Page 139 of The Price of Scandal
A pair of silver stiletto sandals sailed through the air and landed in the sand at my feet.
“Champagne!” Daisy said again. A steward lugged a case of champagne to shore and dropped it next to the shoes. He gave me, then Daisy, a salute before returning to the dinghy.
“Girl, you sure know how to make an entrance,” Luna said, hugging Daisy in the surf.
“Like I’m not going to leave a flotilla when my friend may need my underworld connections to have a bunch of people disappeared?” she snorted.
“Thanks, Dais,” I said, giving her a hug. The sequins on her dress bit into my skin, but the hug more than made up for the discomfort.
A long gong sounded.
“What the hell is that?” Cam asked.
“Doorbell,” Luna said, bopping cheerfully back toward the house.
“It’s probably the food,” Daisy called, flipping the sopping wet train of her dress over her arm. “I ordered a smorgasbord from the Village. Cuban, sushi, grilled cheese.”
Champagne and comfort food and a ruined six-thousand-dollar cocktail dress. That was Daisy. That was my friend.
“So, who set you up?” Daisy demanded as we trooped back to the terrace. “Was it Derek? He’s got the network for it obviously, but does he have the dastardly soul?”
“Honestly, I don’t have the mental capacity to work it out right now. Let’s just leave it for tomorrow.”
I knew.
That picture had proven a truth that I was unprepared for. It hurt too much to examine. If I could keep it in the dark for a few more hours, maybe then I’d be prepared to face it. Maybe then I would have a plan.
“Sweet Jesus, what the hell is this music?” Daisy complained. “Let me at the stereo.”
“Let me at the champagne. Damn girl, a case of Veuve Clicquot?” Cam swooned.
“Only the best for heartbreak.”
I excused myself and went inside. I needed to splash some cold water on my face, maybe check in with Jane. I hadn’t heard from her since she left to track down Nina, the girl who claimed the product I developed had permanently scarred her face.
It was too much. It was all too much.
I heard Luna’s voice coming from the front door.
“Listen, Derek. I appreciate the intensity of your emotion right now.”
My insides went to jelly. Derek was here.Fight or flight?I desperately wanted to do both. Instead, I ducked behind a pillar like a coward, out of sight but within eavesdropping distance.
“She’s not answering her phone, her texts. She’s not at her house.” He sounded desperate, and somehow his pain lessened mine just a bit.
“You obviously care deeply for her,” Luna continued. “But this isn’t the time to talk to her. You need to leave, and I want you to think about the part you played in all of this. Find out what lessons you can learn from this.”
She was giving Derek Price homework. It would have been laughable had I not been ready to cry or bash my forehead into the marble.
“Luna,” he said her name desperately. “I just need to see her. I need to know she’s all right.”
“I understand, but right now, my friends’ needs come first, and if you try to step a shiny loafer over this threshold, I’m going to have to junk punch you. And I really dislike violence.”
Luna was the friend that every woman in the world needed.
“Nothing happened. With Lita, I mean,” he said. “No matter what those pictures say, I’m Emily’s.”
I could hear Luna soften. “I know that. And I think deep down Emily does, too. But you can’t rush her through her pain.”
