Not to mention she’d seen them naked and vulnerable.
“Well, and I’d appreciate if this didn’t get spread around, but I needed a fresh start.” She took a deep breath and spilled the story, surprised at how relieved she felt at the end of the telling.
“You’re a better woman than I am,” Loren said. “I would have had his ass put under the jail.”
Shayla shrugged. “That wouldn’t have gotten me anywhere except saddled with the apartment and utilities and a long fight to get the credit card companies to forgive the debt and go after him. Where I am now, my monthly bills are nearly fifty percent cheaper, there’s no state income tax, he has paid back some of what he owes me, and I don’t have to worry about him showing up at my front door.”
“Well, there is that,” Tilly agreed. “Can’t say’s I blame you there.”
“What’d your parents say when you told them?” Loren asked.
“They were supportive. My dad wanted to go beat him up and wring his neck.”
“I like him,” Tilly snarked.
Shayla smiled. “Fortunately, they were safely up in Minneapolis and not in Cleveland. So James’ neck was safe. They didn’t like that I wanted to move all the way to Florida, but they did support me when I convinced them it was the best thing for my mental health.”
“How do you like Florida so far?” Leah asked.
“It’s different. Good different,” she added.
“Why the hell would he pay for porn?” Tilly pondered.
Leah looked at her. “Seriously, Til? That’s your question?”
Tilly shrugged. “Guy’s got to be pretty damn stupid to pay that much for porn when so much of it is readily available for free.” She glanced in the rearview mirror and made eye contact with Shayla. “I mean, yes, obviously it’s pretty shitty for him to rob you like that in the first place. But to me, that just piles stupidity onto his criminal asshattery.”
Shayla laughed. “I hadn’t thought about it like that. I guess you’re right. And I appreciate you letting me talk about this. All my friends and most of his wanted to kill him when they found out what he did. It’s nice to be able to just talk about it. I lost a couple of friends when I took him back the first time. I hadn’t told all of them what he’d done, just a few. They told me I was an idiot to forgive him then. I guess they were right. But I loved him. I didn’t think he’d do it again. I definitely didn’t think he’d rip me off the way he did. I didn’t know how badly he’d destroyed his credit the first time around.”
“Love makes us do things against our better judgment sometimes,” Tilly said. “And we all do stupid, silly stuff in our lives in the name of love. And, eh, not to sound like a bitch, but you might want to get tested for STDs in case he’s lying about more than you know.”
“Oh, believe me, I already did that. I did that before I left Cleveland,” she said, remembering the humiliation she felt having to ask her doctor for the tests.
“Good. I mean, not good that you had to get it done, but good they were negative.”
Shayla smiled. “I know what you meant.”
Clarisse and her men lived in a small, upscale private gated community on a bayou in Tarpon Springs. When Shayla got out of the car and stared up at the large stilt home, she realized just how tiny her apartment was in comparison.
Their master bedroom is probably bigger than my apartment.
Tilly led the way upstairs, where Clarisse greeted them with smiles and hugs. “Ready for brunch?” Tilly asked her.
Clarisse patted her stomach. “The morning sickness has settled, so that’s a huge yes.” A tiny Yorkie ran into the foyer, where he screeched to a halt before he began barking.
“Bart! That’s not nice.” Clarisse scooped him up, quieting him immediately. “Sorry. He thinks he’s lord and master of the place and we humans are here to serve him.”
“Has he stolen any more butt plugs?” Tilly asked.
Shayla laughed. “What?”
Clarisse rolled her eyes. “We’ve lost more butt plugs to this little dog than I think we’ve even owned.” She set him back on the floor. “He’s a klepto. Don’t worry, he only steals clean ones. But I’m seriously beginning to wonder if some of our friends aren’t bringing butt plugs with them and sneaking them to him as a joke. I’ve found butt plugs stashed in his bed that I know we didn’t buy.” She directed her next comment to Shayla. “He likes them as chew toys.”
“He’s Dom dog,” Tilly joked.
Leah joined Shayla and Loren in the backseat, while Clarisse took the front passenger seat. She gave Tilly directions to a restaurant on the Sponge Docks. Shayla couldn’t help feeling like a tourist as she tried to take everything in.
“Don’t worry,” Clarisse told her. “We’ll take a stroll up and down the main street to walk off the meal.”
The restaurant wasn’t very crowded due to it being early in the day before the lunchtime crowd arrived. They were seated at a large, round table in the back of the restaurant.
Clarisse hungrily eyed the menu. “I think I need one of each.”
Leah laughed. “Are your guys harping on you to eat healthy?”
She laughed. “Are you kidding? They’re close to tossing food at me to keep me happy. Apparently I’ve had a few tiny mood swings, as Mac called them.”
“Where are they this morning?” Shayla asked.
“They departed early to go look at nursery furniture. They’re researching everything. You’ve never seen two men so obsessed with making sure everything is perfect and safe.”
“They’re not giving you a say in it?”
“Oh, they will, once they narrow their choices down. Nothing but the best, as far as they’re concerned. They won’t let me look at price tags because they know I’ll want to go for the cheap end of the scale.” Clarisse put down her menu. “I spent a lot of years scrimping and saving before I met my guys. Old habits die hard.”
“How did you meet them?”
Clarisse smiled. “I was a stowaway.”
“What?”
“Yep. I was on the run from my ex. He beat the crap out of me, and I was convinced he was going to kill me. I thought my uncle still owned the boat, so I hid out there.”
Shayla managed to stifle a shudder. At least James hadn’t beaten her. Then again, she suspected if he had, she would have left him the first time it happened.
At least, she hoped she would have.
“I thought Landry was going to cry when I made him sell his McLaren,” Tilly said. She looked at Shayla. “It was a ridiculously expensive Mercedes that he owned before I met him.”
“Why’d you make him sell it?” she asked.
“Because it made me nervous. It was worth several times over more than my house, and the insurance on it was outrageous. It had to stay parked in the garage because I was freaked out a bird might poop on it. I countered with the fact that if he was willing to send Cris packing on my say-so, then selling a car should be no big deal.” She grinned. “He finally did sell it. Besides, it wasn’t practical for the three of us. I told him if he wanted a substitute penis, he could buy a friggin’ strap-on and ditch the fancy car. I did let him buy a Mercedes SUV though. At least the insurance was reasonable.”
“So how did you get involved with Landry and Cris?” Shayla asked. “Tony said you were a pro Domme. Is that how you met them?”
Tilly nodded. “In a way. You sure you want to hear the full story?”
“If you want to tell it.”
Tilly played with her straw for a moment with a faraway look in her eyes. “I’m not real proud of myself for some of the things I did,” she eventually said. She met Shayla’s gaze. “You know what it’s like to be hurt by someone you thought you could trust with your life.”