The Secret Diamond Sisters (28 page)

“Cool.” She was relieved that was over with. “Thanks.”

“Thanks?” Nick repeated. “I should be the one thanking you. I’ll be going to the most exclusive event in the city with the most beautiful girl there.”

Savannah’s cheeks reddened. She wanted to point out that she wouldn’t be the most beautiful girl there—that title would better fit Madison or Courtney—but she didn’t. Also, Nick seemed to mean it.

Getting over Damien was
way
easier now that she was hanging out with Nick. He wasn’t as drop-dead hot as Damien, but he had an angelic quality, and Savannah couldn’t deny that she found him attractive. He was also nice, which was more than she could say for Damien.

After all, nice guys didn’t make out with another girl in front of you if they were really interested in you.

Nick checked his watch, alarm crossing his eyes. “I’m actually late for something right now, so I gotta head out,” he said. “I didn’t realize what time it was. When should I be here to pick you up tomorrow night?”

Savannah thought back to the invitation. “Meet me at six. Dinner’s at seven-thirty, but my father’s having a reception at the pool first.”

“Sounds good,” he said. “I’ll see you then.”

She walked him to the door at the same time Courtney emerged from her room, still in her pajamas. Had Courtney just woken up? Savannah looked at her watch—it was 11:30 a.m. Courtney never slept past 9:00 a.m., and even that would be late for her.

“Hi,” Nick said when he saw Courtney. “I’m Nick. One of Savannah’s friends.”

“Courtney,” she introduced herself, looking stunned. “One of Savannah’s sisters.”

“I wish I could stay, but I have to be somewhere,” he apologized. “I’m sure we’ll meet again later.”

“Bye.” Courtney waved, and Nick headed out. The door shut, and she faced Savannah, looking seriously concerned. “Did he sleep here last night?”

“No!” Savannah laughed at how paranoid her sister could be. She gave Courtney the rundown on everything that had happened recently, up until Nick leaving this morning. “So you see,” she said once she finished, “Nick’s perfectly nice, and I promise nothing happened that you wouldn’t approve of.”

“Just wait until you tell Peyton,” Courtney said.

“There’s no way I’m going in there,” Savannah said, pointing at Peyton’s room. Peyton had been locked inside watching TV since yesterday morning and had refused to come out. “You know she’s in one of her moods. I tried to go in there yesterday after you left for that dinner thing, and she growled at me. Literally. So I had to go shopping by myself and text Evie photos of outfits for her opinion. It was so pathetic.”

Courtney took a deep breath and yelled, “Savannah had a boy in her room!” loud enough for the people at the opposite side of the building to hear.

“Shut up!” Savannah joked. What had gotten into Courtney? Savannah had never seen her so...giddy.

Peyton swung her door open and stomped into the living room. All she wore was an oversized T-shirt, and she looked like she hadn’t showered in days. “Damien didn’t sleep here, did he?” she asked.

“Not Damien,” Savannah said, catching Peyton up on what she’d told Courtney. The only way to handle Peyton when she got like this was to ignore that she’d been moody to begin with. She would spill the story about why she was upset in her own time, but if you pushed her she clammed up.

“Wow,” Peyton said once she finished. “You had quite the night.”

“Yeah,” Savannah agreed.

“And what about you?” Peyton asked Courtney. “How did it go with Oliver at that dinner event?”

“It was fine.” Courtney shrugged.

Peyton’s face hardened. “You’re not interested in him, are you?”

“No!” Courtney shook her head so hard that her hair flew over her shoulders. “Not like that. There was an open bar at the event, and he got so drunk. Then he tried to kiss me in the car on the way home, and it was so... Ugh.” She shuddered. “I pushed him away. But he apologized, and when I said I wasn’t interested in him, he backed off. So we’re going to the grand opening tomorrow night together—as friends—because apparently our parents will be happy about it, but he knows nothing more will happen.”

“But you stayed out late with him?” Savannah asked. “I’ve never seen you sleep past nine.”

“I came back after the event,” Courtney said quickly. “And I was up earlier this morning, but I was reading and didn’t feel like changing.”

“So you turned down Oliver?” Peyton looked pleased.

“Yeah,” Courtney said. “I think I hurt his feelings, and I feel bad, but he’s not my type and he seemed fine with being friends.”

