Open Door Marriage (14 page)

Bernice glared at James.
“
So what
’
re you saying?
”
she asked before she looked down at the suitcase that he
’
d just placed at her feet.

James folded his arms across his sweater-clad chest.
“
A divorce might be the best thing for us.
”

Tori grabbed his arm.
“
Daddy!
”

“
You
’
re grown now, baby girl,
”
he said.
“
I think you
’
re ready to handle the hard truth of things. We were on the path to separation long before this. You might want to ask her who Robert is.
”

A flicker of fear flashed in Bernice
’
s eyes.

“
Oh yeah,
”
he said, grinning at her.
“
You weren
’
t careful this time. My poker buddy called it an even exchange for the cash I owed him.
”
James narrowed his focus on her.
“
I wasn
’
t going to say nothing. I wanted to see if it would happen again. I lose a lot of money, and you pay up.
”

“
Dear God,
”
Alicia whispered.

Bernice
’
s dark brown eyes narrowed to slits.
“
Sure, just push me aside now that you
’
re broke and can
’
t pay alimony.
”

“
And what
’
s the reason that I don
’
t have any money, huh? At the rate you
’
re spending money, we
’
ll never be able to move out of this house,
”
James dislodged Tori and moved to stand in front of his wife.

“
Oh? And none of it has to do with the fact that you bleed cash at the casino?
”

James shrugged.
“
I
’
ve spent our entire marriage trying to make you happy, and I just realized that happy is something you don
’
t know how to be.
”

Bernice flinched, but then softened her tone.
“
You can
’
t divorce me. Where will I go?
”

James pulled out his wallet, snatched out all of the cash inside and pressed it into her hands.
“
You
’
ll find someplace, but it can
’
t be here.
”

She looked at the bills as though they were diseased, then opened her fingers and let them float to the carpet.
“
This is chump change. How am I supposed to live on this?
”

“
Maybe you can go back to doing what you were doing before he met you,
”
Alicia offered.
“
The oldest profession in the world is still going strong.
”

Bernice glowered at James.
“
You told her?
”

“
No,
”
he said with a pained look at Alicia, then to Bernice.
“
But with the way you act, I guess it wasn
’
t all that hard to figure out.
”

“
This is your fault,
”
Bernice snarled, waggling a finger at Alicia. Then, Bernice turned to James.
“
She spreads her legs for that young buck, and now I have no home! Where is
her
punishment? When does she accept the consequences for what she
’
s done?
”

“
You don
’
t know what she
’
s done,
”
James shot back.

“
After I found them
—
naked, she was looking guilty as all hell. Then he breaks his neck to go after
her
ass
instead of staying with Tori.
”
Bernice folded her arms across her flat chest and leveled her eyes at Alicia.
“
No, she let him have that old snatch. Turned that young buck out.
”
She grinned at her observation.
“
I might not know exactly what they did, but I know that they did something that has his nose wide open.
”

“
And Tori
’
s dealing with it,
”
James said in the softest tone that he
’
d used all evening.
“
So what business is it of yours?
”

“
She
’
s my daughter!
”
Bernice huffed.
“
She
is
my business.
”

Alicia shook her head.
“
And you put your daughter
’
s business all in the street with absolutely no regard for her feelings.
”

Bernice didn
’
t have a comeback for that one.

Tears had pooled in Tori
’
s eyes, but she shook off Alicia
’
s attempts to console her.
Instead she went to her father and he put his arms around her shoulders.

James said to Bernice.
“
I don
’
t even have it in me to try with you anymore. I
’
m too old to keep scraping the bottom or wondering when you
’
re going to come home at night. If I stay married to you, the bottom is where I
’
ll stay.
”

He extracted his arm from around Tori, picked up the case and held it out to his soon-to-be ex-wife.
“
Goodbye.
”

“
What about the rest of my stuff?
”
Bernice asked.

“
When you get settled, I
’
ll send it to you.
”

She held out her hand.
“
I
’
ll take that money then.
”

Alicia shot James a look that Bernice didn
’
t miss. He didn
’
t lower to pick the bills up from the carpet.

“
Remember, I didn
’
t press charges when I could have,
”
Bernice threatened.

“
Remember, I didn
’
t slit your throat when I should have,
”
Alicia replied, giving her a small smile and placing her hand on the knob.

Tori took an American Express charge card from her wallet and stepped forward.
“
Mama, just check into a hotel
until I figure something out.
”

Only when Alicia gestured outside with a jerky movement of her thumb did Bernice snatch the card and get her skinny legs moving.

