Betrayal (22 page)

“Hmm, I love it.”

Christy finger fucked herself, while getting her lover off, and when they both came within minutes of each other, she wiped her mouth, and reemerged from underneath the chair. “I bet you never had a spa service like that before,” she said, sitting on the edge of the platform.

“No, I haven’t.” She was surprised at how comfortable she was with Christy. She had always had male servers at the Black Door, and enjoyed every second of them, but there was something about this girl that had her wishing for more. She knew that she needed to get home, but didn’t want to leave her new lover. She and her husband had been on the outs lately, and there was nothing exciting waiting for her when she returned.

“It was great seeing you again,” Christy said, getting up to leave.

“Wait a minute. I know this isn’t customary, but I was wondering if you’d like to go back to D.C. with me for a few days? We could continue our play date in Washington. My husband will be busy with meetings, and I need something exciting to do.”

“I don’t know. We’re not supposed to see clients outside of the club; it’s against the rules.”

“Who’s going to know? I won’t tell if you don’t.” She winked.

“I certainly won’t tell, but didn’t you say that you’re married?” Christy asked, looking at her skeptically. She didn’t want to be the cause of any marital issues.

“Yes, I’m married.”

“So, what’s your husband going to say when you bring some chick home? I don’t want to get in the middle of your domestic bliss,” she said sarcastically. “Does he know you’re bisexual?”

“Trust me, the bliss is long gone. And he won’t know a thing. I’ll put you up at the Ritz. And just so you know, I’m not bisexual, just adventurous, that’s all. I haven’t been with a woman since college, and that was a hundred years ago.” She chuckled. “Besides, with him working and hitting the bottle, I doubt he’ll even notice my spending a few hours at the Ritz.”

“Well, it would be fun to get away from this place for a few days. Why the hell not?” Christy said, warming up to the idea.

“Excellent! Okay, this is the plan. I’m leaving early in the morning, and will go home, give my husband some charity pussy—that is, if he’s not too drunk to get it up.” She laughed. “Then, I’ll meet you at the hotel.”

“Sounds like you got everything covered on the home front. I’ll see you tomorrow night in D.C.”

The women exchanged last names and cell phone numbers, and kissed good night. Christy went back to work, while her lover left the club, went back to her hotel, and began packing for her return trip home. Lately she had been spending more and more time away from home, since that was the last place she wanted to be. Her once happy marriage was now just a front, and she knew that it was partially her fault.

MICHELE WOKE
up first, looking over at Preston, who was curled up on the rug still asleep. He was naked from the waist down, and she peeked over at his resting penis and smiled. Her plan had worked brilliantly. Not only had Preston’s memory returned, but she was able to exempt herself from Trey and Ariel’s cover-up scheme. As far as Preston was concerned, she knew nothing about the affair, and she planned on keeping it that way. Michele wanted Preston to confide in her, which would only draw them closer. Even though they had made crazy love last night, she knew that that wasn’t enough to drive a permanent wedge between him and his wife. Michele had to play on Preston’s emotions, and make him think that Trey and Ariel were still seeing each other behind his back. Betrayal was a much bigger and better wedge to pry them apart than a one-night stand, and once that happened, he would be all hers.

Michele quietly got up, slipped on her evening dress, and tiptoed into the kitchen. She was still buzzing from the night before, and was dying to tell Fiona what happened. She picked up the phone, and dialed her friend.

“Hey girl, you up?” she whispered.

“Yes, I’m getting ready to go to the gym. Why are you whispering?”

“I’m at Preston’s.”

“Okay. But that still doesn’t explain why you’re whispering. Last time I checked you worked there, and were free to talk in a normal tone.”

“Well, what I did last night definitely does not qualify for work.” She walked over to the swinging door and poked her head out. She didn’t see Preston walking around, and assumed that he was still asleep on the floor. She closed the door, went to the far end of the room, and whispered, “Unless you count fucking as part of the job.”

Fiona gasped. “Girl, are you telling me that you slept with Preston last night?”

“Well, we didn’t do much sleeping.”

“How the hell did you pull that off? Where is his wife?”

Michele told Fiona about sending the article regarding the Black Door to Laird, and how he played right into her game. “The minute Preston heard Trey’s name and the Black Door in the same sentence, his memory came back in a flash. It couldn’t have happened at a better time, since Ariel is still in New York.”

“That was a big chance you took. Suppose Preston hadn’t walked into the conversation at that very moment, then what would you have done?” Fiona wanted to know.

“I had already thought about that. Laird has such a reputation as a man-whore, that I knew the second I brought up sex clubs, he would talk until he was blue in the face. And eventually Preston would join the conversation, which he did, so basically it was just a matter of getting Laird to open his big mouth, which was easy.”

“Wow, Michele, I’ve got to give it to you, you pulled off a major feat. Helping to jog Preston’s memory like you did was brilliant.”

Michele blushed with pride, as if she’d won a Nobel Prize. “Thanks.” Michele thought that she heard Preston stirring about. “Look, girl, I’ve got to run. I’ll talk to you later.”

After hanging up, she made a pot of coffee, and toasted a few English
muffins. She put everything on a silver tray, including cups, orange juice, and a bottle of Tylenol in case Preston had a hangover from drinking too much scotch.

When she walked back into the living room, Preston was fully dressed and sitting on the sofa, holding his head in his hands. Michele took a deep breath. She didn’t know how he was going to react to having fucked her. Either he would be extremely remorseful and apologetic, or would be so turned on that he’d want more. Knowing Preston as she did, Michele doubted that the latter would be the case.

“Good morning,” she said in a soft voice.

“What time is it?” he asked, still holding his head.

Michele shifted the tray to her right hand, and looked at her watch. “It’s six-thirty-two.” He didn’t respond; just kept holding his head as if it hurt. She set the tray on the cocktail table. “I made some coffee, nice and strong as you like it,” she said, pouring a cup.

