Betrayal (24 page)

“Me too,” he said, and hung up.

After talking to Preston, Ariel felt much better. He had eased her paranoid thoughts about Michele, and she realized that she didn’t have any reason to worry; everything was under control.

TREY WAS
home packing for his dreaded trip to Washington. As much as he knew he needed to confront Michele, he wanted to delay the inevitable. She wasn’t responsive over the phone, so he had no other choice but to see her face-to-face. Through her actions Michele had basically said that their relationship was history. Though she didn’t utter those words, Trey could read between the lines. Obviously she preferred social climbing over him, and he was fine with her decision, especially now that he had some extra pussy on the side. Lexi was a pleasant distraction from his present problems and he welcomed the attention.

He tossed the last items of clothing and his iPod into a duffel bag and headed out. He heard his home phone ring as he locked the door.
If it’s important, whoever it is will call my cell
.

While he waited curbside for a taxi, his mobile rang. He fished the tiny phone out of his jeans pocket. “Hello?”

“Hey, man. Where are you?” Mason asked, sounding like he was in a panic.

“I’m in front of my building, trying to hail a taxi, on the way to Penn Station. I’m going to D.C. this weekend.”

“I’m glad I caught you.”

“Why? What’s up?” Trey asked casually.

“There was a water main break about a half a block away from the club and it’s flooding the basement, and—”

“What? Which location?” he asked frantically, his casual tone now gone.

“The main club. Joe just called me. He said that he tried to reach you at home, but your phone rang a few times and went to voice mail.”

“Did he say how bad it is?”

“No, I’m on my way there now,” Mason said.

Trey stepped in the street, waved down a passing cab, and hopped in the backseat. “Okay, I’ll meet you there.” After hanging up from Mason, he dialed Ariel’s cell.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Ariel, listen; I’ve got a crisis going on at the club, and don’t know if I’ll be able to get down to D.C. today,” he said.

“I hope it’s not anything serious.” She sounded concerned.

“Me too, but I won’t know for sure until I get there.”

“Well, don’t worry about going to D.C. I spoke with Preston earlier and everything seems to be under control,” Ariel said calmly.

“Really?” Trey replied, sounding as if he didn’t quite believe her. The last time they spoke, Ariel seemed convinced that Michele was on the verge of telling his dad the truth.

“Yes, from the tone of our conversation, I doubt if Michele has said anything to him. So, I don’t think there’s a need to rush down this weekend to confront her. My case should be over early next week and we can go down together as originally planned.”

“If you think that’s best, then it’s cool with me. Give me a call when you’re done with work, and we can coordinate the reservations.”

“Okay, talk to you later,” she said, hanging up.

As the taxi approached the club, Trey could see blue city utility trucks parked a few feet from his establishment. Orange cones were at each end of the block, preventing cars from entering. The cab stopped at the corner and let Trey out. He was so anxious to get to the club
that he trotted down the block with his duffel bag swinging over his shoulder. Mason was standing on the front steps as he approached.

“Perfect timing; I just walked up,” Mason greeted him.

Trey took out the front door keys and let them inside. They immediately went down to the basement to assess the damage. There were at least two and a half feet of standing water and sewage. They rolled up their jeans and waded through the water to get a handle on what had been destroyed. A few cases of liquor in the supply closet were semi-submerged, but the bottles were fine. Fortunately, Trey didn’t store client masks in the basement; otherwise, the one-of-a-kind art pieces would have been ruined. He and Mason walked to the rear of the basement and up five steps to the Dungeon. Trey opened the door, and turned on the light. The sadomasochistic chamber where hard-core members, wearing latex, enjoyed being blindfolded and whipped with leather straps, while shackled on a wooden slab, was totally intact. Since the chamber was elevated on a platform, it wasn’t affected by the water. After looking around, Trey turned off the lights, and they exited the room.

“Man, this cleanup is going to be one hell of a job,” Trey said, surveying the sludge that had come in from the sewage system.

“Isn’t the city supposed to pump out the water?” Mason asked.

“Yeah, they are, but once the water is gone we’re still going to have all of this waste,” he said, pointing to the debris on the floor. “And besides, I really don’t want city workers nosing around in my basement. Even though the club is legit, some of the apparatus in the Dungeon could raise some interesting questions, and the last thing I need is for city inspectors to come knocking on my door.”

“I guess you have a point. But if you don’t get this cleaned up quickly, it’s really going to start stinking. It smells like urine now. Imagine what the stench is going to be like in a few days,” Mason said, wrinkling up his nose.

“Tell me about it,” Trey said, shaking his head in frustration. “Let’s go to my office; maybe I can find someone in the yellow pages who’s discreet.”

Once in his office, Trey found the phone book, sat behind his
desk, and began calling company after company, but everyone he called was booked, and wouldn’t be able to get to the club for a few days. The Black Door had a reputation of class and sophistication, and the horrific stench of sewage debris didn’t mesh with the elite status of the club. Trey was in the middle of dialing another company when his cell phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey, handsome. What’s happening?” Lexi was calling for another hedonistic round of sex. Their last encounter was off the chain, and she wanted more. Lexi had an aggressive nature, and when she wanted something or someone, she could be relentless.

