Curiosity Killed the Kat (3 page)

“Of course honey. I was just introducing myself to Sana.”

Steven looked sharply at Charlie, who immediately chimed in, “I’m sorry. Where are my manners? Sana this is Katherine, Steven’s w
ife. And you remember Steven of course.”

We all sat down at a table in the middle of the restaurant; obviously one of the room’s best tables for its visibility. I wondered how much of our placement had to do with Charlie’s reputation as one of Boston’s best lawyers or with Sana and Steven’s stunning good looks. Picking up a menu I decided I didn’t care
that my presence was not a factor in our spot in the dining room
, I was hungry and confused about the strange conversation I’d had with the beautiful Saudi girl a few moments before.

“Charlie where are we with the Al Zahrani
package
?” Steven asked as he closed his menu and laid it on his plate to lean closer to Charlie.

“Everything’s fine Steven. Please don’t worry.
There’s no reason to expect
his
package won’t be delivered as smoothly as the other packages arrived.
Monday morning you will see that all will be well.” Charlie assured him.

“Ok. You’re absolutely right, I know. I’m just concerned
that this package might run into some special customs issues, as you know we’ve been going back and forth with the Riyadh office
.
I don’t feel like our last meeting was fully resolved
.” Steven glanced at me and I looked calmly back at him over my menu.
I didn’t want to appear to be following the conversation, but inside my mind was churning. Steven and Charlie had never discussed a case in front of me before. Steven always maintained a calm exterior and to hear him say that he was concerned about something was a new experience. And why had his mention of the Riyadh office caused Sana to
stiffen in her chair next to me.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll be glad to hear that it
’
s arrived as well, but for now there’s nothing we can do that we haven’t already done.”

“
Yes,
but just to play devil
’
s advocate for a moment; can you tell me why someone would take a package out of its box before it arrived at its final destination?” Steven glanced meaningfully at Sana with this question, but it was such a brief look that she hadn’t seen it. She was still puzzling over her menu with her head down. Only I had caught it, but I
studiously
looked away as if I was calmly people watching the other restaurant patrons and not following this conversation at all.

Charlie’s chest immediately puffed up angrily at Steven’s question. “As you know, there are many reasons why packages don’t always arrive at their destination wrapped. Sometimes they are routed to the buyer before being forwarded to the recipient. Especially when the contents are extremely valuable and may need to be double checked before arriving at their final destination.”

This conversation was so strange, my mind was buzzing. Why were they discussing packages as if they were executives at a shipping company instead of an international law f
irm? Why did it seem as if their conversation was actually about Sana instead of a literal
package? And most importantly, why had Sana asked me for help?

This was the strangest dinner I’d ever had with Charlie and Steven. After Steven’s last comment, Charlie sounded stiff and angry, even though they were no longer discussing the mysterious package.

Next to me Sana sat straight and silent. Charlie didn’t speak to her and Steven blatantly ignored her, even though Charlie had implied that they had met. Instead Steven and I chatted about the meal, the restaurant, and the other diners while Charlie added a thought every once in awhile. For the most part, the evening was stilted and somehow ruined. I just wasn’t sure why.

“Excuse me,” I said when we were finished with dinner and Charlie had ordered espresso and dessert for everyone. “I need to powder my nose.” When I stood up, Steven came around and pulled my chair out for me. “Thank you,” I said politely. His h
and brushed my ass suggestively as I passed him.

Quick as a wink, Sana stood up as well and started to follow me.

“Where are you going,” Charlie asked, a little too loudly, the diners at the next table looked up curiously.

“To the bathroom p
lease.” Sana said;
eyes a little frantic.

Charlie and Steven exchanged a glance and with a barely perceptible nod from Steven, Charlie said, “Okay. But hurry back so I don’t miss you too much.”
He tried to laugh his comment off, but despite his forced chuckle it sounded threatening and strange.

Sana said nothing, just hurried to my side and followed me to the restroom.

Once safely in the women’s bathroom I looked at her wonderingly. “What’s the matter? Why did you ask me for help before?”

“Please. I don’t know how to explain. I came here to be a model, but now I’m sc
ared.” Her eyes were huge, star
ing into mine and silently begging me to understand.

“What are you scared of,” I urged her. “Is it Charlie? Is he scaring you?”

She nodded but seemed at a loss for words.

“I understand that he probably seems very strange compared to the way men are in your country, right?”

“Yes,” she answered, “but he doesn’t say I’m a model now. He says I’m going somewhere else. When I tried to call my family, he says no. When I try to leave his house, he says no. I’m scared.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Sh
e had to be mistaken. Surely Charlie couldn’t have kidnapped this woman and be holding her in his house against her will? If that was true, why would he have brought her to dinner? He was a respected lawyer. This must be a misunderstanding, a language barrier.

“Sana,” I said patiently. “I don’t want you to be scared. Charlie does not mean for you to be trapped. I think he’s just worried about you. He probably doesn’t want you to get lost. On Monday, he will take you to your sponsor’s home, I’m sure of it. There must be some mistake, some reason why you’re staying with him for right now.”

I tried not to think that the reason might be Sana’s incredible beauty. Her long dark hair and gray eyes were probably very tempting to a man like Charlie who usually showed up with much less attractive women on his arm – despite his enviable bank account.

She just stared at me, disappointed and lost.

When we returned to the table, both Charlie and Steven stood up as if out of politeness, but I could sense that Charlie was more concerned than anything.

“Ladies,” Steven said with unusual cheerfulness. “You’re both so lovely, we’re the luckiest men in this room tonight.”

I smiled at him and didn’t glance at Charlie. Beside me, I could feel Sana’s fear coming off her in waves.

Charlie and Steven could sense it too. Steven gave Charlie a strange look, as if he was disgusted with him and a little afraid.

