Read Online Capri Nights by Cara Marsi - Free Book Online

fate.
    *****
    Surrounded by a cloud of euphoria, Cat headed to her room. The villa was quiet and she assumed the others were out. When she opened the door to her room, her happiness and feeling of goodwill fled out the window.
    She gasped and stumbled to a stop.
    Her beautiful clothes, her symbols of the new Cat, of her freedom, lay in tattered heaps on her bed. She dropped her purse on the floor. Dread pressed against her chest as she approached the bed. With a shaking hand, she picked up the orange silk dress she’d planned to wear to the rehearsal dinner. Someone had taken a scissor or knife to the beautiful fabric and shredded it until it was hardly recognizable as a dress. All her clothes had met the same fate, leaving Cat with only the clothes she now wore.
    Tears sprang to her eyes when she spotted the lovely blue dress she’d bought for her mother. When she’d chosen the dress, she pictured her mother wearing it to one of her parties in Sausalito. Now, it was gone. Clutching the ripped blue dress to her chest, Cat sank onto the bed as tears streamed down her cheeks.
    Who could have done this?
    Angelina’s warnings about Bailey shot into Cat’s mind.
    Bailey.
    Red-hot anger propelled Cat from the bed. She threw the blue dress down and began pacing. Her mind conjured up images of ripping Bailey’s clothes to shreds. She clenched her hand, imagining slamming it into Bailey’s face. She’d rip out Bailey’s hair too. She pictured those long blonde extensions on the floor.
    Cat stopped in front of her dresser and gripped the sides as she stared into the mirror. She barely recognized the woman staring back, her face twisted in anger. She wouldn’t let Bailey make her into something she didn’t want to be. What was it her mother always said? “Living well is the best revenge” had been Molly Connors’ motto. When Cat’s father betrayed her mother with Nolan, Molly could have become a victim bent on revenge, but she’d made another life for herself. Cat prided herself on being her mother’s daughter.
    Angelina! She and Cat were the same size. Cat pulled her phone from her purse and punched in Angelina’s number.
    Cat would get back at Bailey in a way the other woman would never expect.  

CHAPTER TWELVE

    “Caitlyn! The limo is here,” Cat’s father shouted from downstairs. She snatched her evening bag from the bed and took one last look at herself in the mirror. Cat never wore red, yet Angelina’s scarlet knee-skimming dress with the plunging neckline flattered her. Who knew she could wear red with her hair and coloring?
    When she’d called Angelina earlier, her friend had rushed over with a variety of dresses and pants, saying Cat could keep them all. Cat owed Angelina big time.
    “Maybe Cat isn’t coming with us,” Bailey said loudly enough for Cat to hear.
    Cat exited the room and locked the door, then dropped the key into her purse. No one would get into her bedroom again. “Showtime,” she whispered.
    As she came down the stairs into the living room, the others were waiting, dressed and ready to get into the limo that would take them to the restaurant for the rehearsal dinner. Alex and the other guests would meet them there.
    Bailey turned. The grin on her face disappeared into a thin line. Her tanned face flushed. “Where did you get that dress?”
    “Like it?” Fueled by a surge of adrenaline, Cat twirled. She swallowed the laugh that bubbled up. Be cool, Cat .
    “You look beautiful,” Cat’s dad said. “As stunning as your mother.” His voice had softened.
    “Let’s go.” Nolan said, her voice strident.
    Nolan wouldn’t meet Cat’s eyes, a sure admission of guilt from her always-composed stepmother. Yes! Cat had done it! She’d made Nolan squirm. Cat resisted the urge to thrust her fist toward the ceiling.
    Putting a hand over her mouth to suppress her smile, she strutted to the limo, trailed by a sputtering Bailey.
    Their large party took over a private room at the