Page 72 of Lavish

I’d been so eager to impress her. So starved to be told I was doing something right foronce.

Mommy issues could make a naïve, inexperienced rich girl do strange things. Like follow a woman with a prettier smile and sharper claws. I just wanted to go back to Mama and show her what I knew.

I grabbed the cocktail from the bar, the chilled glass cool against my fingertips.

My lips touched the rim, but I didn’t drink—just held it as a prop. My attention swept the room again as I tried to make my brain work like it did before in times like this, taking in every detail: the rooms, the exits, the security cameras discreetly tucked into corners.

And then I saw him.

Alan Price was leaning casually against a table near the far corner, a drink in one hand and his phone in the other. He was taller than I’d expected, his sharp suit impeccably tailored. His dark hair was slicked back, and he looked exactly like Jenese’s type.

Rich. Married. Emotionally unavailable.

Alan had definitely fucked her, and now she was using me to get back at him.

The ex-lovers who’d crossed Jenese before had been my first examples of how to manipulate and how to get revenge. She was definitely taking me back to the basics.

I told myself I wanted to be better at business. Smarter. Tougher. But the truth was uglier. My mother was too busy running an empire to teach me how to build one.

My grip on the glass tightened as another thought surfaced.

Miles wouldn’t recognize this version of me.

That’s the point.

It was why I hid Jenese, this life, from my family. They could only know me as Serena. The one who already knew how to do everything. Not the one stumbling through this life.

I took my drink and made my way across the room, weaving through clusters of people while keeping Alan in my peripheral vision.

I had to shake off the cobwebs. This wasn’t me being someone else. This was me remembering who the hell I was.

There was an empty spot at the high-top table just a few feet away from him. Maybe I could catch some of his conversation.

I perched on the edge of a barstool, crossing my legs. I pretended to be interested in my drink, my expression neutral but my senses tuned to him like a wire stretched tight.

Before I could decide my next move, a voice cut through the air.

“Well, well. Serena King.”

I froze for half a beat.No. Nobody can know me here.Turning slowly, I plastered on a faint smile, bracing myself. “Do I know you?”

“You should,” he said. “Bryan Royce. We met at the King Foundation’s fundraising dinner last fall. How’s your sister doing?”

“Bryan,” I said smoothly, offering my hand. His grip was firm, lingering just a fraction too long. I didn’t like the clammy feeling of his hands. “It’s good to see you again.”

“And here I thought I’d have to survive this night without a single interesting conversation,” he said, leaning in. “Whatbrings you to Elysian Bluff? I didn’t take your family from straying too far from Lush.”

I laughed lightly, the kind of practiced sound that didn’t betray anything real. “I’m here for the ambiance. And you?”

Deflect. Get him the hell out of my face.

“Oh, you know,” he said, gesturing vaguely with his drink. “Networking. The usual.”

Bryan continued to talk, but I tuned him out, my gaze drifting back to Alan. He’d moved slightly, now angled in my direction as he scanned the room.

“…but enough about me. Your sister said you’re busy these days. I had a property I wanted to get your…expertiseon. Is your schedule only filled with business?”

I smiled tightly, the edges of my patience fraying. “Just business. You know how it is.”