3. Serena
Serena
“Perfect,” I mumbled, taking another sip of wine as I looked around the room.
It was a beautiful sunny day for Laurene and Reese’s baby shower.
A low hum of conversation filled the air as I surveyed my hard work. Delicate pink roses and lilies adorned the table, their fragrance mingling with the baked goods from Laurene’s favorite bakery in Paris I had shipped overnight as a surprise for her.
There were even more flowers set around a sign that took me nearly an hour to pin up against a backdrop of pink and gold tulle and a balloon arch that announced “It’s a Girl!”
My task was simple: ensure Laurene’s special day went off without a hitch. Keep everything in line. Keep everyone happy.
“Rena! Chill the hell out, have you had one of these macarons? They good as hell,” Gigi yelled out to me, strutting in her pink wrap dress and too-high heels snacking on a dessert. “Imma need you to order me like a dozen of these after, okay? Have a shot of tequila, unwind. You got a joint?”
“I don’t have time, Georgiana,” I muttered to my little sister, rolling my eyes.
“Why you gotta call me by my government name?” She pouted, nudging me with a shoulder bump. “You been acting like you the one pregnant. C’mon, chill. It’s a happy day. When was the last time you got some head?”
I whipped my head toward her. “What? Lower your voice.”
Gigi could just float through life, pretty and messy and somehow still adored.
She didn’t stay up until three a.m. arranging pink and ivory gift bags . She didn’t double-check the caterer or make sure the press stayed out or redirect Aunt Eloise when she started talking about how Laurene “used to be so tiny.”
No. That was me. Always me. No one else in the family besides Mama had the ability to be controlled and disciplined like me.
Gigi sipped champagne like it was juice and took another bite of the macaron while she shook her head. “I’m telling you. Keep frowning, you’re gonna get lines that Botox ain’t gonna get out.”
I mentally reviewed the timeline for Laurene’s gift opening and made a note to check whether the staff had brought in the custom bassinet.
“I’m serious. I got something in my flask that’ll put some hair on your chest.” Gigi leaned forward, showing the metal bottle stuffed down between her boobs.
“I don’t want your warm boob flask liquor.” I rolled my eyes at her, and she linked her arm with mine as we scoped out the crowd. It was just like with Laurene’s first engagement party years ago. Everyone kissed ass to be here and be nosy. Vultures.
How did I get through mind-numbing events like this?
Miles.
He wasn’t even here, and somehow, he still managed to hijack my thoughts. Typical.
“Are you suuure?” A sly grin spread across her face. She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I bought this absinthe when I was in Spain last year, and I swear I was hearing colors and smelling sounds.”
“No.”
Miles liked being the center of attention at these parties. He used to find me in corners like this. Slip me a drink, crack a joke, make me laugh when I wasn’t supposed to. He could read me. Not in the way people pretend to. In the way that made it hard to lie—to him or to myself.
He’d made everything easy.
Now I couldn’t even picture that version of me—soft, breathless, hopeful. She was long gone. Packed up and shipped off when he chose his father and I chose my family.
“For real? Let me show you a good time! I had it in Amsterdam, right after the sex show and me and my man—” I gave her a look, and she grinned sheepishly. “Save the absinthe for later? Gotcha.”
We settled in silence, and our eyes followed Laurene as she laughed.
Reese, our new brother-in-law and former enemy, was right next to her, his hand placed protectively on her protruding stomach.
She was glowing, and it made me appreciate how much we’d achieved since she came back home over a year ago.
“She looks so happy,” Gigi said with a sigh.
How did Laurene pull it off?
I couldn’t just disappear for six years and come back home. I wasn’t the one who could mesh seamlessly in and out of society. People here didn’t extend the same grace to me as they did Laurene. She was the perfect girl. Someone fit for a town like Lush.
Laurene’s return and arranged marriage to Reese Ashbourne had been the talk of the town for months. But somehow my older sister had found love in a crazy situation.
Miles used to look at me like I was something he couldn’t resist, something he needed .
Was it just because no one else looked at me that way that I fell for it?
I gave in to those silly feelings of believing in the fairy tale.
That his eyes were true when he looked at me like there was no one else in the room.
He always saw me.
That made me the perfect target.
Gigi continued and squeezed my arm tighter. “It’s like we’ve come full circle, huh? We didn’t know what was going to happen to her or if Mama would let her come back. I mean, it felt like a piece of us was missing. But now we’re all here, together again. Both of my big sisters.”
