“Don’t do this, Asher. Your mother didn’t raise you this way.”
“My mother raised me to protect my family. And I am.”
Defeat settled into her shoulders. “So be it. I’ll be in touch when I procure a new residence so you can tend to the particulars. The harsh winters have been taking a toll on me as of late and I have friends in the Naples area. I take it Florida is an acceptable distance.”
Unbelievable, she thought I was going to trade out her over-privileged life for the warmer weather version.
“I’d get familiar with Craigslist. You’ll need to sell most of this to cover, hmm, six months maybe. Price of real estate down there’s a bitch.”
“You can’t be serious.”
Serious as cancer and I would know.
“Security, first and last.”
“ASHER!” Her nasal whine bested that of any vulture vying for a spot on a carcass. She was unraveling.
I wanted to revel in it, but then I thought of my woman and how I could use this opportunity to possibly shed more weight from her shoulders.
“You want me to consider putting you into a one bedroom condo, I need something.”
“One bedroom…” Her repugnance unfazed me and she saw it. She readjusted her attitude before finishing with, “What do you want?”
It was a long shot, but then again this witch was so money hungry I bet she had overturned every drawer, safe, and deposit box she could find looking for any unseized assets. If the bastard was stupid enough to hide them, there was a possibility she still had them.
“Pictures.”
“What pictures?” Her plastic facade betrayed her.
“Fine. Good luck with a rental. Let me know how that works out for you.”
“You moron, there are no pictures, never were. Do you really think Jack would be stupid enough to document his indiscretions, that he would risk everything? For what? A visual he could easily find in a gentleman’s magazine.”
“EXCUSE ME.” Make no mistake: there was nothing polite about my words. They were lethal.
“Asher, your ignorance disappoints me. The pictures were my idea. Did you honestly think I’d let his little whores threaten our livelihood? Please, give me some credit. Naivety is a weakness in itself. The threat of humiliation was more than effective.”
It was no longer a fleeting thought or passing urge, it was an internal struggle to hold back.
Balance, cock, torque, strike.
I might not have used my fist, but I delivered the blow.
“Not one fucking penny is coming your way. Not one. This is me ruining you. You. Are. Done.”
She gasped, realizing her fatal error. “But you said-”
“I lied.”
Chapter 18 Lucky
“I have an idea for tonight.” Tal still didn’t know. I stood in the steamed-filled bathroom in my parents’ house and listened to her shower, which in itself was almost nearly impossible, but I managed. Barely. We decided to spend one more night in the Hamptons before heading back home. Ma was discharged after breakfast and we finally got her situated a few hours ago. Tal had her casted arm propped up on three pillows and a cup of tea in her other hand. But that wasn’t what was even bothering her. King wasn’t kidding—her entire right side was twelve shades of purple. Of course Tal whipped out some homeopathic shit from her purse, called it Derm Gold. Five sublingual tabs later and a layer of cream, and Mom was set. What did I know, as long as it helped. Come to think of it, I probably could’ve benefitted from a little under the tongue Arnica when I busted up my face and hand a couple of months ago. No need to rehash the past, that drama was over. Typical though, one shit-storm passed and another arises. Whatever, life’s latest excrement was going to wait. Right now I just needed my girl and I needed a way to let her know her twenty-year hurricane was over. (Or typhoon if she was still feeling her West coast roots.)
“I don’t mind if we stay in, your mom may need us. Besides, aren’t we heading back early tomorrow morning since you have that big meeting?” Tal tiptoed out of the shower, toweled off, and wrapped her hair up into one of those twisty things.
Talk about challenging my self-control. Damn, she was gorgeous and just an arm’s length away.
Mom’s cast, Emma’s doll, baseball. Yeah, one hundred percent, baseball did jack. Back to Mom’s cast. Mom-anything … that worked. Every time.
With my lower half in check, I leaned against the vanity and freely gawked. “Tal, I love you. I love how important my parents are to you. But tonight you’re mine. Non-negotiable. As for tomorrow, we’ll get back in time or we won’t. Suzie can handle it. She might kill me, but it will be worth it. Tonight’s about you. This,” I waved a hand down my front and pulled her now towel-clad body toward mine, hugging and grinning against her lips, “is all yours.”
“Your situation,” she smirked.
“Yup.”
Her sass earned her a brush of our lips. Face-wash mixed with toothpaste mixed with straight up natural Tal, sweet Jesus, I could eat her. Without even trying she made everything better. Not just tolerable, but better.
“So really, how was today? Dad seemed more with it when we got home this afternoon. Just left him and Mom in the kitchen polishing off some kickass meatballs. You…” Kiss. “...can seriously cook. Anything you can’t do?” Kiss. “My real life Wonder Woman. Seriously, though, I can’t believe all the food you made. They’ll be set for the week. Thank you.”
She broke free from my grasp and unwound her hair. With her wide comb she began her post shower ritual. Same thing every time. With Tal I noticed everything.
“When I mentioned a trip to the grocery store, you had to see his list of mandatory meals.” She laughed, now moving onto the lotion, first arms, chest and stomach, then legs. De-lic-ious.
“Guess the appetite is the last to go.” I laughed with her. It felt good keeping it light, shit if we didn’t we’d all go insane. I reminded myself to be that guy, the one Tack described, the one that rolled with the punches, dealt with the good and the bad. “And Mom can deny it all she wants, but you couldn’t miss how relieved she looked when the night nurse got here. I caught her yawning between every bite.”
“No, you definitely did the right thing. Poor thing’s exhausted. Actually, just let me throw on some clothes and get the kitchen cleaned up. That’s the last thing she needs to worry about. And then I’m yours.”
“Kitchen’s done, Mom’s set, and it’s already been established, you are mine. So your only job is to slip on something easy, I don’t want to have to struggle later.” She eye rolled me and pinked. I loved that I could still do that to her. “Now let’s go stare at the stars.”
“Stare at stars, huh? Yeah, that’s exactly what you had in mind.”
“What? Now whose mind is in the gutter?” I laughed.
“Wow.” We emerged from the spacious galley with full bellies and a little buzz. I tucked her against my side and led her to the bow. After a quick call to Drew and a fish market stop, we had a delicious dinner and a great bottle of wine on his new catamaran. Sweet boat with all the amenities, my brother-in-law did good.
“God, Ash, you’re right. I can see every single star. Do you remember when we were kids and we would lay on the tennis courts trying to find shooting stars?”
Yeah, if she only knew what I had wished for. I pulled her down onto the open air trampoline and laid her head against my chest thinking how this might have been one of them. It was pitch black this far out. I’d have to remember to thank Drew later for securing the dock at the very end. There wasn’t another soul in sight.