Chapter Sixteen – Verity
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
VERITY
I start to push through the crowd with a little more force now, that sense of earlier dread returning full force.
“That’s bullshit. You’ve made me suffer for ten years.”
The man’s voice rings home.
But what could he possibly be doing here?
I finally slip into an empty pocket of space and take in the scene before me.
I am ninety percent sure the man with his back turned to me is Cullen.
A petite blonde stands next to him. When she turns to tug on his shirtsleeve, I realize it’s Bridget Vaughn.
Before them both is none other than Celine.
I recognize that look on her face. It’s the one she had when she found out Alice forgot to back up her design files and we lost a month’s worth of progress on the LaVelle website branding.
She threw her coffee cup at the wall and fired Alice on the spot before forcing us all to work that weekend to make up for it.
“Fuck you,” Celine spits at the man.
“Now who’s the immature one?” he taunts.
“Get out of here, Cullen!” Her voice rises, drawing the attention of people who had been happily enjoying the party.
Cullen’s name barely registers as my fight-or-flight response kicks in and propels me forward. Whatever is happening, it is not good, and I need to get my boss out of here before everything we’ve worked on implodes.
“I have every right to be here. I sold the damn place.”
“And I branded it.”
“Well, it’s a shit fucking design.”
The hateful words punch me in the chest, and I can’t stop the gasp from leaving my lips in response.
The nightmare becomes reality as the man turns around, and I’m met with eyes that once showed me such kindness and love but are now filled with malice.
It takes Cullen a second, but I see the moment he registers me before him.
“Ver—”
“Ms. Delute.” I cut him off, spurring into action and throwing my body between them. “Jenna has a man she would like you to speak with about a contract opportunity.” I place a hand on Celine’s shoulder and attempt to guide her away.
Her feet stick to the ground, lips pressed in a thin line as her hateful eyes stay locked on the man who is supposed to be my new boyfriend.
“Please,” I whisper. “Before this escalates any further and Mr. Kelton becomes aware.”
Those words seem to finally get through, and she allows me to begin steering her away. My head is spinning, but I try to keep myself focused as I weave us through the crowds.
That was definitely Cullen.
But why the hell was he in a shouting match with Celine?
I’m missing something. I must be. I just don’t know what.
Celine grumbles expletives under her breath the entire time, and I’m grateful once I get us out onto the balcony and into the cool night air.
“Celine, I have—”
I whip around and cut Jenna off by giving her a warning look and subtle motion of my hand.
“What’s going on?” She stumbles a step, confusion lowering her brows.
She finally sees the rage on Celine’s face and pales a shade. Leaning back to Anne, she whispers for her to switch with Davina immediately. Davina is one of two people at the company who knows how to handle Celine because they’ve been with her since the beginning.
“That fucking asshole,” Celine hisses, snatching a glass of champagne from an unsuspecting server. She downs the contents of the flute in one go and squeezes the stem so hard I’m worried it just might snap.
Celine never drinks at events or anything remotely work related. She claims it’s unprofessional and the same as sitting at your cubicle during your lunch break and pouring yourself a glass of wine to go with your prepacked sandwich.
“What happened?” Davina slips into our circle, her eyes narrowing a fraction when she spots the flute in Celine’s grip.
“He’s here.”
“Who?”
“Who do you think, Davina?” She uses her empty glass to point inside the building. “Cullen.”
Davina inhales sharply and pure panic slashes over her features. Davina never panics.
Four seconds later, Jenna lets out an oooooh as though she has just pieced the puzzle together. Meanwhile, I’m sitting here not even aware of the picture she was trying to make. All I know is that the man I made out with last night is currently being cussed out by my boss.
I keep my mouth shut, not daring to even breathe too loudly, and just linger on the outskirts of a conversation I’m not entirely sure I’m supposed to be privy to.
“Look, Celine—”
“I want you to make sure that man has left the premises.”
“Celine. He must be Jace’s guest. We can’t kick him out. This is not our event.”
“Davina. If I walk back into that room and see his face, I will smash this flute into it.” Her voice is low and carries the promise of a threat, but within her hateful eyes is a waver of water.
