by M. S. Parker
The images showed him passing over an envelope to her.
“Did she open it out here? Did you see what was inside?”
“No,” Geoffrey said, his voice quiet. “I’m sorry.”
I just shook my head and headed inside.
The elevator moved too slow. If I could’ve run to the top, I would have, but that was too many stairs to climb, especially at a fast pace. I was impatient though, desperate to get upstairs. I had to see what had chased her out. There was something.
Something.
There had to be.
She wouldn’t have just left for no reason.
I found the note I’d left her by the phone and there was no sign she’d even seen it. Usually, if she saw a note, she left a response. A smiley face, an ok…something. This simple note—Gone to see PI—was just my black chicken scratch on white paper. Oddly forlorn.
I moved through each room. Living room. Kitchen. Hallway. Up the stairs to the bathroom. The sour, acrid stink of somebody getting sick lingered beneath the mint of mouthwash and toothpaste.
My own stomach roiled in sympathy.
I moved onto her bedroom and the pieces immediately clicked into place.
Numb, I dropped down onto her bed and picked up the pictures.
I found myself thinking of last night and how Penelope had turned into a living, breathing vine, twining herself around me until I’d had to forcibly remove her.
Her mouth had been too cool under mine, her lips too thin. Too not...still, she’d clung to me and each attempt I’d made to make her stop had only made her cling tighter. It had been like being suffocated and for a few bleak, black minutes, I’d flashed back to the year I’d spent in the dark.
The world had realigned itself when she slid her tongue along my lips and said, “I can give you so much more than she can…”
I’d stopped trying to be gentle at that point and had shoved her away from me, staring at her in disgust. “You can’t give me what you don’t have, Penelope.”
She’d said nothing else, just watched me with a triumphant expression on her face. That look made sense now.
She’d set this up.
Both of them had.
And now Aleena thought...
I shot upright.
Geoffrey. He’d said he knew where she was going.
***
“I can’t make her talk to you, Dominic.”
Molly glanced at me and then back over her shoulder. Some short, squat woman with a stern face and square jaw was glancing at us. A new boss? I don’t know. Didn’t care.
She sighed, “Look, she’s pretty…”
I dumped the pictures down on the table and Molly’s gaze flicked to them. Judging by the expression on her face, Aleena had told her about them. Not surprising. What I was surprised about, however, was that Molly hadn’t punched me when I’d walked in. I had the feeling that if I’d shown up at Molly’s apartment, I might not have been so lucky.
“Penelope set it up,” I said bluntly. “I think she set it all up, including when Joshua decided to get too hands-on, too pushy, making me get involved. I think Joshua acted like he was so drunk, he could barely move. Otherwise, how, not even an hour later, was he sober enough to go to her place and apologize? Clear-headed enough to see us and take pictures? Then get digital stills from the pictures? And he waited until this morning to show her?”
Molly’s mouth went tight as she pushed through each picture, but she shook her head. “Even if I believe you, I can’t make her talk to you.”
“Try.”
Her eyes moved from the pictures to me, and they softened.
She believed me.
“I can try. But that’s it.”
Chapter 10
Aleena
“A fancy dinner out isn’t my idea of a pep-talk.” Grimacing, I looked down at the sweatshirt I’d pulled on to combat the cool drizzle that had settled over the city this evening. I rather liked it. It matched my mood. I gave Molly a baleful look, although the fact that my eyes were red-rimmed and my clothes looked like something from a thrift store probably made me look less than threatening.
“Oh, this isn’t a pep-talk.” She gave me a cheerful look that made me want to drown her in the nearest puddle. Cheerfully.
“Then what is it?” I reached for the cranberry vodka I’d ordered. If I couldn’t drown myself in brownie batter ice cream, I was going with the next best alternative. Booze.
“An intervention.” She reached for her martini and settled back in the seat with a happy sigh.
