I should have probably filled Cat in the first time we were alone, but it hadn't exactly been a priority in my mind. This is probably not the best time or place, but then again, is there ever?
"Cammie gave you those clothes to hide you from Roberto," I pull Cat to the side, a little away from the others, who give us curious glances.
"What do you mean?" Cat's brow furrows.
"Roberto was a… monster." Even now, I can't say his name without shuddering, without having to push dark thoughts and memories from my mind. "Do you remember the dinner when she spilled wine on her dress?"
"And accused me, so I was sent from the room?" Cat crosses her arms over her chest. "Yeah."
"Roberto was checking you out," I laugh humorlessly, "and trust me, the last thing you wanted was to attract his attention. I didn't know what to do about it. But Cammie did. She got you kicked out of the room, away from Roberto's line of vision."
Thoughts swirl through Cat's eyes as she digests my words. Her brows knit even closer together. "I… don't understand."
"Cammie tried to protect you the only way she knew how," I state.
Cat's lips curve into a cynical grin, "By tormenting me?"
"By keeping you from us, from our radars, she kept you from Roberto's. She gave you clothes that didn't fit right and made you look…" I search for words.
She helps me. "Look ugly."
I nod.
"I wasn't the nicest person either," I confess. I don't think I was ever mean to Cat; she just wasn't on my… radar, just like Cammie had planned. She had never been in our orbits. By making Cat an outsider, she had never entered Roberto's line of attention. She was nothing that he needed to invest time in to prove a point to anybody. Cat justwas. She lived in the Giordano house, but she was an invisible guest. Nobody paid her attention.
Now she's frowning, tilting her head, deep in thought, before she shakes it. "I'll have to think about that."
I put an arm around her. "I understand. And for what it's worth. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I never saw you. I'm sorry if I ever made you feel bad or… inadequate or anything.
A sigh moves through her, and she steps into my embrace. "I was never mad at you or the others. It was just Cammie."
Knowing Cammie, that might have been part of her plan, too. Take the brunt of the anger. It sounds like her.
"Friends?" I ask.
She nods, "Yeah, I'd like that."
"When you two are done with… whatever you are doing, can we go now?" Izzy pushes.
Cat and I laugh and walk over to our group, already assembled by the elevators. We’re not the girls we used to be, giggling in corners while our fathers made deals. We’re women with a machine behind us and men at home who would burn the city to keep us breathing. We’re not alone.
“Give it ten,” Lexy says, angling her head like she can hear Leo’s reply coming in across the air. “Then I'll let you know whether to go hunting or call in the cavalry.”
I nod. My heart is a tight drum. Cammie’s name is a bruise on my tongue. The elevator doors slide open like a promise, and we step inside, minus Lexy, who promises to call us as soon as she has any information. Vegas gleams on the other side of the glass, glittering and indifferent. I press my palm to my sternum and feel the hard, steady beat underneath. If it’s her, we will bring her home. If it’s a message, we return it with interest.
The elevator doors slide shut, and all six of our phones buzz at once—like the floor just texted us. I glance down.
Raffael:
Running late. In a meeting. Stay with Lexy. —R
Scarlet says out loud, "Meeting went long. Don't leave the hotel."
"In a meeting. Be good." Violet looks up, "M? What the fuck? Since when is Marcello ‘M’?"
"Meeting. Back soon. Keep your phone on." Cat rolls her eyes.
We look up at each other in the mirrored box, a chorus of identical you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me faces.
