Double or Nothing

by Wells, Donald

  “I do believe you love June, but If you’re marrying my daughter just for her money, then let me save you time and her a life of heartache. Agree to stop seeing June and I’ll give you fifty million dollars. Sign this contract and you’ll be an extremely wealthy man.”

  David bolts out of his seat. “You son of a bitch! Take that check and—”

  It is then that both men notice Simon standing in the doorway.

  Simon begins stammering. “I, I’m sorry to interrupt Blake…I thought that you were a, alone.”

  “Simon! Goddamn you, how many times have I told you to knock? Whatever piddling household problem you’ve come to see me about can wait. Go away!”

  Simon glances at David. “I’m sorry, but is everything all right here?”

  “Yes, now go.” Blake says.

  Simon leaves and David continues. “Take your money and shove it Blake. As far as changing your will goes, forget it. We don’t need your money and we don’t want it. We love each other and we’re getting married. Thanks for our little chat, goodnight.”

  David storms toward the door as Blake calls him back.

  “Wait a moment, please?”

  David walks back over to Blake, his face reddened by anger.

  Blake grins and offers him his hand.

  “By God you’re a man! I offer you millions and you throw it back in my face. Good! David I was only testing you. I had to know just how much you love June. I’m happy to say you’ve passed.” Blake’s hand remains offered and unshaken.

  David sighs deeply as his temper fades and he grips Blake’s hand.

  “I love your daughter very much, so no more tests, huh?”

  “Agreed, I think I’m going to like you as a son-in-law. You’re the only one around here that doesn’t want something from me.”

  “You’re wrong Blake. I do want something from you.”

  Blake stops shaking and releases David’s hand. “What?”

  “I want you to love June as much as you can, she needs all the love she can get.”

  Blake smiles. “She will have it David. I love June bug very much.”

  After leaving the study David goes upstairs to his and June’s bedroom. He opens the door to find the room in darkness and the bed already occupied.

  “Hi David,”

  “Hi yourself, I thought you were asleep.”

  “No, I’ve been lying here waiting for you.”

  “Are you feeling all right honey? You usually don’t go to bed this early.”

  “I feel fine and I’m not sleepy at all. Join me in bed.”

  David undresses and climbs into bed naked. He takes her in his arms and starts kissing her as she passionately kisses him back.

  “Oh David you feel so good, I want you to make love to me.”

  David kisses her again and starts to fondle her breasts.

  April feels David’s hands upon her body and smiles wickedly.

  Jack Martin quietly leaves his daughter’s bedroom and enters his own.

  Kelly sits up in bed reading a magazine as Jack slips in beside her.

  “Is she asleep?” Kelly asks.

  “Yes, it only took one story tonight.”

  “Jack I’ve never seen you happier.”

  “These last few days have been the best of my life, and I’ve come to two decisions.”

  “What are they?”

  “One, I’m leaving the Bureau, I need a less hectic job if I’m going to raise Cathy.”

  “Oh, that means we won’t be seeing each other as much. What’s the second decision you’ve made?”

  Jack reaches into the bedside table and brings out an engagement ring.

  “I decided to stop being a fool and ask you to marry me. I love you Kelly, marry me.”

  “Oh Jack yes, yes I’ll marry you and I promise to be a good mother too.”

  “Kelly you’ve changed my life. I love you so much.”

  “I love you too.” Kelly says, and the two kiss. As Kelly admires her ring she asks. “How soon are you leaving the Bureau?”

  “There are a few things I want to clear away and then I’ll let Lindstrom know, probably in a month or so.”

  “That soon? Oh God, it’ll just be me and Morgan then.”

  “Quit too Kelly, there’s a lot of money to be made consulting on Internet security, and that way we’ll be partners in business and marriage.”

  “Law enforcement is all I know. I’ve never thought of doing anything else, but maybe it’s time for a fresh start. Let me consider it for a while, in the meantime I’ve got a wedding to plan.”

  Jack takes her hand. “Mrs. Martin, I promise to make you happy.”

  “You’d better Mr. Martin.”

  18

  David lies in bed with April, believing her to be June. As they kiss, he feels her hands explore his body as he fondles her breasts. David lowers his head and begins sucking both protruding nipples. The woman beneath him squirms in obvious pleasure.

  David stops his lovemaking. Something’s not right.

  “June are you sure everything’s OK? Did your sisters do something to upset you?”

  April answers breathlessly. “No my sisters are very sweet, please go back to what you were doing.”

  David complies and in moments arousal takes his mind off feelings of uneasiness. “June” moves out from beneath him and pushes David onto his back. She kisses him fiercely on the mouth and then lowers herself below his waist. David feels himself being taken into her mouth and is engulfed by the pleasure of her oral ministrations.

  Somewhere behind the pleasure, there is again the feeling of uneasiness. It pulsates through the pleasure like a strobe light through darkness. In time, it enters his awareness and competes mightily with the intense pleasure he’s feeling.

  April removes her mouth and slides up along his body. David puts his right arm around her while shifting their combined weight onto his left. In one smooth motion he positions “June” onto her back while he lowers himself atop of her.