“
You think this is over?
”
Bernice snarled as a blast of winter wind came roaring in.
“
It
’
s just starting. Someone will pay a lot of money for all the secrets this family keeps.
”
Bernice sent a pointed look toward Tori before she grinned at Alicia.

Alicia moved in toe-to-toe with Bernice.
“
You come against me or my family and your ass is going to need more than a new address; you
’
ll need a whole new continent.
”

Bernice swept from the house. Alicia slammed the door behind her.

Chapter 16

12:07 p.m.

Dallas stood near the revolving doors, pacing the lobby of the Hyatt, wondering how he
’
d let Alicia get away. When she hadn
’
t shown up to Tori
’
s spot ten minutes after she promised, he went to the suite and found that she was gone. Tori told him she could find her and hit the ground running. Only a few minutes had passed before Dallas realized that Tori might have been the wrong person to send, that she might actually succeed in making sure Alicia stayed gone.

Gratefully, he was wrong. Tori had called to let him know that she had found Alicia and now, he couldn
’
t stand the wait.

A black sedan pulled into the circular drive, and Dallas practically ran toward it. Tori and James stepped out and retrieved the suitcases from the trunk.

“
Where
’
s Alicia?
”
Dallas asked when James prepared to close the trunk and no one else got out of the car.

Tori nodded toward the back seat.
“
She
’
s still inside.
”

Dallas snatched open the passenger door before the trunk closed all the way. Alicia gripped the handle and struggled to pull it back. Dallas wedged his arm in to keep the door open, knowing that she
’
d never slam the door on him.
Silently, he held out his hand to her, begging her, with eyes filled with compassion.
Finally, reluctantly, she took his hand and stepped out of the car.

Looking down at her, he asked,
“
What were you thinking leaving like that?
”

“
I was thinking that I was doing the right thing for my niece.
”

She brushed past him and went toward the hotel, and the three followed her.
Inside, Tori handed her father the key to her suite.
“
Dad, can you take my luggage with you? And this, too,
”
she said, pointing to the one that belonged to Dallas.

James nodded and when they reached the floor to her suite, Tori kissed her father
’
s check and gestured to the other end of the hall.
“
We
’
ll be down in a few minutes. We need to discuss things first.
”

When Alicia and Tori entered the Presidential Suite, Dallas noticed a calm about both women that he found a little unnerving.

They settled around the seats in living room. He looked first to Alicia, then to Tori, who was giving him a thorough head-to-toe, taking in the team jersey and jeans he now wore. Victor was more than earning an additional bonus by staying around another shift to assist Dallas in whatever way he needed. Maybe if he had pegged Victor as a lookout, Alicia wouldn
’
t have been able to give him the slip.

Dallas peered at Tori a moment, then slid a glance to Alicia before he asked,
“
Why is James here?
”

“
My father should know what
’
s going on.
”

He nodded, then asked both women,
“
So, you talked?
”

Alicia nodded, but quickly averted her gaze the minute he looked toward her.

Tori said,
“
She
’
s coming home with us.
”

Dallas caught Alicia
’
s grimace. So, she didn
’
t agree with this decision either.

“
That
’
s not a good idea,
”
he told Tori, resting one finger on his temple.

Tori
’
s expression became cold and hard.
“
This is what will work for me,
”
she replied.

“
It
’
s not up for discussion.
”
Dallas crossed the distance between them and took the seat next to Tori.
“
I can
’
t do this to you.
”

Alicia stood and walked away from them.
She leaned against the wall and turned her focus to the outside world.

“
So, what
’
re you saying?
That you want to leave me and be with her?
”
Her eyes darted to Alicia.
When she turned back to Dallas, she said,
“
I thought we already settled this.
I thought we
’
d come up with an agreement.
And,
”
she paused,
“
I thought you wanted children.
Because if you do, you can fuck her six ways from Sunday, but you
’
ll never see any real results.
”

Alicia
’
s drastic intake of breath caused Dallas to leap to his feet. A flash of fire lit in Alicia
’
s eyes, and she held up a hand to keep him from putting his arms around her.
“
I feel real bad about all this, Tori,
”
Alicia said, her tone low, almost deadly.
“
But you keep this up and I
’
m going to slap the cowboy shit out of you.
”

Tori looked down for a moment.
“
I have a right to ask questions, a right to know what
’
s really going on. Unless the whole reason you
’
re all right with him leaving me is because you want him all to yourself. Is that what
’
s really going on here?
”

Alicia
’
s gaze fixed on her niece for what seemed an eternity as she played Tori
’
s question over in her mind.
Then, she lowered her eyes, hoping that her niece couldn
’
t see her guilt.
Because that was a good question.
Would it be easier for her if Tori were out of the picture?