I kept my expression neutral, though her words stabbed deeper than she realized. How easy it was for Gigi to believe in that kind of simple, happy ending? I couldn’t do that.
“Do you…do you think we’ll be happy too? When our marriages get arranged? Or will it be all sad and shit like the ladies from the fifteenth century when they sold you for a goat and a pot of sugar?”
Unfortunately, that made me laugh, but then I shook my head at her and frowned.
The truth was love didn’t belong to us. Or at least to some of us. I wished someone had told me the truth years ago about our position in this town. We were privileged beyond belief. But with that came restrictions. Gigi would have to fall in line someday.
“We all have roles to play when it comes to King Enterprises. Business first. Always. We don’t get the luxury of a ‘happily ever after.’”
Like I expected, Gigi’s face fell.
You can lie about this, Serena. You’ve lied about so much else.
“But with your charm, wit, and boobs, I’m sure no man will resist you, G. They’ll fall at your feet.”
Immediately, Gigi perked up.
“You’re right, men do fall at my feet. I’m sexy.” She licked her lips and sat up straighter. “What the hell am I worried for?”
My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I just listened to Gigi go on about her good looks. Eventually, Laurene turned, and we watched her finally detangle herself from Reese, and wave to us.
She waddled toward us, her hand on her belly, and gave us the look. Who pissed her off this time? Pregnant, hormonal Lu was a new beast. “I need a favor.”
“What, oil bleeding through your foundation? Need me to powder you?” Gigi raised her brow. “I will get that face beat in a minute.”
Laurene placed her hand near her face. “Oh my God, do I look bad?”
“No,” I said and gave Gigi a look. “Absolutely not. You look perfect.”
Laurene seemed to calm down before exhaling deeply, looking over her shoulder.
“I’ve been watching the dessert table and people keep eating those raspberry tarts.
I saw Mayor Castillo put three in his pocket.
Don’t cause a scene, but I want some for later, and if I don’t, I might cry and that’ll make Reese fight the mayor, then he’ll go to jail, and my child won’t have a father?—”
I sighed loudly, and Gigi grinned.
“You want us to hide treats from the fine-ass mayor?” Gigi asked, and I just rolled my eyes. “I mean, I can do more than just distract him. Look at me.”
“Stash a few away for me for when I get up snacking in the middle of the night, and baby girl here will think you both are the best aunts ever .”
“Don’t try to suck up,” I told Laurene. She batted her brown eyes at me, and already I was mentally contacting the baker to get an entire tray delivered to her house tomorrow morning.
Gigi chuckles, digging into the front of her dress, taking a hit of the suspect absinthe. She passed the bottle to me, and I balked at the warm feeling of the flask before she gave her cleavage a little push-up.
“Glad to help, big sis.” She swiped gloss over her lips. “Out of my way. ”
Laurene and I looked at each other as Gigi pushed past us and headed straight for Mayor Castillo.
He watched her like a panther eyeing prey. A slow smile touched his face when she stopped, all hips and attitude. He had that kind of smile that said I know exactly who you are. Gigi said something—too far away for me to hear—but it made Dante’s brow arch. He moved in slightly.
Laurene sighed beside me. “Tell me you’re seeing this.”
“Oh, I see it,” I muttered.
“I miss paté,” then she looked at my glass. “I miss wine. And sushi. I wish this baby would come out of me.”
I glanced at her, studying the familiar contours of her face.
Laurene had always been striking—tall, with warm brown skin that glowed even more now stretched over high cheekbones, and a sharp jawline.
Her long hair, dark and thick, spilled past her shoulders in soft waves, framing her face in a way that made her look regal.
But there was something different now.
The roundness of her stomach, the slight puffiness in her face. She was still my sister, but she wasn’t just Laurene anymore. She was someone’s mother.
“How did you do it, Lulu?” I said it without thinking. “Come back home after everything that happened?”
Laurene had always been the Laurene King—perfect, admired, the one everyone gravitated toward without question.
The first girl of the family. Erik, the hotshot, had his future laid out for him.
And Gigi, well, Gigi had charm in excess, the kind of chaotic magnetism that made people want to be around her.
I’d learned to copy charm. Watched how Laurene tilted her head. How Gigi laughed at the right moment. I could mimic it, wear it like a dress. But it never fit.
Why couldn’t I be like them?