  April spreads her thighs in welcome to the pressure of his hips.

  David kisses her once more and the strobe of uneasiness turns into a floodlight of apprehension. He is filled by dual feelings of great lust and immense anxiety, and it is leading to…distraction.

  David kisses “June” again as he has a thousand times before and experiences the same curve of mouth and breadth of lip kiss him back. This is June’s taste. This is June’s feel. But this is not June’s aura.

  Something’s not right, just not right.

  David rises and kneels between April’s legs. He feels the heat radiating from her like a thing alive and lenghtens with renewed vigor.

  THIS WOMA IS READY! His mind screams. TAKE HER!

  It is the primate brain clamoring at man to propagate the race, to spread the seed. Lust overwhelms him and he lowers himself upon her. As he’s about to enter her he hears the other voice of man. The voice of his soul, as it whispers to him in a wordless language that leaves no uncertainty.

  THIS IS NOT YOUR WOMAN. THIS IS NOT YOUR LOVE

  David halts mere inches from ecstasy and rolls off of April.

  April cries out in a hoarse voice. “Oh God don’t stop now. Fuck me! I want you inside me I have to have you.”

  “Which one are you, April or May?”

  April’s eyes shift back and forth. “What do you mean? I’m June, make love to me.”

  “You’re not June.”

  “I could be, at least for a while longer…David…we could still pretend.”

  April then moves down and takes him into her mouth again.

  David lies motionless for a full three seconds as lust battles love, he then reaches down and removes April’s mouth. He fumbles for the light and after switching it on, he looks into her eyes. Her large brown eyes are the very eyes he sees when he looks at June, and yet they’re not; June is not gazing back.

  “How could I have ever thought you were her?” David asks himself.

  �
��Maybe you wanted to fool yourself. It’s not too late and I swear I’ll never tell.”

  “Leave. I won’t tell June what you tried to do, but don’t ever try it again.”

  “David don’t be mad, I like you, May likes you too—together we could love you.”

  David bellows, “GET OUT!” and April tumbles from the bed as if he’d kicked her. She gathers her clothes, dresses quickly and leaves.

  In the hallway, she passes one of the Japanese servants that Blake employs. Four paces past him she halts. April calls him over and then takes him by the hand, to lead him into an unoccupied bedroom.

  Among the male staff at Davenport Manor it is well-known that you will be worked hard for your pay; it is also well-known that there are occasionally fringe benefits.

  Twenty minutes later, while in the shower, David hears a noise. He opens the sliding glass door and looks out to see a Davenport woman standing in the doorway.

  “Hi David.”

  “…Hi,”

  “April and May have so many nice clothes. May wants us all to go shopping together next week in New York City, she says it will take all day.”

  “Uh huh,” David says, staring intently.

  “Are you all right David? You seem quiet.”

  “Come here.” He says, and the woman advances toward him. David looks into her eyes and knows instantly that she is June, his Miss Mouse, his love. David kisses June and at the same time begins unbuttoning her blouse.

  “Did you miss me David?”

  “Yes, more than you know.”

  “Finish your shower while I get undressed and then I’ll take a quick one too.”

  David continues unbuttoning her blouse. “Get undressed and join me.”

  June gives him an impish grin. “In the shower? We’ve never done that before.”

  “I feel the twin needs to both make love to you and to be clean; this is the perfect place.”

  June smiles at David and finishes undressing. She giggles as she steps into the shower and David takes her into his arms.

  By the time the two of them fall into bed they are both clean, sated, and as wrinkled as the sheets David replaced upon April’s departure.

  19

  David and June have their first visitors over for dinner at Davenport Manor, in celebration of June’s legally being recognized as a Davenport. David thought the paperwork involved in coming back from the dead was monstrous, but at least now they could legally marry.

  Carol and Al are seated at the huge dining room table alongside David and June and gaze about at the room’s many works of art.

  Al, from time to time, surreptitiously views the two works of art sitting across from him—April and May. For their part, the girls beam at Al and give him looks that signal definite interest.

  Carol notices all of this and sits smiling graciously at her host. She has too much breeding to crawl across the table and scratch the eyes out of his conniving daughters’ heads, even though it is exactly what she wants to do. Mr. Salvatori likewise will be spared retribution, until later that is, when they are alone.

  “What sort of business are you in Al?” May asks.

  “I’m an investment analyst.”

  “You are more than that Mr. Salvatori.” Blake says.

  “And what else might I be Mr. Davenport?” Al says with a resigned tone, while thinking, Here it comes: goon, thug, street thrash, goomba, any of a dozen names. Well, it was a nice evening.

  “What I mean Sir is that you are a pioneer in capitalistic restructuring.”

  David’s face screws up in confusion. “Blake, speak English for those of us who don’t work on Wall Street.”

  “I’ll speak plainly then. Mr. Salvatori is a member of an illegal and often brutal criminal empire.”

  “Father are you saying that Al works for the I.R.S.?”

  “Quiet April, I’m being serious. La Familia, Mafia, Fratellanza, call it what you will, Mr. Salvatori was born into it and is a major member of it.”

  May asks, “Al, are you really a gangster?” and the titillation in her voice is undisguised.

