first thing Annika did after she woke up was confirm Giovanni’s truth list is true.”
My thoughts whipped through my head. So that’s why Giovanni was in such a state last night. With Annika confirming the cheating and abandoned-to-die thing was true, no one will believe the rest were lies. He’s dying to get his hands on the person who sent his perfect life swirling down the toilet.
“She did catch them cheating. Annika and Gabby got in a fight, and Gabby shoved her off the bluffs.”
I gasped since that was the appropriate response.
“The Montana family lawyers were in her hospital room so fast, the cop’s ink hadn’t dried from taking her statement. They came down on her hard. I heard Annika burst into tears.”
“Oh my goodness,” I cried—that was genuine. “What did they do?”
“Gabriella’s version of events, as relayed by her lawyers, was that Annika did catch them and they got into a fight. Annika beat her severely—the proof is in her banged-up face and bald spot. Gabriella ran to get away from her, but Annika chased her outside and she tried to push her off the cliff. Panicked and defending herself, Gabriella shoved her away too hard and Annika fell.”
The potstickers turned bad on my tongue.
“Annika doesn’t know what happened because she ‘sustained a head injury’ and her ‘testimony isn’t reliable.’ After she fell, Gabby ran down to see if she was okay and then called the ambulance. She wasn’t there when they showed up because she was in pain and scared for her life. A bomb did go off right outside their window.”
Katie perched on the edge of her bed, an expression I’d never seen before clouding her face. It wasn’t that it was disgust—she pulled that face plenty of times. It was that the disgust wasn’t directed at me.
“Gabby’s only crime was failing to come forward sooner. The true aggressor was Annika, and if she insisted on pursuing false charges against Gabby, they’d be forced to have her arrested for assault and attempted murder.”