“I have no idea what you’re speaking of?”
“Simple question, Constance. Very simple, actually. How. Fucking. Long?” Her eyes bulged with the intensity and condescension of my tone. “This…” I swatted the air in front of her face. “This bewilderment is very unbecoming, Con. I’ve already caught you in two lies today, you going to go for three? Or are you gonna start talking?”
“Your behavior is atrocious.” She flipped her perfectly manicured fingers up, turned her back on me, and tugged at the partially closed drape blocking the floor to ceiling window. “Distressed or not, your language and tone are beyond offensive. A woman of my stature doesn’t deserve to be spoken to in this manner.”
“Stature? What stature? What exactly have you achieved? You don’t have any more prestige than the homeless guy on a corner begging for his next meal. Chances are, he’s most likely had shit luck, while you, if we’re being honest,” her glare bounced off my anger and I smirked, “you’re no better than your bastard husband who’s already rotting in hell.” She blinked and her face flushed with something unreadable. I demanded again, “How long, Constance?”
“Asher, you have completely overstepped your bounds. Your complete disrespect for my deceased husband is abominable. You need to leave, now. Or I’m calling the police.” She stalked toward the phone sitting on the huge mahogany desk.
“Go ahead. I’m sure New York’s finest would be interested in hearing just how aware you were of your dearly deceased husband’s affinity for the underage.” She didn’t blink, didn’t flinch, didn’t react. At all. Son of a bitch. If I wasn’t sure before, I was now. “In fact, why don’t we call Chase first? How do you think that will end?” She pulled her hand back and dropped her arm. Good choice. She was about to learn that life as she knew it, courtesy of her estranged son, was over. Done.
“I’m Chase’s mother. I’m all he has, the only family he has left. We’ve had our differences over the years, but he would never turn against me or believe whatever fabrications you’ve concocted.”
“Like hell he wouldn’t. You obviously don’t know your son at all. Lili is his life, his family. And turns out he has a brother, but you already knew that, didn’t you? You … you are nothing to him,” I hissed, feeling my rage pulse with each beat of my heart.
“That boy is a bastard. Chase will never accept him.”
“How do you fucking sleep at night?” My vexing tone, even unfamiliar to me, echoed off the walls of the mausoleum. Constance’s jaw dropped open, but I wasn’t done. “For the first time in twenty years, I’m relieved Kim’s not here to witness how grotesque you are. How long have you known that your husband raped her best friend, in your own house no less?”
“Please-” She threw her head back and rolled her eyes. “Is that the story the singing slut is telling?”
“She was intoxicated and seventeen!” I roared.
“A seventeen-year-old whore,” she bit back. “A victim, I think not.”
“How long did you know your husband was fucking underage eye candy?”
I knew she knew about Talia when she slipped about California. Her callous demeanor sold her out. I could almost guarantee she played the betrayed widow card when the barely legal ones started crawling out of the woodwork after Jack bit it. There was no way Talia was the only teenager that pig took advantage of.
“How many times, Constance? How many times did you catch your husband screwing a teenager? Too many to count, huh? And what did you do? Absolutely nothing. You stood by his side and let him get away with it. God forbid you jeopardized losing your clout, your fortune—god forbid anyone found out about his dirty little secret and keep you from your next black tie affair.”
“Don’t you stand there and judge me. You know nothing about my life, my marriage, what I’ve been through!”
“What you’ve been through? Do tell, Constance, what exactly have you been through? You know, don’t answer that. I’m not interested in your warped version of history. I’ll lay it out for you. You threw your only daughter to the wolves and let her rot until she died to keep your tennis membership, all the while keeping your husband’s perverse secrets. Stop lying for once in your goddamn life. How long did you know Talia Prince was living in California, struggling as a single mother because your fucking pig couldn’t keep it in his pants? How. Long?”
“Don’t you mean Pryce?” Constance crossed her Chanel-clad arms.
The thought of hitting a woman had never, ever crossed my mind. Ever. Until now.
Balance, cock, torque, strike.
