“Cornelius Holton,” she says in a haughty accent. “I can’t stand him, honestly. Gives me the creeps.”

“Me too.”

“You know him?”

“I wish I didn’t. Tell me about Mercedes.”

“You really don’t know any of this?”

I shake my head.

“You had to have felt the tension when Jackson and I came to your house the other day. Between Santiago and Jackson?”

“You’d have to be dead not to feel that. What’s the story?”

“Mercedes had her eye on Jackson. They dated a long time ago even though that’s not technically allowed. I think they had some make-out sessions is about the extent of it.”

“Mercedes and Jackson?” I’m shocked.

“I know. She’s an ice queen.”

“You’re being nice.”

“Well, my family only moved to New Orleans less than two years ago. We’re from Atlanta originally. I guess by then Mercedes and Jackson, although not engaged, were officially courting right up until the night he saw me.”

“What?”

“It was my family’s first event at IVI in New Orleans.”

“Love at first sight?”

“It’s what Jackson says.” Her eyes get shiny, and I feel goose bumps rise on my arms. “For me too, though.” She doesn’t say it in a gloating way. I think she’s just in love with her husband.

“Anyway, we met that night briefly, and by the next week, he’d broken it off with Mercedes. He told me he’d been wanting to for a while, but she wouldn’t accept it. She wasn’t happy about the break, obviously. And again, I don’t blame her, but it’s not like something like that can be helped. And she’s been pretty awful since.”

“Awful to you?”

Colette nods. “I don’t exactly have an abundance of friends at The Society, at least not among the women.”

“Well, I like you.”

She smiles, shrugging a shoulder. “Mercedes has done everything she can to freeze me out, and her family ranks higher than Jackson’s, so you know, the sheep go along.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It doesn’t matter. Those women are too snooty for me anyway. Anyhow, the week we met, Jackson was at my door asking my father’s permission to court me.”

“Are you serious?”

“You know how things work with IVI. It’s so old-fashioned. I hope you don’t think—”

“What would I think? My brother told me I’d be marrying a perfect stranger days before our wedding.”

“You didn’t know Santiago at all?”