Preston finally raised his head and took the steaming brew. He sipped the coffee in silence with his head lying back on the sofa and his eyes closed. He looked as if he had a massive hangover and was trying to keep his head from exploding.

“Here are two Tylenol,” she said, handing him the white pills and a glass of juice.

“Thanks. My head feels like Johnnie walked all over it,” he said in a groggy tone.

Michele chuckled at his lame joke. She wanted to talk about last night and his newfound memory, but she didn’t want to push the envelope. She decided it would be best to let Preston broach the subject, so she sat down, drank her coffee, and waited. Neither of them touched the English muffins, just drank one cup of java after another, until the carafe was empty. “Should I make another pot?” she asked as Preston took his last sip.

“No, thank you.” He cleared his throat, and looked at Michele for the first time since she entered the room. “About last night, I, uh … want to apologize … I didn’t …”

“Preston, you have nothing to apologize for. If anybody should be sorry, it’s Trey and Ariel,” she blurted out. Michele tried to refrain from
talking about them, but she couldn’t hold her tongue any longer—so much for decorum!

He looked to the floor and then back at her. “Do you think they’re still involved?”

Michele thought for a second, trying to choose the right words. This was her moment, and she intended to shine. “Preston …” She hesitated for effect.

“Come on, Michele, if you know something, anything, please tell me. I’ve been in the dark for far too long.”

“Well, I’ve been putting two and two together since you told me about their affair last night, and it’s definitely adding up to four,” she said cryptically.

“And exactly what does that mean?”

“It means that Trey hasn’t been spending much time with me. Whenever I invite myself to New York, he has a lame excuse why I shouldn’t come up, which leads me to believe that he’s seeing someone else,” she lied. “And if I had to guess, I’d say that that someone else is Ariel. Think about it. Why would she be working on a case in New York if it wasn’t to be close to Trey? If she really wanted to, she could have declined that case. After all, she is a partner, and partners get to pick and choose. Don’t they?” she asked rhetorically. “Those are the facts, and the facts don’t lie,” she said, giving him an earful.

Preston exhaled hard. He was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that his son and his wife were having an affair. But it still didn’t make sense to him. Why would Ariel marry him if she was in love with Trey? It wasn’t like she needed his money. She was well established, with assets of her own, and she wasn’t the status-conscious type.

He thought back on that morning over a year ago when Senator Oglesby sent him the fax regarding Trey’s ownership of the Black Door. He remembered reading the fax, and then going over to Ariel’s apartment. She was upset about something and had been drinking. The moment he mentioned the club, she blurted out that she had fucked Trey at the Black Door. Preston had read that everyone at the club wore masks, which led him to thinking that Ariel didn’t know
Trey’s identity, which would explain how they got involved. But it didn’t explain why they were still involved. “Did you know that Trey owns a club called the Black Door?”

Michele didn’t know if she should lie or tell the truth. Since Preston hadn’t asked her the night before if she knew about Trey owning the club, she decided on the truth. His owning the club didn’t have anything to do with her. “When I first met Trey, he told me he was into real estate. It wasn’t until after your wedding that I learned he owned the Black Door. Why do you ask?”

“I’m trying to figure out how Ariel knew about the Black Door, and why she would go to a place like that,” he said, looking forlorn.

“She’s obviously not who you think she is. Only a nymphomaniac would go to a seedy sex club,” she said, turning up her nose at the thought, as if she were disgusted. “I mean, why would she want to fool around, when she has a smart, handsome, sexy man like you?” Michele purposefully threw in the word
sexy
to remind Preston about their heated lovemaking. He seemed to be focused on Ariel and Trey, and not on her, which was pissing her off.

“Ariel never appeared to be addicted to sex. I just don’t understand.” He dropped his head in his hands again.

Who cares about Ariel?
Michele thought. She scooted closer to him, and began rubbing his back like she had done the night before. “Preston, she’s not worthy of you. You’re such a wonderful man. A man who needs to be cherished and not cheated on,” she said softly in his ear.

He held his head up. “I need to talk to Ariel and Trey. I can’t believe that they would purposely betray me. I need some answers. My memory is still a little fuzzy,” he said, reaching for the phone.

Michele couldn’t believe that Preston was willing to talk to either of them. He should have been enraged, but his reaction was totally different from what she expected. It was like he hadn’t heard a word she had said. Even with her talking up Trey and Ariel’s affair, Preston was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, as if the affair had never happened. Michele needed to stop him from calling Ariel or Trey. If he talked to them, he would know that she was lying about
her involvement. “Preston, wait,” she said as she took the phone out of his hand, “there’s something else I need to tell you.”

“Yes?”

“I wanted to spare you the pain, but there’s something you don’t know….”

“And what’s that?” he asked, looking at her oddly as she replaced the phone back in its cradle.

“Remember a few months ago, when you went to the country with Senator Oglesby? Well, that weekend Trey came down, and I was so happy that he had come for a visit. The next morning, he’d gotten up early and left a note saying that he had gone running. I didn’t think too much about it. I had some work to finish up from the day before, so I got dressed, left my apartment, and went to the town house. I opened the front door, and there right on the staircase,” she pointed toward the front of the house, “Trey and Ariel were fucking like two dogs in heat. I was devastated and ran out in shock!” She forced a tear out of her eye. “I was going to tell you, but I was too ashamed. Not only were you being cheated on, but I was too. And to be honest, I still haven’t gotten over the pain.” She wiped the lone tear from her cheek. Michele hadn’t planned on ad-libbing, but she needed a plausible story to link Ariel and Trey together in the present. And a tale of them fucking under Preston’s roof would be enough to send him over the edge—she hoped.