Peyton smiled. “I knew it wouldn’t work out between you two.”

“Do you guys want to go to the pool?” Savannah asked, not wanting to stay inside all day. “Nick and I overlooked it at the restaurant where we had brunch, and it’s, like, the most amazing pool you’ll ever see.”

They both agreed. Just as they reached the doors of their rooms to change, Peyton yelled, “By the way, I broke up with Mike! You’re going to love the story of how this went down.”

Apparently they had a lot to discuss at the pool.

* * *

On the morning of the grand opening, Rebecca came by the condo and asked them to have a seat in the living room.

“Good morning, girls,” she said once they had all gathered.

“Hi,” Savannah said, wondering why Rebecca needed to talk to them. It felt so formal, and with the way Rebecca was pacing, she assumed there was a purpose to this visit.

Rebecca finally stopped walking around and sat down across from them. “How have you been doing getting settled in?” She fiddled with her pearl necklace, then seemed to realize what she was doing and dropped her hand back to her side.

“Good,” Savannah said, and Courtney agreed. Peyton said nothing.

“It’s strange not having our mom around,” Courtney added, looking down at her lap and playing with her hands. “But we’re managing.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Rebecca said. “And I hope you know that if you ever need to talk, I’m happy to listen.”

“Thanks.” Savannah didn’t see herself choosing to talk with Rebecca over her sisters, but it was kind of her to offer.

“As you know, today is an important day,” Rebecca said, getting to what Savannah guessed was the point of her visit. “Your father is extremely busy making sure everything is ready for the grand opening, and he asked me to come over to talk to you about some things to keep in mind for tonight.”

“What sort of ‘things’?” Peyton looked skeptical.

“Just the basics of what to say when people ask you questions,” she said. “Your father has been careful to keep your mother’s situation away from the public eye, so he would like you to not mention it to any of his guests. Instead, he would prefer that you keep up his story about the three of you choosing to move to Vegas to get to know him better.”

“Why should we keep up his lie?” Peyton asked.

“It will be better for your mother when she gets out of rehab,” Rebecca said. “This way the press won’t hound her and hurt her path to recovery. I’m not asking you to do this for Adrian. I’m asking you to do it for her.”

Peyton sat back and crossed her legs, which was as much of an “okay” as Savannah knew Rebecca would get from her.

“He also would prefer that you not mention Fairfield specifically,” Rebecca continued. “Just say you grew up outside of San Francisco and leave it at that. Again, this is all to keep your life before coming here as private as possible.”

Savannah wasn’t going to argue with her there. If any of Adrian’s guests looked up Fairfield, it wouldn’t take long for them to realize how different it was from life at the Diamond.

Rebecca went over a few more things—most consisting of them talking about their past as little as possible. They were supposed to keep conversation to general chitchat about the hotel, and make sure to ask the guests what they liked most about it so far. If Rebecca noticed any of them getting uncomfortable, she promised she would come over and rescue them.

“And before I head out to get ready myself, I want to discuss with each of you what you intend to wear,” she said.

“Why?” Peyton laughed. “Was Adrian not happy about what I wore to the dinner at the Gates?”

“No, he wasn’t.” Rebecca held her gaze with Peyton’s, surprisingly stern. “Mr. Prescott himself went out of his way to comment about his displeasure over your outfit.”

“I didn’t hear any comment,” Peyton said.

“It was said in private to Adrian and myself.” Rebecca shifted in her seat. “None of us want to tell you what to wear, Peyton, but we also don’t want Mr. Prescott to have any reason to reconsider his deal with Adrian. I’m sure we can find something appropriate in your closet that you like.”

“If you say so.” Peyton yawned.

Savannah, on the other hand, was grateful for Rebecca’s help. The two of them settled on a floral silk minidress by D&G with swirling colors of purple, turquoise, white and black. The thick black spaghetti straps gave it a sexy look, but it didn’t plunge too low. With her black Jimmy Choo pumps, it would be perfect for the event.

But she had given herself too much time to get ready, so while she was waiting around, she Facetimed Evie.

Evie’s face appeared on the screen, her strawberry-blond hair ironed straight and her freckles covered with foundation. She must also be getting ready to go out. “Look who finally has time to talk,” she said with a smile. “I’m getting ready for a party, but it won’t matter if I’m a few minutes late.”

