We turned, and there were her parents marching toward us with twin looks of surprise.
“I didn’t know you would be here,” her mother said.
“You invited me,” Stella said, her tone sharp.
Georgie raised her brows. “And you’re what? Here to make me regret it?”
Stella sighed. “Sorry. Long day.”
I grinned, forcing levity into my voice. “It’s my fault we’re late. Couldn’t find my cufflinks.” I lifted my wrists in demonstration.
Her father shook his head. “You should have called. I would have let you borrow a pair of mine.”
“Next time,” I said.
Georgie stepped closer to Stella and dropped her voice. “How was Runa when you visited?”
I had to work to keep myself from reacting. Runa was the name of the woman Stella—or Maddie?—hit with the car.
Beside me, Stella stiffened, very carefully keeping her eyes trained on her mother as she responded. “She was good.”
“Do we know if the surgery was successful?” Phil asked.
“It’s still too early to tell,” Stella said. “Can we please talk about something else?”
Georgie frowned. “Darling, I wish you would let us cover some of the cost.”
“Mom,” Stella bit out. “Not here.”
My head spun. What the fuck were they talking about? Was Stella somehow responsible for Runa’s medical expenses? That couldn’t be right. She’d been found not guilty on all charges.
I fought to keep the confusion off my face as I stared down at her. Was this why her inheritance was “tied up”?
Movement caught the corner of my eye. People were casting glances toward our group, or more specifically, toward my fake girlfriend. She was easy to spot, standing out like a sore thumb because she was the only one with tattoos and piercings, the only one with such dramatic makeup—full contour, false lashes, matte purple lipstick.Her dress was another focal point: black, diaphanous, with a deep V in the front that was much more suited to a red carpet than this stuffy gathering.
Stella had to notice the extra attention, but from the way she twirled her untouched champagne glass, she appeared completely unaffected. Still, I took a step closer to her and put a hand on her lower back in a silent act of support.
Yeah, I made fun of her style choices, but there weren’t any teeth in my remarks. I did it for the sick thrill of knowing I’d gotten under her skin. But these motherfuckers were vindictive in their criticism. Even though I hated Stella, it pissed me off to see her as the target of their censure.
“Oh, thank god,” a masculine voice said. Richard. My mood plummeted straight to hell.
He stopped next to Stella’s dad. “Phil, this is the last one of these I’m coming to. Dennis is already drunk and won’t shut up about the time he came in under par on the Ocean Course in 2015.”
Phil grinned good-naturedly. “To be fair, if I pulled that off, I’d probably never shut up about it either.”
Georgie cast the pair a confused look.
“It’s the hardest golf course in the country,” Phil explained.
She rolled her eyes. “Dennis cheats at backgammon and gets winded walking up stairs, so excuse me if I have a hard time believing he didn’t shank his way through all eighteen holes.”
Richard chortled. Phil shook his head, looking both amused by and deeply in love with his wife. Beside me, Stella stood stock-still with almost no expression, as if she hadn’t even heard them.
I followed her gaze toward a familiar-looking petite woman with a button nose and big blue eyes. Her blond hair was curled into loose waves, and paired with her dewy makeup and baby-pink gown, she looked like she was trying to appear younger than she was.
Maddie.
Fuck.