Davina reaches out and tries to pry the glass from Celine’s fist.
“You’re not thinking clearly. Are you going to ruin your reputation and the company you’ve built because of him?
Because that is what will happen if you go in there and start a fight with him.
There are a lot of influential people at this launch, Celine.
You know that. It’s the entire reason why we’re here and why we took on this type of project.
It’s the perfect press opportunity for the company, but it will be a tabloid nightmare if you let Cullen sway your emotions again.
You don’t want a repeat of ten years ago. ”
Branding a company is something we do all the time as a design firm. But branding an event and designing every aspect of it had been a first. We’d never worked with an interior design team before, and no one really knew why we were going all out for this project.
The optics part makes sense. A small company propelling a large brand brings more clients to the small company. Of course Celine would want to use the Kelton name and access to the event to secure a more elite clientele for her books.
I just wish I knew what her issue with Cullen is. At this rate, I am going to have to keep my new boyfriend away from work as much as humanly possible. The last thing I need is Celine spitting her venom at me by proxy.
“Fine.” Celine huffs as she relinquishes the champagne flute to Davina.
“Thank you. Now, would you like to meet one of those influential people to take your mind off him?”
“How influential?” Celine’s voice has returned to normal, the tension she’d been holding in her jaw softening.
Davina smiles, relief pouring out of her. She wraps her hand around Celine’s bicep and guides her to where Anne is talking a little too closely with Frankie Jones.
My mind, however, is like a record player spinning round and round with one song on loop.
“Oh God, Verity. I’m so sorry you had to see that. I—” Jenna glances back at Celine and winces before taking me by the elbow and shifting us to the edge of the balcony. “I haven’t seen Celine get that way in a very long time.”
“I don’t understand what happened. I found her inside arguing with this man and then...” I shrug, not needing to really elaborate any further.
“There are certain things that only the old guard really knows, and that knowledge is passed on very sparingly.” Her voice is a low whisper. “If people started talking and Celine knew, she’d have all our heads.”
Based on what I saw tonight, I don’t doubt that. I just need to know what bad blood runs between Cullen and Celine. I need to know, no matter what.
“I won’t breathe a word of it, Jenna. I promise.”
“I know you won’t. That’s why you’re my go-to. But this really needs to stay in the cone of silence.”
I mime zipping my lips shut, and she gives me a pleasant smile before leaning in even closer and giving me a serious stare.
“Celine has an ex-husband.”
“What?”
How is that even possible? I’d never even known she was married in the first place. Celine’s young, somewhere in her early to mid-thirties, according to my math. How could she already be divorced?
“I know.” Jenna raises her brows. “I was shocked, too. According to Davina, they were high school sweethearts or something. Things turned nasty and they had a blowup a year or two after she started Delute Designs, leading to their divorce.”
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure, and I never pried.” Jenna holds out her hand and inspects her own wedding ring.
“I only found out when I announced I was getting married. It hit a nerve, and Davina had to pull me aside, just like I’m doing with you.
” She lets out a deep sigh. “If I have one piece of advice for you, Verity, it’s that if you want to make it far in this company, keep your love life out of it.
Celine will do anything in her power to crush it otherwise. ”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you remember when I went on my honeymoon?”
“Yeah.”
“I was up for a promotion at the time, but when I applied for leave and returned, it was gone. Grisha got it.”
“What? Why?”
“They gave me a list of reasons, but I know it’s because of my marriage.”
I stare at Jenna, seeing the weariness deep in her eyes.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask why she stays, why she wouldn’t just leave the company and find something better if there is no opportunity to ever grow.
She is still young; she could change companies easily.
But she is still technically my manager, and that feels like crossing a line that has already turned quite blurry tonight.
“How does all of this relate to that man? Does he know her ex?” I switch gears, pulling us back onto the path we started on.
“Cullen?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, Verity, no. Cullen doesn’t know her ex, Cullen is her ex.”
“What?”
“Cullen Ross is Celine’s ex-husband.”