We finished our espresso and coffee in silence, and got up to leave.

“Steven,” Charlie said when we had left the restaurant. “Why don’t you and Katherine come over to the house for a nightcap.”

Steven just looked at him for a long moment.

“It’s early,” Charlie continued. “And we can check on that package together if you’d like.”

“I don’t mind honey,” I told Steven. “We can go to Charlie’s if you want.”

He glanced at me and then said brusquely to Charlie, “Thank you, but not tonight. You were right earlier, that package will absolutely arrive safely. We’ll confirm it Monday.”

Charlie seemed put out, but all he said was goodnight. With a strong grasp on Sana’s hand, he stepped into the luxurious Mercedes the valet had dropped off for him and drove away.

“That was strange, don’t you think?” I slowly ventured to Steven as we waited for the valet to bring our car.

“What do you mean?” He looked at me sharply.

“Just that he’s never asked us back to his place for a nightcap before.” I tried to sound casual. Something in me was screaming at me to be silent and not tell Steven about the conversation Sana and I had had in the bathroom earlier.

“Who knows why Charlie does what he does. Maybe he wanted to show off his new sound system. I’d rather be alone with you.” He slipped his hand into my coat and around my waist, cupping my breast possessively.

There was nothing else I could say. If I brought up Sana’s apparent fear of Charlie Steven would either laugh it off or worse tell
him
Sana had mentioned it to me.
I didn’t think Charlie was a kidnapper, but I wasn’t sure why every instinct in my body was telling me something was wrong. There would be no reason for
him
to have the girl at his house. Steven had told me when he first got the agency as a client that many girls came into the Boston office from the Middle East and were sent to the agency’s offices in
New York or Milan to work
. I knew the girls usually stayed with sponsors, or host families, that the agency had on retainer. I’d never actually seen any of the models, but I knew that Steven sometimes met them when he was meeting with the agency CEO at their office. Maybe that’s where he’d met Sana?

“So you know that girl Charlie was with?” I asked, trying to maintain a casual tone.

Under my coat, Steven’s hand squeezed my breast almost painfully. “Don’t be jealous,” he warned playfully.

“I’m not jealous,” I retorted, indignant. “I was just wondering how long she’s been in town. Why is she staying at Charlie’s if she’s one of the models?”

“How did you know she was one of the models?” Steven seemed wary.

“I just figured she was. I mean, she’s beautiful. And, she mentioned she was in the United States to model.” I prayed I hadn’t said too much.

“When did she ‘mention’ that she was a model?” Steven was getting more and more
apprehensive
. I didn’t know what to say to turn this conversation around. I didn’t mean to arouse his suspicions
I only wanted to know a little more about her situation.

“When I introduced myself b
efore we sat down. You and Charlie were talking by the bar.”

I felt his hand relax against my breast.

“Yes, she’s a new model. I suppose she’s staying with Charlie because her host family couldn’t take her yet. He is a partner in the agency’s law firm. There would be no one more trustworthy to take care of such a beautiful girl.”

Involuntarily I tensed when he described Sana as beautiful. Ever alert, Steven chuckled when he felt my reaction.

“I knew you were jealous. You were staring at her all night.”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I felt ugly next to her.” I’d rather have Steven believe my interest was based on jealousy rather than my mounting sense of danger and fear for the beautiful girl. Even though Steven was saying all the right things, excuses that I myself had told Sana earlier, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was lying. I’d been with Steven since I was 19-years-old, and we’d been married for seven years. All these years, I had ma
de
it my job to sense his moods and cater to his needs. I knew when he was happy, sad, angry, or lusting for me. And now, I knew that he was lying.

“Don’t be jealous. You might not be a model, but you’re my perfect woman. You know that don’t you?”

Just then the valet pulled up with Steven’s new Audi and he released me to open the car door and usher me inside.

Once behind the wheel, Steven gave me a look full of lust and started the car. With one hand on the wheel and the other sliding up my leg, he pulled away from the restaurant and started down the dark street.

Suddenly I was hungry for his touch. I didn’t want to think about the beautiful Sana and whatever problems she might be having adjusting to Boston. Looking at Steven in the dim light, I was amazed that this gorge
ous man was my husband. Even after all these years, he still took my breath away. No matter how he treated me, he was still
the
husband
of my dreams
. The rich life he’d made for us
gave me a life I’d always wanted. I didn’t have to worry about anything. I didn’t want to worry about a strange girl I’d just met. I just wanted to relax into my role as Mrs. Steven Flynn.

With all these thoughts coursing through my head, I opened my legs wider so Steven’s hand could more easily navigate up my thigh under my dress.

Smiling he looked at me and
moved
his hand farther until I could feel his fingers touching my panties. I squirmed in the seat until I was pushing myself into his hand
. Looking over, I could see that he was aroused and I leaned
across the seat to place my hand on his hard length. Moaning he pressed my hand down onto him and guided my fingers toward his zipper. I knew what he wanted and pulled his pants open so I could wrap my hand around his throbbing penis.  His hand returned to my panties and greedily pulled the thin material to one side so he could plunge his fingers inside of me.

Arching my back, I pressed myself down onto his fingers so they were deep inside of me, while at the same time moving my hand up and down on his stiff penis. But, I wanted more. I was hungry for him and needed to chase away my lingering suspicions about Charlie and Sana. Slipping myself off of his thrusting fingers, I moved to my knees on the seat and leaned over his lap, taking his penis into my wet mouth. I could feel him getting even harder against my tongue as I worked my mouth up and down the length of him. Knowing how much he liked it when he could see my face and tongue as I pleasured him, I moved off the seat so I was kneeling in the footrest and looking up at him as I licked his penis with obvious pleasure.