I pulled the folded papers from my back pocket and slammed them down. “It doesn’t matter how long. Take a good look around.” My left arm braced my two hundred pounds of rage against the desk, while my right gestured toward the room. “Hope you’ve enjoyed it. Hope it was all worth it. You have thirty days to get out.”
“What is this?” She eyed the contract with disbelief. “You cannot sell my apartment.”
“Last time I checked, Chase’s name was on the deed, I should know. I handled the transfer when he bailed your ass out of foreclosure. And that’s his signature on the bottom of the sale contract.”
“My son would never evict me from my home!”
“Your son hates you more than I do. And your monthly little allowance, done.”
Her beady eyes bulged from her sockets. “That is ludicrous, how am I going to live? I’m calling my son.”
I tossed my cell on the desk. “Go ahead, call him. Better chance he’ll answer my call than yours.” She knew this was true.
“You don’t have the power to do this.”
“Beg to differ. I have the power to do a whole lot worse. Your son’s not feeling as gentlemanly as I am. He couldn’t care less if you wind up in a shelter resembling the shit hole you sent Kim to. I’m sure you’re unfamiliar with the concept of security, first and last month. I might be willing to arrange your rent as long as you’re far enough away.”
“All this for that gold digging tramp. Seriously, Asher!”
“Talia never asked for or wanted a dime of your dirty money. She worked hard and provided for her son. She is pure class. Unlike you.” I nailed my index finger into the mahogany and bent over to eye level. Through gritted teeth, I made sure Constance heard me, loud and clear. “You ever disrespect my woman or her son again, I will ruin you. Shelter life will look like a luxury. Do you understand me?” It was not a threat. It was the truth. And from the change in her expression, Constance knew it.
“Don’t do this, Asher. Your mother didn’t raise you this way.”
“My mother raised me to protect my family. And I am.”
Defeat settled into her shoulders. “So be it. I’ll be in touch when I procure a new residence so you can tend to the particulars. The harsh winters have been taking a toll on me as of late and I have friends in the Naples area. I take it Florida is an acceptable distance.”
Unbelievable, she thought I was going to trade out her over-privileged life for the warmer weather version.
“I’d get familiar with Craigslist. You’ll need to sell most of this to cover, hmm, six months maybe. Price of real estate down there’s a bitch.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Serious as cancer and I would know.
“Security, first and last.”
“ASHER!” Her nasal whine bested that of any vulture vying for a spot on a carcass. She was unraveling.
I wanted to revel in it, but then I thought of my woman and how I could use this opportunity to possibly shed more weight from her shoulders.
“You want me to consider putting you into a one bedroom condo, I need something.”
“One bedroom…” Her repugnance unfazed me and she saw it. She readjusted her attitude before finishing with, “What do you want?”
It was a long shot, but then again this witch was so money hungry I bet she had overturned every drawer, safe, and deposit box she could find looking for any unseized assets. If the bastard
was stupid enough to hide them, there was a possibility she still had them.
“Pictures.”
“What pictures?” Her plastic facade betrayed her.
“Fine. Good luck with a rental. Let me know how that works out for you.”
“You moron, there are no pictures, never were. Do you really think Jack would be stupid enough to document his indiscretions, that he would risk everything? For what? A visual he could easily find in a gentleman’s magazine.”
“EXCUSE ME.” Make no mistake: there was nothing polite about my words. They were lethal.
“Asher, your ignorance disappoints me. The pictures were my idea. Did you honestly think I’d let his little whores threaten our livelihood? Please, give me some credit. Naivety is a weakness in itself. The threat of humiliation was more than effective.”
It was no longer a fleeting thought or passing urge, it was an internal struggle to hold back.
Balance, cock, torque, strike.
I might not have used my fist, but I delivered the blow.
“Not one fucking penny is coming your way. Not one. This is me ruining you. You. Are. Done.”
She gasped, realizing her fatal error. “But you said-”
“I lied.”