Unlike me, Molly was totally dressed for this place, wearing a cute sea green dress that matched her eyes, her bright hair swept up into a crazy topknot that left loose tendrils falling down all around her face. She looked flirty and fun and adorably sexy.
I looked like a slob and that just made me more depressed. “I don’t want an intervention.”
I wanted Dominic. And I hated myself for it.
The smile on her face widened. “Oh, relax. You’ll feel better when it’s done.”
“No. I won’t.” I went to take another sip of my drink, but the drink didn’t make it halfway to my lips.
A familiar laugh drifted toward my ears and I froze, everything in me going cold.
That laugh.
Slowly, I put the glass back down. Better to do it now before I got up and found Penelope Rittenour, grabbed the elegant coif of her hair and slammed her pretty, perfect face into the nearest flat surface.
I was going to get over this.
I was going to get over him.
I was going to do it without killing either of them.
Elegant greenery provided the suggestion of privacy, although it wasn’t truly private. All I had to do was try, and I’d be able to see through the leaves and lattice work. Granted, I would look like an idiot. Still. I could see...I shook my head.
Carefully, I pulled the napkin from my lap and reached for my purse. “I don’t want to be here.” I made a move to stand up and Molly reached out and caught my arm.
“Sit.” She glared at me. Her fingers squeezed my arm with enough force to catch my attention and she didn’t let go.
“Hey!” I snapped. Jerking against her grip, I tried to twist away.
Molly was small, petite, bordering on delicate. I shouldn’t have had that much trouble breaking free from her grip.
The key word being shouldn’t.
She was a hell of a lot stronger than she looked.
“Sit.” When I narrowed my eyes at her, she stuck out her tongue at me. Then, with an arched eyebrow, she tilted her head to one side and said quietly, “You love the guy.”
It was pointless to deny it. “Well, I’m going to do whatever I can to change that.” Yeah, I loved him. I loved him so much it was choking me, killing me, squeezing the air out of my lungs. It was a gaping wound inside me now and nothing would ever fill it.
“Yeah. Good luck with that.” Her eyes softened and she shook her head. “Aleena, I’ve been in love. Maybe not the big L, which I think is what you’ve got going on. But even those little l break-ups hurt like…well, hell. It’s not as easy as that to just get over it. And if he’s the real thing, you’ll never get over him.” She paused and then added, “Besides, what happened… it’s not what you think.”
I would have laughed if I’d had the air to do it, but the pain was suffocating me, like a hand around my throat.. More than once since I’d seen those pictures, I’d found myself on the verge of passing out because I couldn’t breathe.
“Just how am I supposed to misinterpret what I saw? They were fucking pictures, Molly, not exactly open to interpretation.” I fought to keep my voice low. The last thing I needed was the humiliation of him finding me here. Of them both finding me here. Seeing me, especially dressed like this. It was like my worst nightmare come true.
“You’re wrong,” she said. “It was a setup. All of it. Now listen.”
She pressed a finger to her lips and it was as if the entir
e place had gotten the message. All but Penelope and her voice carried. Even the music was quieter. Noticeably so.
Molly placed her phone on the table in front of us and I watched as she tugged out a pair of ear buds, sliding the jack into place. She fiddled a moment and muttered, “This is so cloak and dagger. I love it.”
“What—?”
“Shh!” She pressed a finger to her lips again and then lifted up an ear bud.
I stared at it and she shoved it closer. There was no point in arguing with her. Sighing, I tucked it into my ear while she did the same with the one she held. A moment later, two familiar voices filled my ear. They were loud, clear and unmistakable.
Penelope’s voice grated on me and Dominic’s low murmur made me want to cry. Or hit something. My hands curled into tight little balls, nails biting into my palms. The word catfight had never sounded so appealing as it did then. I wanted to go over and scratch her eyes out. I wanted to sink my hands in her hair and yank. I wanted to be as unladylike as possible and I wanted to hurt her. Hurt him, too. Hurt him like he’d hurt me.