“Good,” Savannah said. “Because I’m in serious need of advice, and you’re the only one I can ask.”

“Ask away,” Evie said, her light brown eyes glinting in anticipation.

And so Savannah spilled everything that had happened with Damien and Nick.

“I know I shouldn’t have feelings for Damien, because he was a total asshole, but I can’t help still liking him,” she said when she was done. “I think about him all the time. What should I do?”

“I think it’s obvious.” Evie smiled.

“Maybe to you,” Savannah said.

“Okay,” Evie said, as if she had some sort of master plan. “You need to flirt with Nick, and make sure Damien sees. If Damien was ever interested in you in the slightest, he’ll get jealous and stake his claim. From there, you should string him along—ignore him sometimes, and give him attention other times. After you have a good conversation with him, wait for him to reach out to you next. Whatever happens, don’t reach out to him first unless he reached out to you the time before, because it will take away the chase. This way he won’t think he can walk all over you.”

“And what about Nick?” Savannah asked.

“What about him?” Evie said. “It seems like everything is going well with him. Besides, it’s not like you have to pick either of them anytime soon.”

“What do you mean?” Savannah asked. “Of course I have to choose between them.”

Evie shook her head. “Are you dating either one of them?”

“No...” Savannah wondered where she was going with this.

“Then you don’t have to choose either of them, at least not yet,” Evie said confidently. “Trust me on this. Neither of them is your boyfriend, so if the plan works and Damien shows interest again, you’re free to flirt with both of them until you come to your decision.”

“You make it sound so easy.” Savannah sighed.

“Because it is!” Evie said. “But anyway, I have to keep getting ready, or I’ll be seriously late. Let me know how it goes, okay?”

“I will,” Savannah promised, although she couldn’t help feeling doubtful that this plan would work at all.

* * *

The poolside reception went well. Nick stayed by her side, and adults she didn’t know—friends of Adrian—introduced themselves. Savannah felt like a shining star with how well the conversations went. She followed Rebecca’s instructions and made it sound as if she’d lived in the high-end part of Northern California before coming to Vegas, and that she and her sisters had chosen to live with Adrian for the year so they could bond with their father. She pulled it off flawlessly. It was amazing how much could change in less than a week.

One thing that hadn’t changed was Adrian’s distance from them. Savannah remembered what Courtney had suggested—that he was hiding something from them, and that’s why he hadn’t talked with them much. But Savannah preferred to believe that Adrian was just busy. When the grand opening ended, he would get to know them. Right?

She tried not to overthink it at the party. When she introduced Nick to her sisters—for longer than thirty seconds this time—she could tell they liked him. But she also noticed how the adults asked Nick about his father, and how Nick grew tense whenever someone brought him up. Savannah suspected that something bad was going on with Nick’s family, but she wasn’t going to ask him about it in public. Maybe he would want to talk about it later. She liked Nick, and if something was bothering him, she wanted to give him whatever support she could.

It wasn’t like she came from a perfect family, either.

At dinner, Courtney and Oliver sat next to each other. Courtney replied politely to his questions, although her answers were short and she didn’t ask him anything in return. Savannah could tell she wasn’t interested in him as more than a friend. Brett was there with a girl with stringy brown hair and bad skin named Dawn. Dawn went to a public school called Palo Verde, and Rebecca didn’t seem thrilled that Brett had brought her to the grand opening. He also kept glancing at Courtney through the meal, and Courtney was looking at him, too. Savannah didn’t want to think Courtney would lie to her about her feelings for Brett, but it seemed like they were into each other. She definitely planned on asking Courtney about it when they got home that night.

Peyton hadn’t brought anyone, which surprised Savannah. Peyton
always
had a date. She had also worn an outfit that Rebecca hadn’t approved that morning. The leather minidress wasn’t formal enough, and she had on
way
too much black eyeliner. She looked like she was going to a rock concert in San Francisco instead of a grand opening of the most luxurious hotel in Vegas.

Adrian and Rebecca didn’t join them for dinner, but they did stop by occasionally. As the hosts, they were making sure their guests were having a good time, and Rebecca kept her promise by checking on them to make sure they were doing all right. They would also be announcing their engagement during the ribbon-cutting in the casino at midnight. Savannah was nervous about the announcement. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Rebecca to be her stepmother—Rebecca seemed nice—but it was happening so fast.