Wouldn't You Like to Know?

Ten

Ten

*A/N: I have absolutely no idea if David is Lord Debling's real name or not. I made it up. I tried looking for something that said his first name and had no luck. 

Marina was engaged. Engaged to the asshole that she'd cheated on him with. The whole thing made Colin sick to his stomach. That was the real reason he didn't want to tell the press those pictures with Penelope weren't real. He couldn't film a movie and do a press tour with everyone asking about the photographer he had punched because of the lewd things they'd said about her. They had been together since they were teenagers and had done two movies together. For a while, they'd been something of a pop culture moment where everyone had wanted to know about them.

The attention had gotten too much for Marina.

And she'd been in love with someone else the whole time. Something, he remembered, Whistledown Blast had said since the beginning. He'd been ignorant and because they'd outed Daphne and Simon's relationship before she was about to marry the prince, he hadn't been willing to listen. But now, Colin realized that the Whistledown Blast had been Penelope.

And all Penelope had been doing had been helping people see the truth. They might not have liked it, but there was nothing the gossip account had said that hadn't been true. Penelope had simply said things other people didn't like to hear. Colin's only problem was that she didn't take credit for herself. He knew exactly why that was. Her domineering, overbearing mother. Which was why, after the news was released about Marina and Penelope, he decided to pay a visit to Portia Featherington.

It wasn't that hard, really. Portia lived in the penthouse above theirs, something she had always been immensely proud of. To the point it had caused some conflict between her and his mother in the past. Portia was from old money, but when her husband had stolen from the Bridgerton's, they had nearly lost everything.

Portia had eventually rebuilt the family fortune with a fashion line. But it was nowhere near as grand as it once had been. Still, she held onto the Featherington penthouse on the Upper East Side for dear life.

Colin had gotten up early, grabbed coffee, then found himself at Portia Featherington's penthouse. He knocked on the door. He was surprised when Penelope's tall, long necked sister, Prudence Featherington, answered the door.

"Oh! Colin!" she looked him up and down, scowling. "What are you doing here? I thought the Bridgerton's vowed never to come here again. Or at least, your mother did."

He smirked. "I am here to put an end to that."

"An end to a family feud that has been going on for decades? Even when my father was in business with your mother?"

Colin nodded. "Is your mother home? I brought her coffee. Black, exactly how she likes it."

"She's in her study."

Prudence didn't move. "You know, I was there, that day when you said what you said about asking Pen out because your mother made you. And I saw the pictures of you sneaking out from her apartment online. She took forever to be independent because of everyone turning against her, and she just started seeing someone recently. Don't mess this up for her. I don't want to see her in a dark place again like she was."

He tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean, Penelope's seeing someone?"

"She started seeing that guy she was friends within high school that she never went out with because she was always too hung up on you. David Debling."

Colin clenched his jaw. He remembered David Debling. He had been the editor of the school newspaper and had always been a little too pretentious for his own good. He'd never liked Colin, and Colin had never figured out why. "I didn't know that. I only reconnected with Pen recently because of work. She's Lulu Rochester's assistant. I'm adapting her book into a movie."

"Don't mess this up for her," said Prudence, "she's been alone long enough----punishing herself for whatever insult your family thinks that we did to you. She deserves to be happy."

"What are you talking about?" Colin said. "I never stopped talking to Pen. She stopped talking to me."

"Eloise told her to stay away from you all, like she was some kind of criminal. I know Penelope and I don't always get on, but she's still my sister, and I don't like seeing her hurt. After Eloise stopped being her friend, she got really sad and really lonely there for a long time. It's only been in the past few years she's been able to get some confidence back. I don't want you ruining that for her."

Colin clenched the cup of coffee he'd originally bought for Portia. Maybe Eloise was right. Getting involved with Penelope was a bad idea. But hadn't his mother always told him that the Featherington's lived for drama? "Actually, forget it. I made a mistake."

Prudence smiled triumphantly. "Good."

He shook his head and left. Before he did anything, he was going to have to talk with Penelope. The Featherington's thrived on drama. He had no way of knowing if this was only Prudence's way of trying to start something. But he needed to sort things out with Penelope first, before he went through the trouble of trying to keep Portia from starting her own.