following the crazy weekend that had resulted in blackmail revelations, baby revelations, and a frustrating lack of wine, Toni rang the bell with Katherine and Megan behind her.
One of the new guys had dropped a tire jack on her foot that morning. Needless to say, she wasn’t in the sunniest mood.
“Are you sure about this?” Megan asked.
“I’m having a ‘why the fuck not?’ kind of day,” Toni said. “So I’m not really thinking about it too closely.”
Marissa opened the door, wearing a fashionable set of rose-colored loungewear that complemented her perfect complexion and dark brown eyes.
“Toni?”
“Hey, Marissa.”
The corner of her mouth turned up, and she leaned against the doorjamb. “I don’t know what you want, but—”
“That’s okay.” Toni grabbed her arm, wrapped her fingers around it, and gathered a sense of calm to flood Marissa’s senses. “Why don’t you just let us in so you can relax?”
Immediately, Marissa’s eyes drooped and she blinked slowly. “Um… okay.”
“Can we come in?”
“Yeah.” She stepped aside. “Come on it. That’s fine.”
“Holy shit, this is very creepy,” Megan muttered behind her as Toni led Marissa into the entryway and past the small front room that looked like a shell shop had tastefully exploded.
She didn’t let go of Marissa’s arm, not once, as they walked to the living room with a view of bustling South Beach. Broad french doors opened to a balcony that looked over the ocean, and flashing lights from the boardwalk flickered in the distance.
She was pushing calm into Marissa with more force than she’d ever tried before. Her intent was to make Marissa as amenable as possible, but she worried a little bit about making her fall asleep too.
Katherine asked quietly, “Have you ever done this before?”
“Like this? Nope.” Toni settled next to Marissa on the overstuffed cream couch and she didn’t waste time. “Tell me about you and Whit. Did you approach him? Or did he approach you?”
“He was at the club one weekend. He was so sweet.” Her smile fell. “I thought he really liked me, but he just… hated Nico.” She slumped against the couch, looking slightly drunk. “I mean… two months after we started fooling around, he tells me he has a fiancée. And she knows about us. They have an…” Marissa attempted to use air quotes and failed miserably. “…open relationship. What the fuck is that?”
Katherine said, “Generally it’s an established relationship where both members are allowed to have sexual relationships outside the typical bonds of monogamy, but it’s not considered cheating because—”
“Oh my God, I fucking know what an open relationship is.” Marissa was starting to sound more than slightly drunk. “I just think they’re… bullshit. Like, he’s a man, right? He was totally cheating on her. She probably knew and didn’t care.” The groggy woman waved a hand. “Whatever. All men are trash.”
“But you’re the one who told him about Henry,” Toni said. “Aren’t you?”
“Damn.” She laughed a little. “Have you seen him? I mean, he’s hot. He’s built like a tree. I’d climb that twice a day if you let me. But then he’s all polite and sweet. He’s like a… puppy. Like a cute little… fucking sexy puppy.”
Toni didn’t even have words.
Megan said, “I wish you could see the face you’re making right now. It’s truly a thing to behold.”
“She’s just so gross.” Toni tried to relax the expression of disgust, but it was difficult. “And she’s talking about my… Henry.”
“Watching you dance around your actual feelings for this man is going to be the highlight of my year.” Megan had that infuriating smirk again. “For real. It’s very amusing.”
“Hey, Marissa?” Toni shook her arm. The woman had been dozing off. “Who else was Whit blackmailing?”
“Uh…” She squinted. “More than Henry. He had a safe and… he kept all sorts of stuff in there. Like his accounts.” Her voice had taken on a singsong quality. “And some cash. And a couple of guns.” She stared at the french doors. “The lights are so twinkly.”
“What are you doing to her?” Katherine said.
“I’m pushing all the calm I can into her. Kind of like what I did with Justin when he tried to shoot up the gym, only not as much because I don’t want her to fall asleep.”
“Twinkle, twinkle…” Marissa blinked. “Little… stars.”
Megan kept up the train of questions. “So Whit Fairfield had a book of people he was blackmailing?”
“I think so. I saw him get it when he was going to a meeting with…” Marissa’s eyes were half-closed.
“Toni! Too much.”
“Oh?” She blinked. “Sorry,