Someone had taken pictures of Chocolate Ice, Sparkle and Delectable in all of their physical glory. In one, Karla was smiling as she executed a back bend that contorted her upper body. In another, Sparkle executed her famous—or infamous—booty clap at the same time she smiled directly at the camera. And Delectable was caught in the act of planting her high-heel boot into the groin of a man writhing in ecstasy.
Stalking to her, Ronald closed the distance between them. “From my boyfriend.”
Karla felt as if the top of her head had exploded. “Your boyfriend!”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to have a bitch fit because I didn’t get your permission to sleep with him.” His hands fisted. “If you were a man, I’d beat the shit outta you, Karla. But I did the next best thing.”
Karla closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “What did you do?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
Grabbing her arm, he forcibly pulled her over to the monitor. He hit a button. “Look at the e-mail address, baby. I forwarded those pictures to Cory and LL. I’m certain they’d like to know how their wives are spending their after hours.”
Karla felt a spasm squeeze her heart. She knew she’d be able to handle Ronald, but she wasn’t so certain about Sybil and Cory and Dina and Lance.
Dina and Lance hadn’t been married two weeks. The news would devastate him.
“You’re a real bitch, Ronald.”
He gave her a sly smile. “It takes one to know one.”
They stared at each other until Karla turned on her heels and walked out. She’d come home early to celebrate her husband’s birthday. Now she would sit and wait for the fallout from her friends’ husbands.
CHAPTER 67
Sybil stared at the back of Cory’s head as he sat at the computer workstation. He’d been working steadily on a project for the past two days. She knocked softly on the open door. “I’m going to bed, baby.”
Cory swiveled on his chair at his workstation to find his wife standing in the doorway. He was grateful for her interruption because his eyes were burning from spending hours in front of the monitor testing a new software program. His eyebrows lifted slightly. Sybil wore a short black silk nightgown with narrow straps and plunging neckline barely covering her full, lush breasts. It’d been a long time since she’d revealed so much flesh when retiring for bed.
He smiled. “You look nice.”
Sybil returned his smile. “When are you coming to bed?”
“I just have to check my e-mail, then I’ll be in.”
“Don’t make me wait too long.”
“I won’t,” he promised.
Cory shut down the program and logged onto his personal e-mail account. A slight frown furrowed his forehead when he saw the subject line: Do They Look Familiar? with a download attachment icon. Recognizing Ronald King’s address, he downloaded the message, realizing that Ronald had also sent Lance Haynes a copy.
“What the hell…” he whispered to himself when he stared at the photos filling the monitor. There was something vaguely familiar about the petite masked woman in green, but he couldn’t remember where he’d seen her before.
Although the pictures weren’t pornographic, they were definitely a turn-on. Noting the time on the e-mail, he reached for the telephone and dialed Ronald’s cell.
“What’s up with the e-mail attachment?” he asked when hearing Ronald’s query.
“Don’t you recognize your wife?”
Cory leaned closer to the monitor. “What are you talking about, King?”
“Look closely at the woman in black with the whip. Even though she’s masked, don’t you think she looks like Sybil?”
“No! How did you come up with that?”
“Because Karla is the one in brown.”
“You’re kidding me?”
“Man, I wish I was. Karla used to be a pole dancer back in the day.”
“You’re kidding?” Cory asked again.
“You don’t know how much I wish I was kidding.”
Leaning back in his chair, Cory studied the photograph of a masked Karla King executing an incredible back bend. Karla had an incredible body, but of course he wasn’t about to say that to Ronald. His gaze shifted to the dominatrix with her high-heel, booted foot pressed to the groin of a man who appeared to be enjoying his punishment.
“Did Karla say the other two are Sybil and Dina?”
“No.”
“Then why are you starting shit, King? Just because you can’t control your wife that doesn’t mean that mine or Lance’s are out there swinging around poles. Besides, Sybil wouldn’t have anything to do with violence or pain because she grew up with her father beating and raping her mother.”
“It’s not about control.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s about trust. Karla promised me that she’d never go back to dancing.”
“Have you asked her why she’s doing it again?” Cory asked.
There was a pause before Ronald’s voice came through the earpiece again. “No. If I get into it with her, then I’m going to risk losing her. I don’t know if you know, but we have an open marriage.”
“If that’s the case, then what are you bitchin’ about? She does her thing, while you do yours. You are doing your thing, aren’t you?”
There came another beat of silence. “Yeah.”
“Let it go, friend. Maybe she’ll stop now that you know.”
“That’s what I’m hoping,” Ronald said.
“I think you made a mistake forwarding this crap to Lance. What are you trying to do? Mess up a marriage even before it gets started?”
