by Nadia Lee
Walt released her. “Bitch.”
She rubbed her wrist. “Well, that’s original.” She’d heard worse. She’d called herself worse.
He stalked off, and she took a deep shuddering breath. I guess that was slightly better than the situation in college. Walt had at least tried to deny everything, and acted like he was somewhat horrified. Freddie hadn’t had that much decency. No, he’d actually been pleased to have been caught in her bed with her cousin, both of them buck naked.
Hilary shook her head. She should erase Freddie from her memory. He wasn’t worth it. Never had been. The only thing he’d wanted was to fuck both Rosenberg girls at the same time. He’d known the whole sordid story—how she and Bebe were cousins, but also half-sisters who looked enough alike to practically be twins. That plus the Rosenberg women’s reputation for being loose…
She slipped into the house and climbed upstairs to her bedroom. Aunt Lila used the master suite, and she had the second largest room in the house. It used to belong to Bebe, but since she was gone, Hilary hadn’t seen any reason to stay in the smallest one.
Opening the door to her room, she flicked on the light switch and let out a small yelp at an unfamiliar lump on her bed. As it shifted, the blanket lowered, and Bebe’s sleepy face looked at her. “Hey, cuz.”
“Bebe? Good god, what are you doing here?”
She shrugged. “Sleeping, what else?”
“Uh, this is my room now.”
“Sorry. Didn’t know.”
“Uh huh. All the office clothes didn’t give it away? The new bed?”
“Don’t be such a bitch, Hilary. It’s not like you.”
“Come on, out,” Hilary said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. “You can sleep in my old room now that you know.”
“But it’s so small,” Bebe whined.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have run off. Then you could’ve kept this one.”
“I didn’t ‘run off.’ I was on an adventure. Of self-discovery.” Bebe got up. She was naked except for a thong so tiny it shouldn’t count. She had long red hair like Hilary, but instead of letting it cover herself, she tossed it over her shoulders. “I look good, don’t I? These are new tats.” She traced swirly lines etched onto her breasts. “Wanna closer look?”
Repulsed, Hilary almost took a step back. “No! Get out.”
“Don’t be such a prude.” Bebe gave her a speculative look. “Are you still pissed off about Freddie?”
“No.” Hilary would never admit how much that betrayal had hurt her. But her cousin knew her too well. They had grown up together.
“God, Hilary, it was decades ago. Honestly, aren’t you sorry you missed out on a chance for a hot threesome? It would’ve been pretty sweet.”
Hilary couldn’t believe Bebe’s gall. Her stomach knotted until she thought she might throw up—the same thing she’d felt when she’d discovered Bebe and Freddie in her bed. The old pain and humiliation formed a tight fist around her throat. “Aren’t you even a little ashamed of yourself?” she choked out. “Don’t you feel any guilt that you stole my boyfriend?”
“Hey, he knew what he wanted, and so did I. You’re the one who bailed. I didn’t steal anything. For fuck’s sake, I didn’t keep him afterward. I only wanted him for a good time, and if you weren’t going to join, there was no point.” Bebe’s gaze swept over Hilary. “Speaking of which… Isn’t that a man’s jacket? How about this time then? You were mad I didn’t tell you beforehand. So I’m telling you now—”
“Bebe, shut up.” Mark was so much more special than Freddie. Hilary didn’t know what she’d do if that nightmarish scene played out with Mark in it. “If you go near him, I’ll kill you.”
“Don’t be such a greedy bitch,” Bebe snapped. “It doesn’t matter where you work, how much money you make or how up-scale you dress. You aren’t that special, Hilary. We all share the same blood and the same daddy. We are all the fucking same!” She marched past Hilary and left. A door opened and slammed.
Her legs like wet noodles, Hilary leaned against the wall and slowly slid down to the floor. Tears prickled her eyes, and she covered her mouth to contain a sob. Bebe was wrong. Hilary was not like the women in her family. She knew the destructive power of living high on drama.
And she understood the madness of trusting men, relying on them, equating sex with anything more. She’d done everything in her power to ensure she wouldn’t repeat the mistakes her mom and aunt had made. The men she’d dated inspired affection, but not passion. Her clothes were conservative—and fashionable enough, according to Jo—to ensure she’d project the proper image of a serious-minded career woman. She’d chosen the best job she could based on her skills, and she’d worked tirelessly to make sure she was indispensable.
Still…
The women in the bathroom had known, hadn’t they? They could tell Hilary wasn’t like them, that she was messed up like her mom and aunt and Bebe. Others might be too polite to say anything to her face, but how many had thought it? Those three couldn’t be the only ones.
Hilary rested her forehead on her bent knees, making herself as small as possible. She was going to be okay. She wasn’t going to be like the women in her family. She would work even harder to hide what she was, so people would never find out.
So Mark would never find out.
Chapter Ten
The next morning, Mark was scowling as he munched his breakfast cereal at the kitchen counter of his downtown penthouse. The gorgeous view of the California morning, normally a source of pleasure, did nothing for his mood. It bugged him Hilary hadn’t wanted him to walk her to her door the night before, and that she’d looked so small and sad standing there on the street as he’d driven away.
Damn it. Instead of worrying about her control and dignity, he should’ve pushed until she told him what was wrong.
He pulled out his phone and called Eliza. He had a feeling Hilary would never tell him now that his chance was gone, but his cousin might have heard something. She knew everything that happened at her events.
“Oh my gosh, do you know what time it is?” she moaned.
“Seven thirty. Why?”
“I didn’t get to bed until almost four.”
“Hope he was worth it.”
“There was no ‘he,’ you perv.”
“In that case, my condolences.”
“Condolences? Condolences? That’s all you have to say?”
