Sweet Southern Betrayal (17 page)

“Thank you. Although I can’t eat too many hamburgers if I want to fit into my costume.”

“I would guess so. I saw a couple of photos of you on Beck’s phone and I was very impressed.” Marian laughed, her movement stalling the progress of Risa’s task. “How long have you been a dancer?”

“Since I was seventeen, so nine years. I made senior dancer last year, which means I get more say in my schedule and that will help me finish college.” Risa tapped her on the shoulder to let her know she was done. “I hope to be able to quit someday and devote myself to Behind Closed Doors full-time.”

Marian answered as she continued undressing. “I think that is wonderful. Your parents must be very proud of you.”

“I don’t have parents. I was in foster care since I was five years old.” Risa paused, waiting for the usual pity and uncomfortable silence after her reveal. People liked their abandoned children in photos on their mantel and commercials with Sally Struthers, not directly in front of them.

“Well, then you should be
very
proud of yourself.” Marian, fully dressed again, turned to her and Risa knew what was coming. Marian’s expression was determined and it was clear that Mama was going to make sure she knew just how inappropriate she was for her son and politely—always politely—ask her to make herself scarce. She’d seen this movie before.

“Look, I never for one minute bought the story about you knowing each other before you got married.” She held up a hand when Risa moved to respond. “I don’t even want to know what happened to make Teague do something so impetuous. But I know that if you get on that plane for Las Vegas I’ll never see you again and I think that would be a real tragedy for the both of you.”

Risa stood in place, shocked. This was not the usual script, and she had no idea what to do with it. Marian didn’t seem to notice, or she preferred Risa speechless so she could continue her crazy talk.

“I don’t want to presume, but I feel like I need to step in as a mother would in this situation and tell you that you’re making a mistake. I spent my whole life living by a rulebook instead of by my heart and look what that got me.”

“You’re going to do great with your new life,” Risa said.

“That is yet to be determined, but I don’t want my son to have to waste half his life before he figures out what’s important.”

“I can’t.” Risa found her voice, her shame and regret coating every word. “I did something, I’ve done things that make that impossible.” She swallowed harder, forcing her voice to be strong and clear so that Marian would drop this topic. “I’m making it right, but it will make it impossible for me to stay. I’m sorry.”

“But you would stay. If you could.” Marian took a step closer, creating an intimate circle where secrets could be shared and forgiven if everyone were brave enough to do it. “And if you’re beating yourself up over whatever you’ve done, I think the part I would focus on is that you’re trying to make it right. Nothing is unforgivable if you’re really sorry.”

Risa wasn’t sure she believed that last statement.

“It’s impossible.”

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that Teague has no idea how you feel about him.”

Heat poured into Risa’s cheeks and she resisted the urge to lift her hands to cover the splotches that inevitably reddened her skin when she was embarrassed. As it was she was having a hard enough time maintaining eye contact with Marian.

“I don’t even know how
I
feel about him.” It was the honest-to-God truth. She’d had men whom she thought she loved, but this was a whole new riot of emotions storming her heart and mind. She couldn’t discount the stress of the situation when she tried to figure it out.

“Well, I do. Call it a mother’s intuition, but you know when someone has fallen in love with your child and you know when your child is too dense to see it himself.”

“Marian, you
can’t
tell him.”

“Oh, I know. You never could tell him anything. He gets that from me.” Marian reached out and grasped her hand, her lips twisted in a little smile that reminded Risa of her son. “You’ll have to be the brave one, I’m afraid.”

“Marian, you have no idea—” Risa flipped their hands until she give her a little squeeze, hoping that all the affection she felt for this woman would communicate through that touch because she sure as hell wasn’t going to say it out loud. “I’m getting on that plane. There is another woman out there who is better suited for him. He needs to be free to find her.”

“I disagree. The women waiting for him back in DC are the ones he thinks he needs for his career. I can tell you from experience that those things never make you happy. You might be successful and stay together until you hit the grave, but you aren’t happy.” Marian’s expression turned fierce, reminding Risa of a mother bear protecting her cub. “I want him to be happy. More than anything else.”

“It can’t be me. I’m sorry.”

The bottom line was that it didn’t matter what she wanted. Teague had plans and she couldn’t see any way of fitting in with them unless she reinvented herself—possibly into someone she ultimately couldn’t live with. This was more than feelings. This was the age-old question of whether love would be enough to overcome the reality of life and living.

And betrayal.

In the end would it even matter what they wanted? She wasn’t Cinderella and he was no prince but the reality of class differences would only be an obstacle where he wanted to go.

Bottom line: she wasn’t sure if America was ready to have a showgirl in the White House.

“I understand. I don’t like the answer, but I hope you’ll think about what I said.” Marian leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, leaving behind a comforting mix of her light floral perfume and the scent of face powder. “And I hope you’ll forgive me for butting my nose in where it doesn’t belong.”

“There’s nothing to forgive.” Risa clung to the woman’s hands, struggling to put into words her gratitude over what Marian had done for her with this one conversation. “I never really had this…” She took a deep breath, pushing down the tears that threatened to spill out in a very unattractive crying jag that she wasn’t sure she could ever stop. “Thank you for giving me this moment.”

Marian placed a hand on her cheek and Risa leaned into the warmth. “Now
that
is unforgivable.”

And there was the look. Marian’s face filled with a little pity, but mostly with affection. It was a mother’s look and Risa stopped breathing with the impact of how very much she wanted what was being offered here by this woman and this place.

Wherever she ended up, she would look for a place like Elliott.

Chapter Fourteen

“I want you to promise me that you won’t do anything stupid,” Jack said.