“I’ll let him know I forwarded it in error.”
“You do that. Look, I have to go. I hope everything works out between you and Karla.”
“Thanks.”
Cory ended the call, logged off and made his way into the bedroom. Sybil was in bed, reading. He sat down on her side of the bed. “Ronald King downloaded some pictures of three women who apparently were entertaining men. He thought one looked like you and the other Dina Haynes. He knows for certain that one is Karla.”
Sybil’s impassive expression didn’t change with Cory’s announcement. “How does he know one was Karla?”
“She used to be a pole dancer, and when he confronted her she didn’t deny it.”
Sybil’s jaw dropped as she feigned shock. “No way!” Cory nodded. “I can assure you I’ve never been a pole dancer.”
“What about a dominatrix?”
A hint of a smile parted her lips. “Sybil Cumberland, a dominatrix. I don’t think so. I can’t even kill a bug. Why would I hurt another human being? I saw pain every day of my life, and I swore when I grew up that violence would not become a part of my life.”
Cory leaned over and brushed a kiss on her mouth. “That’s what I told Ronald. He’s going to e-mail Lance and let him know he sent the document in error.”
“Ronald must be going through an early midlife crisis. He should seek professional help.”
“You’re probably right.”
Sybil rested her hand on Cory’s cheek. “Take your shower and come to bed. I think it’s time we start adding to our family.”
Cory fastened his mouth to the side of her neck. “That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear.” He pushed off the bed and walked into the adjoining bathroom.
Sybil stared at the space where Cory had been. Damn! Someone must have used a cell phone camera to photograph their act. It was time to retire Delectable and go underground. She would continue to service E. Paul Redding, but only when his wife was on vacation.
She was happy that Cory trusted her completely. It was one of the reasons why she’d married him. Cory Cumberland was kind, gentle and trusting.
Sybil closed her book, placing it on the bedside table. She thought about Dina. The younger woman had kept her promise, and after Labor Day Sparkle the Green Fairy no longer existed. No amount of urging or the promise of higher fees could get her to chan
ge her mind.
Dina Haynes, nee Gordon, had done well for herself. She and Lance planned to move to Upper Saddle River before the end of the year. The invitation to a New Year’s Eve celebration in their new home had arrived in yesterday’s mail. The gathering would be the perfect end for an incredible year.
Throwing back a lightweight blanket, she went to retrieve her cell phone. She punched in a programmed number. The call lasted less than twenty seconds. She had to warn Dina about the e-mail. Dina’s “I’ll take care of it” was enough to ease Sybil’s conscience. If she hadn’t recruited her to become Sparkle, then Dina wouldn’t be faced with having to explain her alter ego to her husband.
She returned to bed, feeling more confident. A silent voice told her that Dina Haynes was more than capable of taking care of her husband.
CHAPTER 68
Lance glanced at the clock on his desk. He’d told Dina that he was coming to bed, but that was more than an hour ago. He’d showered and brushed his teeth, but what he was looking for hadn’t come. He was waiting for an e-mail confirmation from a client who wanted to get together for a breakfast meeting. Several messages popped up on his screen, but they weren’t what he was looking for.
He noticed there were two from Ronald King, the first one with an attachment. Lance clicked on the newest first.
LL: Please delete the one with the attachment. It contains private information intended for someone else.
—Ronald
Lance clicked on Reply.
Ronald—I reported it as Spam, then deleted it. Let’s get together for drinks next week. I’ll contact Cory to see if he’s available. Let me know when you have some free time.
—LL
Shifting the mouse, he deleted the e-mail with the attachment.
Seconds later, the one he’d been waiting for appeared on the screen. He read it quickly, then typed a reply, pressed a button for Standby mode and left his office. He walked into the bedroom to find Dina in bed, weeping. His knees buckled slightly before he was able to regain his balance. The sound tore through him as he slowly approached the bed. What, he wondered, had upset her enought to make her cry? He’d tried to make her happy. Whatever she asked for he gave her.
He got into bed with her, pulling her to his chest. “What’s wrong, baby girl?”
Dina touched her fingertips to her eyes to blot her tears. “Nothing.”
Lance kissed her mussed hair. “I know you well enough to know that you don’t cry for nothing.”
She sniffled delicately. “I supposed I’m just PMSing.” She sniffled again. “I’m all right now that you’re with me. I don’t ever want you to leave me, Big Daddy. Not for anything or anyone.”
A slight frown marred Lance’s smooth forehead. “Why would I leave you, Dina?”