“I have an idea for tonight.” Tal still didn’t know. I stood in the steamed-filled bathroom in my parents’ house and listened to her shower, which in itself was almost nearly impossible, but I managed. Barely. We decided to spend one more night in the Hamptons before heading back home. Ma was discharged after breakfast and we finally got her situated a few hours ago. Tal had her casted arm propped up on three pillows and a cup of tea in her other hand. But that wasn’t what was even bothering her. King wasn’t kidding—her entire right side was twelve shades of purple. Of course Tal whipped out some homeopathic shit from her purse, called it Derm Gold. Five sublingual tabs later and a layer of cream, and Mom was set. What did I know, as long as it helped. Come to think of it, I probably could’ve benefitted from a little under the tongue Arnica when I busted up my face and hand a couple of months ago. No need to rehash the past, that drama was over. Typical though, one shit-storm passed and another arises. Whatever, life’s latest excrement was going to wait. Right now I just needed my girl and I needed a way to let her know her twenty-year hurricane was over. (Or typhoon if she was still feeling her West coast roots.)
“I don’t mind if we stay in, your mom may need us. Besides, aren’t we heading back early tomorrow morning since you have that big meeting?” Tal tiptoed out of the shower, toweled off, and wrapped her hair up into one of those twisty things.
Talk about challenging my self-control. Damn, she was gorgeous and just an arm’s length away.
Mom’s cast, Emma’s doll, baseball. Yeah, one hundred percent, baseball did jack. Back to Mom’s cast. Mom-anything … that worked. Every time.
With my lower half in check, I leaned against the vanity and freely gawked. “Tal, I love you. I love how important my parents are to you. But tonight you’re mine. Non-negotiable. As for tomorrow, we’ll get back in time or we won’t. Suzie can handle it. She might kill me, but it will be worth it. Tonight’s about you. This,” I waved a hand down my front and pulled her now towel-clad body toward mine, hugging and grinning against her lips, “is all yours.”
“Your situation,” she smirked.
“Yup.”
Her sass earned her a brush of our lips. Face-wash mixed with toothpaste mixed with straight up natural Tal, sweet Jesus, I could eat her. Without even trying she made everything better. Not just tolerable, but better.
“So really, how was today? Dad seemed more with it when we got home this afternoon. Just left him and Mom in the kitchen polishing off some kickass meatballs. You…” Kiss. “...can seriously cook. Anything you can’t do?” Kiss. “My real life Wonder Woman. Seriously, though, I can’t believe all the food you made. They’ll be set for the week. Thank you.”
She broke free from my grasp and unwound her hair. With her wide comb she began her post shower ritual. Same thing every time. With Tal I noticed everything.
“When I mentioned a trip to the grocery store, you had to see his list of mandatory meals.” She laughed, now moving onto the lotion, first arms, chest and stomach, then legs. De-lic-ious.
“Guess the appetite is the last to go.” I laughed with her. It felt good keeping it light, shit if we didn’t we’d all go insane. I reminded myself to be that guy, the one Tack described, the one that rolled with the punches, dealt with the good and the bad. “And Mom can deny it all she wants, but you couldn’t miss how relieved she looked when the night nurse got here. I caught her yawning between every bite.”
“No, you definitely did the right thing. Poor thing’s exhausted. Actually, just let me throw on some clothes and get the kitchen cleaned up. That’s the last thing she needs to worry about. And then I’m yours.”
“Kitchen’s done, Mom’s set, and it’s already been established, you are mine. So your only job is to slip on something easy, I don’t want to have to struggle later.” She eye rolled me and pinked. I loved that I could still do that to her. “Now let’s go stare at the stars.”
“Stare at stars, huh? Yeah, that’s exactly what you had in mind.”
“What? Now whose mind is in the gutter?” I laughed.
“Wow.” We emerged from the spacious galley with full bellies and a little buzz. I tucked her against my side and led her to the bow. After a quick call to Drew and a fish market stop, we had a delicious dinner and a great bottle of wine on his new catamaran. Sweet boat with all the amenities, my brother-in-law did good.