“Dominic, I must say, I was surprised to hear from you.” She spoke in that low, almost raspy way I suspected she thought was appealing. It wasn’t, at least not to me, but then again, I wasn’t really her target audience. For all I knew, Dominic thought it was damn sexy. For all I knew, Dominic thought she was damn sexy.
He does, a snide voice inside my head sneered. You saw photographic evidence, remember?
“Surprised?” Dominic said.
My heart lurched at the sound of his voice and I curled my hands around the cushioned seat under me. It was better than hurting myself. I was hurting enough as it was.
“But of course.” Penelope’s voice lowered. “You know I’m seeing Joshua now. It’s too late for us, Dominic.”
Frowning, I shot Molly a glance. What was Penelope playing at? Molly shook her head and jabbed a finger at the phone, wordlessly telling me to keep listening.
I rolled my eyes and then turned to glare at the screen of greenery and latticework that blocked them from view. They were maybe ten feet away. Too close for me to really hear them without the help of Molly’s electronic eavesdropping. I was torn between wanting to see them and not wanting to. Both options made me feel sick to my stomach.
“Joshua…” Dominic’s laugh was humorless. “Yes, I think the both of you proved how serious you two are.”
“About last night, Joshua was drunk,” Penelope said. “He’s a good man. He didn’t mean anything. He—”
“I talked to him a couple hours ago. He told me everything. Including the ten thousand dollar debt you covered for him if he went along with your little scheme.”
I jerked and if Molly hadn’t caught my drink, it would have splattered across the fine white tablecloth. My heart started to gallop in my chest.
“I…Dominic.” She sounded brittle now. Less confident. Strained even. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It wasn’t that hard to find out. I know all about Joshua’s gambling debts. His family’s cut him off. He’s expected to man up, get a job, deal with it on his own.” Dominic sounded amused. “Apparently, his idea of manning up is pretending to get drunk and rough up women, then taking pictures of them and passing them around. Interesting occupation. Is he an actor? A reverse private investigator? He did a bang-up job, I’ve got to say.”
The silence that followed was so complete, I could hear breathing coming through the ear buds. I squirmed around and shoved at the greenery. I didn’t care if I looked like an idiot now. I had to see them. I had to know if it was for real.
Dominic was staring at Penelope, but his expression was anything but friendly. Penelope sat facing opposite him and I could see most of her face, the rigid line of her shoulders and spine. She reached for her wine glass and sipped, lowered it. Sipped again. Lowered it.
Finally, she spoke and her voice was smooth, but with a ragged edge underneath. “Really, Dominic, that’s quite an interesting fantasy you’ve concocted.”
“Come off it, Penelope.” Dominic leaned forward and gave her a cold, deadly smile. It was the smile I’d seen him give a dozen people in the boardroom and it was the kind of smile that made wise people back down. “Joshua was smart. He knew that I could do a lot of damage so when I made him a deal, he realized it was better to just accept. Do you really want to fuck with me on this?”
Her laugh came through the phone bright and happy. “Are you threatening me, Dominic? What are you planning to do? Hit me?”
“Actually, yes.”
Ice grabbed me, but only for a moment. I started to get up, but again, Molly stopped me. “Wait,” she said, her voice low.
“I’ll hit you right where it hurts, Penelope.”
I heard the sound of paper shuffling and turned my head, once more staring through the small gap I’d created.
“It’s interesting, the things men will tell you when you hold a great deal of leverage over them.” Dominic smiled and flipped a piece of paper around for her to see.
I couldn’t see it, but I knew it was a picture, a large one. Penelope glanced at it. “That’s hardly anything for me to be concerned about, Dominic. You and I kissed. It’s nothing shocking.”
“This wasn’t us kissing.” Dominic leaned forward and said quietly. “This was you throwing yourself at me for the two seconds it took me to get you off.”
Even from where I sat, I could see her stiffening. She relaxed almost immediately though and plucked up another piece of paper—another picture—and gave it a disinterested look. Her smile was cool as she said, “This lasted a lot longer than two seconds.”