She lifted a bare shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe one of these days I’ll do something naughty and…” Her voice trailed off when she realized there was no need to confess before she heard the charges.
A chuckle rumbled in Lance’s chest. “Are you talking about reprising Miss Honey Dip?” He never knew what to expect from his wife. It was as if she searched out different ways to take their lovemaking to another level, a level where he feared dying in the saddle. His doctor told him that he was healthy enough to engage in stenuous sex, but there were times when he doubted the man’s advice.
Dina nodded. “Miss Honey Dip is only the warm-up act for what I’d like to do to you.”
This time he laughed. “If you think I’m going to leave you because you like being naughty in bed, then think again, baby. You’re a sexy little thing in and out of bed, and I’m very aware of the way men look at you. They can look all they want as long as they don’t touch.”
“You like showing me off, don’t you?”
There came a swollen pause before Lance said, “Yes.”
There was another beat of silence before Dina asked the burning question that had reduced her to tears, real tears. “Did you finally get your e-mail?”
“Yes. I’m sorry we can’t breakfast together because I have an early meeting. Speaking of e-mails, I got a couple from Ronald King. He asked me to delete one because it contained confidential information that was supposed to go to someone else.”
Dina bit down on her lower lip to stop its trembling. “You didn’t open it?”
Lance shook his head. “No. It all comes down to ethics. Perhaps there was something in that e-mail I didn’t need to see, so rather than be tempted I honored his request and deleted it.”
Dina sprang up with the agility of a cat and straddled his thighs. “How did I get so lucky?”
“What are you talking about?”
She pressed her breasts to his chest. “You’re the most honorable man I’ve ever known.”
“That’s because I’m the only man you’ve ever known. That is, in the biblical sense.”
“You’re right about that.”
Looping her arms under his shoulders, Dina buried her face against the side of his neck. Sybil had called to warn her about the photos, but it was apparent Ronald King had had a change of heart. For that she was eternally grateful.
Sparkle, like Adina Jenkins, was her past. She’d been given a second chance at life and she intended to take full advantage of it. She knew Lance wanted a baby, and with the advances in modern medicine she would make certain it would become a reality.
She hadn’t been ready to become a mother at fourteen, and she still wasn’t certain whether she was at twenty-seven. But she’d grown quite fond of Lancelot Haynes, and there wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do to make him as happy as he’d made her.
“I have to tell you something,” she whispered.
Lance closed his eyes. “What is it, baby girl?”
“I love you, Big Daddy.” She’d mouthed the words before because she knew it was what Lance wanted to hear. But this time the admission had come from her heart.
“I know,” he said, “because I feel it.”
“I want to feel you inside me.”
Not needing any further urging, Lance reversed their positions and told his wife without words how much he wanted, needed and loved her. It was later, after their respiration slowed, that they lay together, their chests rising and falling in an even syncopated rhythm.
A long fringe of lashes touched Dina’s cheekbones when she closed her eyes. She’d changed so much since fleeing Brooklyn that she didn’t recognize the woman who she’d been. The day before she married Lance she called her grandmother to tell her everything about her relationship with Payne Jefferson, who her baby’s daddy was and that she was now Dina Gordon and soon to be Dina Haynes.
She also told Dora Jenkins that she could never return to Brooklyn, but would continue to send her money to put away for Jameeka’s education. Before ending the call she made Dora promise to tell her if or when she was ready to leave the housing projects, because she could make it happen for her. After all, she was marrying a very wealthy man.
Don’t forget you’re a descendant of survivors. At that moment Karla’s reminder filled her thoughts. That she was. She’d survived a traumatic childhood where she’d been confronted with alcohol, drugs, prostitution and still she survived.
Reaching for the button on the lamp, she clicked it off, plunging the room into darkness. Shifting slightly, Dina pressed her back to her husband’s chest. His arm moved over her waist, holding her close.
“Do you know what I want?” she asked cryptically.
“What?” Lance’s voice was still heavy with a lingering passion.
“I want your baby, Lancelot Londell Haynes.”
All vestiges of sleep fled when Lance sat up and pulled Dina up with him. “Really?”
Dina didn’t know why, but he sounded like a little child. “Yes, really.”
Lance discovered that his wife was an ever-changing mystery. She’d told him that she wanted to wait a year before starting a family, but it was apparent she’d changed her mind. “When do you wan
t to start?”
“As soon as possible. We may have to see a fertility specialist.”
“It doesn’t matter, baby girl. I’ll agree to anything as long as you have our babies.”
“And I will,” Dina said confidently.
AFTER HOURS
ISBN: 978-1-4268-1355-9
Copyright © 2008 by Rochelle Alers
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