“
The fact remains,
”
Tori went on, taking Alicia
’
s silence as a reason to continue making her case,
“
I still have some value here. I have the ability to give him the one thing you can
’
t.
”

Alicia still didn
’
t look up.

Dallas moved to Alicia and he lifted her chin.
“
Will you marry me?
”
he whispered soft enough so that Tori wouldn
’
t hear.
“
Will you consider giving me at least
one
child, Alicia?
”

This wasn
’
t how Dallas had wanted to do this and this wasn
’
t the time.
But what Tori wanted to do?
For the millionth time he thought about how ridiculous that was, how it would never work.
All Alicia had to do was say yes.
Then, this would be over and he could begin his life with her.

Alicia weighed his words for a long moment, then shook her head.
“
Pregnancy can be a pretty traumatic thing for someone my age,
”
she whispered back.
“
I
’
ve resigned myself to never having children.
”
She glanced at Tori, then placed her hand on Dallas
’
cheek.
“
But the way she wants to do this?
No!
This won
’
t work.
It
’
s madness. Dallas, let me go. Please.
”

“
Stop fighting me, Alicia.
”
He pulled her against him.
“
Let me love you.
”
He held onto her until she finally sighed, spent from all the energy she
’
d used to fight this.
“
You won
’
t regret it,
”
he said.

Dallas released Alicia and examined her face. She gave him an almost imperceptible nod. He kept his eyes on Alicia as he spoke to Tori.
“
I
’
ll put Alicia up in a hotel until she picks out a house not too far from us.
”

“
And what?
”
Tori snapped. She stood and rounded the coffee table. Gripping Dallas
’
arm, she forced him to face her.
“
Somebody sees you going in and out of her place, starts talking, and your image will take another hit.
With all of those new endorsement deals lined up, you can
’
t afford for that to happen.
”
She glanced over at Alicia.
“
She moves in with us until—
”

“
I don
’
t think it
’
s a good thing for you to see us together that way,
”
Alicia said, cutting Tori off.
“
Seeing us now is probably tough enough on you. How
’
re you going to feel if you walk in and we
’
re . . . together? Do you really want to see that?
”

Tori
’
s pink lips curled into a sneer.
“
The way he tells the story, I might actually learn something.
”

Dallas moved forward, causing Tori to take a step back.
“
And you wonder why I
’
m against this? Your tone, your attitude is going to make things super ugly. None of this is fair
...
”

“
Fair? You want to talk about fair?
”
she screamed, slapping her palm on the middle of his chest.
“
Fair would mean that I would still have my fiancé
’
s undivided attention. Fair would mean that I get at least some of what I want from life.
If this is all I can get from you, then doing this is fair to me.
”

Dallas looked over to Alicia, who just shook her head.

“
Look, we
’
re three consenting adults.
We can do whatever the hell we want to do.
”
Turning around, Tori swiped the glass on her way to the cabinet. She poured in a heavy-handed portion of VSOP, then stopped and held up the bottle.
“
You don
’
t mind, do you?
”

Dallas shook his head.

She took only a small sip, pursed her lips, then placed the glass down.
“
Why can
’
t we do things my way?
”
she asked Dallas. Facing Alicia, she
added,
“
You
’
ve
practically taken him away from me. Can
’
t you do this for me?
”

Alicia ignored Tori and looked up at Dallas.
“
What is your choice? And be
honest
.
”

Dallas raised an eyebrow at Tori, who had folded her arms.
“
I love you, Tori, for everything you
’
ve been to me, but eventually I
’
ll want to marry Alicia. We
’
ll just have to work out the children thing some other way.
”

Tori stiffened. She ambled to the sofa and sank down into the cushions, a crestfallen look covering her face.

Alicia shook her head.
“
Now it
’
s my turn to be honest. I
’
ve already been married, Dallas. I
’
m not doing that again. Ever.
”

The stab in his heart, showed on his face. Alicia added,
“
And it has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with the institution of marriage.
”
She trained her gaze on Tori.
“
She
’
s never been married. And you
’
re a good man. She deserves to take that walk with you.
”