Dominic smirked at her. “That’s because you wouldn’t take no for an answer and you kept pushing.” He looked as though he was considering something and then he said softly, “I never had any desire to kiss you, or do anything else with you, and you should be grateful, Penelope. If I had, you would have run away screaming.” His voice darkened. “You couldn’t handle me.”
“Oh, let me guess,” she said, leaning forward and giving a mock shudder. “You are too tormented, too twisted by your tragic childhood. Am I too much a lady for your twisted needs?”
“I’d never mistake you for a lady, Penelope.” Dominic gave her a devilish smile. “What you are is not enough of a woman to satisfy me.”
Her mouth tightened.
“What would you do if I wanted to tie you to the bed and whip you until your ass was cherry red?”
She’d picked up her wineglass after his insult and it made a faintly musical sound when she dropped it, breaking into tiny little shards.
She didn’t seem to notice, just sat staring at him in dull shock.
Then she swallowed. “That’s not amusing, Dominic. Really. I can see that you’re upset, but there’s no need—”
“I’m not joking.” His eyes were hard, bright, but without warmth. “There are a dozen rumors floating around about me and my sexual proclivities. People either feed them or they ignore them. Clearly, you fall into the same camp as my mother. You ignore them.”
“That’s…”
A server appeared at their side, but Dominic waved him away. “You can deal with the glass in a moment,” he said, his voice harsh.
“But, Mr. Snow.”
“In a moment,” Dominic snapped.
Penelope was now looking everywhere but at Dominic.
“You look upset,” Dominic said, his voice silky. He leaned forward and Penelope shrank back.
Both of us saw it.
Dominic looked amused by it.
I wanted to smack her.
She finds out he likes kinky sex and that makes him dirty?
“Why are you trying to fuck with me, Penelope? Is it because I didn’t want you…or is it because I wanted someone better. Because I wanted Aleena?”
Her gaze jerked back to his and she seemed to come out of her dazed state, her spine stiffening. A second later, he had water dripping down his fac
e.
Seething, Penelope put her water glass back on the table and rose. “Her.” Scorn dripped from her voice like the droplets of water from Dominic’s face. “You could have had me—and please note, the word is had. You could have had me. Do you know how many men would’ve killed to be in your position? And yet you chose that common whore.”
I slid from the booth. This time, Molly made no attempt to stop me.
Penelope turned and started to walk away, but stopped when she saw me. She tried to smile, but it wobbled, then fell away as I stepped toward her. It struck me then that the restaurant was empty. It was only us and the staff.
Dominic had set this up.
Him and Molly.
I glanced past Penelope to see him standing there, watching me, emotion burning hot in his eyes.
Swallowing hard, I looked back at Penelope. Her gaze flitted around, bouncing off everything but me. She couldn’t even look at me.
My anger dissipated into something else. “What kind of miserable, unhappy person must you be that you constantly go out of your way to make other people as miserable and unhappy as you are?” I asked. She started to pass me, but I moved, cutting her off. “Don’t.”
Penelope drew back her head, her nostrils flaring. “Move out of my way.”
“Answer my question,” I shot back. “Why do you do this? Are you so miserable that this is the only way you can exist? By making everybody else unhappy too?”
“Miserable?” Her laugh was shrill. She pressed a hand to her chest as she looked around, as though expecting somebody else to voice their shock as well, but there was nobody, save for Dominic and Molly. “I’m one of the richest women in the entire state. The mayor, the governor, celebrities call me out of the blue to ask me to attend their functions. I’m Penelope Rittenour and I’m—”
“Miserable.” I interrupted. “Knowing people, having money…none of that makes you happy. Do you even remember the last time you were happy? Have you ever been happy?”
Her mouth fell open.
I walked around her and went to Dominic. Halfway there, I paused and looked back at her. She was still standing there, staring.