Teague looked up at his friend, standing over him with a file in his hand and a very unhappy look on his face. Lucky and Beck were standing around the kitchen island of the apartment, ready to stop him or help him—he wasn’t quite sure.

“What’s this?” he asked, reaching out to get the folder, biting back a curse when Jack pulled it out of his reach. “Jack. What the fuck?”

“Teague, I did what you asked and ran the check on Risa.” He paused, glancing at Lucky and Beck, who also looked like they wanted to run. “This isn’t good.”

“Hand it over.”

“I’m serious, we’re going to hear her out before you do anything stupid,” Jack said.

“Give it to me.” Teague held out his hand for the folder, resisting the urge to grab it away from him. Jack was a big guy and the only thing that would happen if he did that was a lot of the nice designer furniture getting broken in this really nice apartment. His mother would kill them both slowly and with great enjoyment. “I know what I’m doing.”

Jack stared at him for a moment, finally placing the folder on the table and turning away in the controlled manner that told Teague that trouble was coming. He grabbed his beer and took a long drink before sinking down into the chair on the opposite side of the room.

Teague picked up the folder, opening it and spying what he was looking for right on top. The folder was chock-full of printouts and forms, but what he needed was on the first page. He scanned it, processing the data very quickly: Risa owed money—$10,000—to Tony Giambetti. According to the documents, Risa had been unable to pay the money back. Shit.

“She owes money to the Giambetti family?” Teague asked Jack, but turned to Lucky when Jack wouldn’t answer. “What did she borrow money for? Her business?”

Lucky shook his head. “No, for her friend Pepper. Rehab. Pepper had a meth problem.”

“Shit.” He continued to look at the file in his hands, trying to soak in all the details. “So that’s why she said ten grand.”

“Big Tony has made it clear to anyone who will listen that he will take payment in kind from Risa,” Jack said.

“What?” Teague asked.

“Ricky told my guy that he’d forgive the debt if Risa would fuck him on a more or less permanent basis.”

“More or less—?” Teague ground his teeth together. The thought of Risa underneath that man for even a second was quickly superseded by the million ways he would kill Big Tony if he laid a hand on her.

“There’s more,” Jack said. His tone said it all.

“Worse,” Lucky said quietly from where he’d come over to stand by him. Teague glanced over at Beck, positioned by the door and he understood—they were prepared to stop him from doing something stupid.

He had a feeling that “worse” wasn’t going to cover it.

“What is it?” He shuffled through the papers in the folder until he saw it.

She’d set him up.

Risa. Sweet. Funny. Sexy. Kind.

She’d sold him out to Big Tony for ten grand.

Teague stood, gripping the edge of the table so tightly that he felt a twinge as the bones in his hands creaked under the pressure. He didn’t give a shit about the pain—the slice cutting through his chest eclipsed any external source of agony. He’d been wrong. Duped by her big silver eyes and sex that made his eyes cross it was so fucking good.

Reaching out, he snagged a bowl off the counter and threw it across the room where it hit the wall and shattered, antique china flying everywhere. Silence reigned in the room as his friends watched him with varying degrees of surprise and incredulity on their faces. He knew he looked like a crazy man—he
felt
like a crazy man. He wanted to do something stupid like fly out to Las Vegas and beat the shit out of Big Tony with his bare hands.

And Risa? He wanted to shake her until she told him why she did it.

“Feel better?” Jack asked.

“No, I goddamn don’t feel better.” He slammed his hand down on the island with a thud. It still wasn’t enough. He really wanted to hit something and find a release for all this adrenaline.

“Teague, what’s going on?”

He spun toward the door and saw Risa, shopping bags in hand, standing there with Michaela and Taylor. Her expression was fearful and grew increasingly more so as she moved inside the room and took in the entire scene.

“What happened?” she repeated as she dropped the bags onto the ground.

“You fucking sold me out to Tony Giambetti,” he spat out without thinking.

Risa turned ashen, stepping back with the force of being struck. “Oh my God.”

He advanced on her, unable to stop even when he saw her retreating in fear. She goddamn better be afraid.

“Oh my God. I’m so sorry.” She was sucking in huge gulps of air, panting with the emotion of the moment. “How? How did you find out?”

“It was in the investigation I ordered—”

“You had me investigated?”

“You wouldn’t tell me anything. I was forced to do it in order to protect you!”

“But I was trying to protect you,” she said, her voice scratchy and wet with the unshed tears in her eyes.

“Protecting me? By setting me up?” Teague loomed over her, catching a glimpse of Lucky just to his right, keeping a watchful eye on what was happening. “What exactly did you do to me?”

She looked up at him, misery forming her features into harsh lines of despair. She was still a beautiful woman, a dangerous one like Delilah. Well, she’d taken him down just like Samson and he felt shorn, stripped, and raw.

“I was sent to meet you that night.” She glanced at Lucky. “The night after your wedding.” She swallowed hard and returned her gaze back to Teague. “He gave me something to put in your drink. I only gave you half a dose. I couldn’t…he told me to be nice to you, to get you into a compromising situation and take photos. There are others from our hotel room. Graphic ones.”

“What else? The wedding?”

“It was supposed to be fake, but Big Tony set us both up with that one. He wanted to really cause trouble for you.”

“And sleeping with me?” He held his breath, needing to hear just how big a fool he’d actually been. “Did you do that for Big Tony?”

She shivered under his scrutiny, reaching out to him, but he stepped back, avoiding her touch. Risa lowered her gaze to the ground, but not before he saw the hurt cross her face like a shadow. Good—he wanted her to hurt.