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CHAPTER 1
EMERSON
Charleston, South Carolina
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Emerson said, tossing one dress after another from her walk-in closet onto the bed where her sisters batted them away to keep from being hit in the face. “God, there’s nothing in here. Why did I let you two talk me into hiring a stylist to buy me some new clothes?”
Actually, she knew the answer to that. One of their company’s biggest clients had invited them—Emerson specifically—to the fundraising gala, and Emerson didn’t feel she had much choice. She had balked at the expense of a stylist, but Kendra had seen it as necessary for Emerson, as head of a successful company, to look the part.
The company was known worldwide for the first-class work their parents had done in building it from the ground up. Richard Ravenel had made a name for himself, his company and his family. Not only did Emerson, Kendra, and Tegan want to carry on the tradition and legacy, but they wanted to make a name for themselves as the new owners of Ravenel Reliance. They wanted the world to know, and especially the family that had disowned their father for his choice of bride, that they too were worthy of the Ravenel name.
Building the business hadn’t been easy, but in the end, Ravenel Reliance had become the foremost authority on art, artifacts, antiquities and jewels in the world. That often meant hobnobbing with Charleston’s and the world’s elite, and ensuring everyone knew Ravenel Reliance was open for business.
Kendra laughed. Of the three of them, she was the fashionista of the family. Emerson was the tomboy who preferred breeches or leggings with boots and either a soft, clingy T-shirt or sweater.
Stepping into the walk-in closet, Kendra took her older sister by the shoulders and pushed her out. “Stephanie did an excellent job, although looking at the state of your closet it’s a wonder you can find anything at all.”
“I think this one is nice,” said Tegan, holding up a dress with a high collar that only bared Emerson’s shoulders and arms.
“Gack!” said Kendra, racing out to snatch it up. “I thought Stephanie and I got rid of this thing. It is truly hideous.”
“I bought that in Paris,” said Emerson, defensively.
“Where? In a secondhand shop specializing in ugly dresses made of fabric that could spontaneously combust?” Kendra walked over to Emerson’s dresser, picked up a pair of scissors she’d seen earlier and cut the offending dress into three pieces before tossing them in the trash can.
Emerson groaned, and Tegan laughed.
“What about this?” Kendra asked, bringing out a cobalt blue silk chiffon and lurex ruched evening gown with an ostrich feathered cape and sleeve accessory.
“Feathers? Seriously? I don’t think so.”
“Then don’t wear the cape.”
“Oh, hell no. Why don’t I just go naked with a long stemmed rose between my teeth?” snarked Emerson. “Better yet, you go, and you wear it.”
Kendra leaned against the door jamb. “That’s not going to work.”
“Oliver Toney didn’t invite me or Kendra, and the event this evening is black-tie and invitation only.”
“I doubt the people at the fundraising gala really give a damn which one of us it is…”
“I disagree. The invitation wasn’t to Ravenel Reliance. It was sent to you.”
“Toney is on the board of directors…”
“And wants you to come. This dress would be killer on you,” said Kendra.
“If you like it so well, you take it. I can tell you for a fact I won’t be wearing it… ever.”
“You’re such a pain in the ass,” Kendra mumbled heading back into Emerson’s closet. She returned with a black evening gown made out of tulle and embroidered lace that would hug her sister’s curves, making the most of her voluptuous figure. “What about this?”
Emerson turned to Tegan. “She hates me. I’m telling you; she hates me.”
“I don’t hate you and you know it. I just don’t think you ought to hide your sexy self in clothes that either hide your light under a bushel, so to speak, or that smell of horses.”
Emerson sniffed under her armpits. “I took a shower and washed my hair, and I shaved all the applicable body parts.”
“It would be so much easier if you waxed or had laser treatments.”