  Al, long reconciled to occasionally enduring disdain from men like Blake, asks, “Is there a point to this discussion Mr. Davenport?”

  “Yes Sir there is, I salute you and your vision.”

  Al falls back in his seat in surprise. “You salute me?”

  “I am a great admirer of you Mr. Salvatori and of your father who I knew personally.”

  “You knew my poppa?”

  “Yes, I first met Franco in the late seventies during a crises with union strikers. Franco and I had many discussions concerning financial theory, and I see by the choices you’ve made in your own career that you are following in his footsteps.”

  “What do you mean Blake?” David asks, fully intrigued now by Blake’s dialogue.

  “I mean that your friend here and his father before him have combined to take a wholly illegal empire and in two short generations convert it into a mostly legitimate business.”

  “How do you know this?” Al asks.

  “I follow the stock market young man. Salvatori Investments has sustained high growth since its inception and you are its driving force.”

  “You flatter me Mr. Davenport. I have many advisors who are savvier than I am. I also report to my uncle.”

  “Yes, but you make the money decisions. May I ask, do you have a projection for reaching total legitimacy?”

  “Yes.” Al says, and as he speaks he looks solely at Carol. “If I am ever so blessed as to have any, when my sons are my age we will be clean of La Familia, at least that is my hope.”

  “Outstanding! Franco would be proud of you. You are the future. Technologies such as omnipresent police surveillance and high tech advances in security will soon render organized crime not only unsuccessful, but also unprofitable. I would venture to say that a changing morality and the government’s insatiable need for new tax dollars will necessitate the legalization of both prostitution and drug use in the next generation or two. Any major crimes in the future will be thefts of information, and those crimes rarely involve violence. The legal system has shrunk the Mafia to near nothing over the last few decades and that trend will no doubt continue.”

  “Have you ever killed anyone Al?” May asks.

  “Al wouldn’t hurt anyone May; he’s a good man.” June says, defending her friend.

  David attempts to give Al a break. “Why don’t we switch to a different subject? Blake I’ve been dying to ask this for a while now, what exactly is Simon’s job around here?”

  “Simon is the Majordomo, he runs the household staff. He actually grew up here, his mother, an Englishwoman, held the position before him.”

  “Simon’s more than that father.” April says. “He’s like a part of the family David.”

  “He is not a part of this family! He is a servant. You girls always did fawn over him. It’s my fault for practically letting him raise you while I built my businesses.”

  “Father, Simon is good for us. He got us interested in our AIDS charity work.” May says.

  “Yes, there is that, but sometimes that man takes too many liberties.”

  “I’ve read about your charity work April, May, you’ve raised a lot of money.” June says.

  “Yes June, May and I hope that someday you’ll join us in our work, it’s actually a lot of fun. The three of us together could raise tons of money. Not many men could resist us.” April says, while staring at Al.

  Blake reaches over and squeezes June’s hand. “June will find her own way to contribute April, for now she has her hands full recovering her life.”

  After dinner, Simon gives Carol and Al a tour of the impressive home. While Carol and Simon are discussing a tapestry, April and May sidle up alongside Al, who is standing across the room admiring a piece of modern sculpture. Tonight, the girl’s are arrayed in identical chartreuse gowns. The gowns’ necklines dip low while the fashionable slits at their sides ascend skyward,
the effect given by the styling is one of invitation.

  “Hello Al,” The girls say in unison.

  Al admires their legs as he talks. “Hello ladies, you have a beautiful home.”

  “Thank you Al, we’d also like to show you our other home.” April says.

  “You ladies have another home?”

  “Well it’s really a home away from home,” May says. “It’s where we entertain.”

  “We have a bungalow at the country club. May and I will meet you there, say midnight?”

  “Meet me there for what ladies?”

  “Whatever you want Al.” The girls say in unison.

  “I must say, June certainly has a friendly family.”

  “We’ll inform the security at the club to let you in.” May says.

  Al holds up a hand in protest. “Don’t bother.”

  “Why not?” May says.

  “I appreciate the offer ladies, but I will have to pass.”

  “You don’t want us?” April says, and the note of incredulity in her voice makes Al smile.

  “God knows it’s not that, you two are very tempting.”

  “Are you afraid of getting caught by Carol, because we won’t tell.” May says, and all three of them look over at Carol, whose eyes are shooting daggers at them from across the room.

  “I’m not afraid of getting caught. It’s just that I want something else.”

  “What Al?” April says.

  “Carol.”

  “Carol?” May says. “But Al we can have our fun and then you can go back to Carol.”

  “That’s not the way it works ladies.”

  May slowly licks her lips. “If you change your mind, drop on by, we could have so much fun, umm.”

  Al looks the girls up and down. “I don’t doubt that for a second.”

  “Goodbye Al,” The girls say in unison, as they slowly walk away.

  Al turns and smiles at Carol, who sends him a cold stare in return. Al gives her a “What did I do?” shrug back.

  David and June enter the room. June walks over to see Carol, while David talks to Al.

  “Your sister is mad at me Davey and I swear I’ve been a good boy.”

  “April and May?”