“God, Ash, you’re right. I can see every single star. Do you remember when we were kids and we would lay on the tennis courts trying to find shooting stars?”
Yeah, if she only knew what I had wished for. I pulled her down onto the open air trampoline and laid her head against my chest thinking how this might have been one of them. It was pitch black this far out. I’d have to remember to thank Drew later for securing the dock at the very end. There wasn’t another soul in sight.
“Look, there’s one. Make a wish!”
I buried my face in her golden silk and inhaled all of her; she could transfix me with her scent alone. Her concerned gaze lifted to seek out mine. My only guess was that she misread my silence.
“Oh, Ace, I’m sorry. That was insensitive. I know how much you’re struggling over your Dad-”
“Hey, shhh. I might be an insensitive ass, but my dad is the last thing on my mind right now. Tonight is about us, about you, and I’m not going to feel guilty about it. Okay?”
She lifted her head from my chest, caught my eyes and smiled.
“Can we get back to wishes now?” She grinned. “Good. Mine’s more of a two-parter. I’m lucky the first part’s already come true. You’re here.” My lips instinctively found their way to my favorite spot on her forehead right between her brows. “As for part two, feeling pretty confident luck’s on my side for that one tonight, too.”
“Hmm,” she giggled.
I rolled on my side and flexed my hips so she could feel my luck. Her laugh was infectious as she followed suit and wiggled her pelvis over mine.
“Same wish I see.” I raised a brow and lifted up onto my elbow. She fell onto her back and stared up at me. I swore her eyes twinkled brighter than any of the two million stars overhead. The light of the moon reflected off her blonde hair. I tucked a loose strand the wind caught behind her ear, as the last seven months flashed before my eyes. Was this luck?
“You are it for me,” she whispered.
Luck, fate, coincidence, happenstance, call it what you want. I didn’t care. I liked the sound of that. Screw that. I loved the sound of that.
“This is perfect, no, we are perfect, and I can’t think of one other thing I could possibly want. I’m not wishing tonight. I don’t need to. Besides, I don’t want to tempt lady luck, she hasn’t exactly been my biggest fan, I’d like to keep her in our good graces.”
And just like that reality joined the dark ocean, rippling around us. There was no escaping that we both had our fair of shit luck, Tal’s far outweighing my own. But she was right, the tide had changed and we both were swimming in it. We were lucky and I wasn’t going to let anything or anyone screw it up.
“Do you trust me?”
“Oh Ace, not this again. Yes, of course. Why are you asking me that?”
“I’ve been contemplating how to tell you since last night—whether to lay it all out or just give the bullets. And not because I don’t think you can handle it. I know you can, they don’t come stronger than you. But selfishly I don’t want you to have to.”
“Now you have to tell me and don’t sugarcoat it.” Her back tightened and she sat up, tucking her knees into her chest. I hated when she went into her protective ball. I could only hope that after I delivered this final news I would never see her defensive armor again. She was too beautiful, too confident to be frightened of the past.
“You know my greatest fear, and I know yours.” I spread my legs and cocooned her tiny frame firmly against me. Her eyes widened with understanding, tightening the knot in my chest. Son of a bitch, there weren’t ever any pictures. She never needed to know that. This I would take to my grave. “I ran into Constance yesterday, it’s over. You don’t ever have to worry. It all died with him.”
She flinched and I tightened my hold. “Constance ... Constance Colton?” She tipped her head to the side with confusion wrinkling her beautiful face. “What did she say? Wait … she found out? Oh my god. She must hate me.”
“She may hate you, but you have it backwards, Tal.”
A sickening realization spread across her face. Her voice was barely above a whisper when she uttered, “She knew?”
I wanted her to be angry. To yell. To scream. To cry. Nope, not Tal. She dropped her head against my shoulder, completely defeated. My heart cracked for her. She was betrayed by a woman, a wife, and most importantly, a mother. Her best friend’s mother. Someone who should have been there to protect her. This was nothing more than another devastating blow to my woman. But I was damn well going to do everything in my power to make this the last. She deserved this and so much more.
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