“I can’t talk right now,” Trey said, ready to hang up the phone.

Sensing that he was busy, Lexi dropped her sexy tone. She remembered how upset he was the last time she entered his office and detected that same tone in his voice. He seemed in need of a friend, and she wanted to help if she could. “What’s the matter? You sound stressed.”

“Stressed is an understatement.” Out of frustration, Trey went on to tell her his predicament. “And if I don’t get somebody to come out soon, the odor will permeate throughout the entire building and I’ll have to close the club until the cleanup is complete.”

“You’re not going to believe this,” Lexi said, nearly shouting.

“What?” he asked, but wasn’t really interested in hearing what she had to say. He had wasted enough time talking to her. “Listen, I’ve got to make some more calls. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait a minute, Trey. My cousin has an industrial-waste removal service. I’ll give him a call right now and call you back,” she said quickly, and hung up.

After about five minutes, Lexi called back. “Hey, Trey, I talked to my cousin and he’ll be there within the hour.”

“Thanks, but I need someone who’s discreet. The Black Door isn’t your ordinary club, and I don’t want to have to answer a gazillion and two questions.”

“Uh … hello! I know all about the club, and I told my cousin that this job is strictly on the DL, so don’t worry, I got your back.”

Trey didn’t know what to say. Ten minutes ago he was in a panic and up to his ankles in waste; now his problem was solved thanks to a random booty call. “I don’t know how I can thank you.”

“I do. You can take me out to dinner. There’s a new restaurant in the West Village that I’ve been dying to try,” she said, with a ready answer.

Trey hadn’t thought about seeing Lexi outside of the club, dinner with her would be like a date, and he wasn’t sure if he was ready for all that. But on the other hand, how could he say no—after all, she had gotten him out of a serious bind. “Okay, just let me know when and where and I’m there.”

“Okay,” she said, smiling into the receiver. “Talk to you later.”

He turned to Mason. “Man, you won’t believe who just came to my rescue,” he said, slightly shaking his head, as if he still couldn’t believe the sudden change of events.

“Who?” Mason had been on his cell phone, and had no idea who was on the other end of the line.

“Lexi!” Trey grinned.

“Lexi? How did she rescue you?”

“That was her on the phone, and she called her cousin who has a waste-removal company, and he and his crew are on their way over right now.”

“Wow, what a coincidence! I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but Lexi is pretty cool. I’ve hung out with her and Terra a few times, and she’s not half bad. If you want my opinion, she’s a much better match for you than social-climbing Michele.”

In Trey’s mind, Lexi was nothing more than a convenient fuck. She seemed to like their arrangement, and he loved having sex without a relationship added to the equation. “Man, I don’t know about all that.”

“I know you’re still a little gun-shy. Dealing with Michele, who wouldn’t be? All I’m saying is, don’t discount Lexi. I know you guys are having fun right now, but who knows? Once you dump Michele, maybe it could turn into something real,” Mason said, sounding like he was trying to make a “love connection.”

“Yeah, you never know. Maybe our lust will turn into true love, and we’ll die old and happy in each other’s arms,” Trey said sarcastically.

“Well, never say never ’cause you never know.” Mason winked.

Trey ignored his friend’s comment, and turned his attention back to the yellow pages. He aimlessly flipped through page after page. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular; he just didn’t want to discuss Lexi anymore. Truth be told, after their last fuck-fest, he felt a little something for her. He didn’t know if it was purely the pussy or if she was someone he could get to know and possibly have a relationship with. At the moment, he had too much on his plate to add another item. Whatever he felt—if anything—toward Lexi would just have to wait until he sorted out his present problems.

MICHELE COULDN’T
have been happier had she won all six numbers in the Mega Millions lottery game. It took some finesse, but she had finally persuaded Preston to keep quiet about his restored memory. Now all she had to do was fuck him into submission before Ariel got back. She had slipped in a subliminal comment about him being a sexy man the morning after their heated night of lust, but he didn’t react. Preston’s sole focus was on Ariel and Trey. Michele had convinced him that they were still having an affair, and now he was determined to catch them in the act. Since his memory was still a little sketchy, Preston wanted hard-core proof, so that there would be no denying the truth. Looking back in hindsight, Michele regretted mentioning setting up surveillance cameras.

After she had gone home, showered, and returned for work, he insisted that Michele go out and buy the best equipment on the market, including recording devices for the telephone. He wanted to have everything set up before Ariel returned. Michele’s plans for the afternoon included seducing Preston, not shopping for undercover gadgets. But since he was insisting, she had no choice.

Just as Michele was on her way out the door, Laird came walking in. He was the last person she wanted to see. Michele had used him as a pawn in her game; now it was his move.

“Hello, Michele,” he sang her name, and sidled right up to her.

“Hello, Congressman.” She faked a smile. He was standing so close to her that she could feel his warm breath on her cheek. She wanted to push him back a few feet, but couldn’t. He could be useful in the future if her present game plan didn’t pan out, so she decided to humor him. “Did you have a good time the other night?”

“I did, but it could’ve been better.” He licked his lips.

“How so?” she asked suggestively, taking a step closer.

“If you would’ve let me come over to your place, we really could have capped off the night with a bang.” He ran the back of his hand up and down her forearm.