“Eliza, you know you’re my favorite cousin. And as much as I’d love to let you sleep the morning away, I need to talk to you about something. Did you notice anything odd last night?”
“What do you mean?”
He told her about Hilary’s unexplainable mood the night before. “See? Kind of strange, don’t you think?”
“It is. She seemed to be having a great time. Even Taylor was behaving. I was kind of worried she might make a scene…apparently she was really upset when you dumped her.”
“I didn’t dump her,” he said. “We parted amicably.” That was the story he was sticking to, more for Taylor’s sake than his.
“Not what I heard. I was told a few insults were involved.”
“Well, ‘insults.’ She didn’t realize her time would be so short and vocalized her shock.” He’d broken up with her after two months rather than the usual three. But he hadn’t been able to bring himself to stay with her for even one more hour.
Eliza snorted. “Is that what we call four-letter words these days?”
“Her favorite words had seven and, um…ten letters. But hey, I gave her diamond earrings as a ‘sorry to break up so early’ gift.”
“I’m sure that made it all better.”
“Well, she kept them. She even said hello to me last night. So she can’t be that mad.”
“Honestly, I don’t know how you get away with your antics, Mark. I’ll see what I can find out. If anybody was less than polite to Hilary, I’ll know and make sure they’re blacklisted.”
“Really?” He h
adn’t expected his warm and laid-back cousin to volunteer such a harsh response.
“I like Hilary. She’s…nice. And normal and down to earth. I never thought to see you date somebody like her.”
“Hey! I date nice girls all the time.”
“Surface nice. I was going to start calling you Ken if you brought home another of your Barbie girlfriends.”
“They were never that bad.”
“Were too. Skinny blondes with enormous fake ta-tas have always been your type…but I’m glad you’re growing out of that. Anyway, is Hilary there with you? She’s awfully quiet, and I feel terrible, talking about her like she isn’t there.”
“Don’t worry. She’s not here.”
There was a pause. “Well, that’s a surprise. She dump you already?”
“No,” he ground out. Why did Eliza think such a thing? He hated how people just assumed Hilary would dump him at any moment. Especially when they were smart people. “If you must know, I dropped her off at her place last night.”
A longer moment of silence. “All right, Martian impostor. What have you done with my cousin?”
“Oh come on.”
“You come on. There’s no way you just let her go like that. You slept with her, right? Then went home? It’s not like you to play friends without benefits.”
“I didn’t and haven’t,” he said, trying for a touch of asperity. The light, fun tone he employed so successfully with women didn’t work on Hilary. On the other hand, he hated “serious.” Serious meant the possibility of commitment. Maybe when he found a woman who didn’t get boring after twelve weeks he might try serious. But until then he was keeping things light and simple. He didn’t want to hurt anybody, especially Hilary. “I’m not that kind of boy.”
The laughter on the other end of the line went on so long he put the phone down on the counter and turned on the speaker function. “Are you losing your touch?” Eliza asked, after she caught her breath.
He looked up at the ceiling. “Didn’t you say you wanted to go back to sleep?”
“Uh-huh.” She yawned. “But this is just too juicy. You, heading home alone after a date.” She started laughing again.
“Go back to bed. There’s nothing juicy. It’s sleep deprivation making you hallucinate juicy.”
She chuckled. “All right. Just don’t go join a monastery or anything, okay?” She hung up amid more gales of laughter.
He scowled at his phone. His relationships were never with Barbie-women. He’d always chosen his girlfriends because they were interesting.
It wasn’t his fault they became boring so quickly.
Then something else occurred to him. Hilary was pretending to go out with him so he could avoid getting set up with that heiress. But if they stopped seeing each other after the Fourth of July, people would assume she couldn’t hang onto him for more than four weeks.
Shit. That didn’t sit well. She deserved more than that. Maybe he’d stage a fake breakup scene where she could dump him.
After a quick shower, he put on a blue shirt and khaki shorts. The night before had ended on a disappointing note, but it had given him some useful information: where Hilary lived.
Almost an hour later, he pulled into her driveway. It was already nine thirty, so she should be up by now. Or so he’d hoped since she hadn’t picked up her phone. Maybe she’d just gotten up. He smiled at the idea. Women looked so soft and sweet when they’d just woken up, their eyes languid and their cheeks flushed.
A moment after he rang, the door opened, revealing a woman who looked remarkably like Hilary in build, height and coloring. But that was where their similarities ended. She had a hard-edged mien that said she’d seen and done things outside the experience of most women. The glint in her eyes hinted she might have enjoyed some of them.
She was barely decent. Her big breasts pushed against a thin white tank-top, and he could see the faint outline of her nipples. The ripped denim shorts were so short, he’d be able to see the under-curves of her butt cheeks if she turned around. She stretched one arm along the door frame and smiled at him. “Well, hello.”
“Hi. Is Hilary here?” he asked, keeping his gaze above her neck.
“No, she’s out.” She gave him a vampish smile. “But I’m here. Who are you?”
“Mark. Is she out for—”
“Mark,” she repeated, like she was testing the name. She tapped her lower lip with a finger, then wiped the lipstick on her shorts. “Are you the one who gave her that nice jacket last night?”
“Yeah. About—”
She snapped her fingers. “I knew it! I’m Bebe.” She put her hand out. “Nice to meet you.”
Despite his impatience, good manners kicked in and he shook her hand. “Pleasure. Are you her sister? She never said.”
She laughed like he’d said something too precious. “Sister? Oh my god.” Her hand flew to her stomach, and she doubled over, chortling.
O-kay. This was weird. “If Hilary’s not here…” He turned around and started to leave.
“Wait!”
He glanced back at the still-laughing woman. “Yes?”
“Nothing. I see I did her a big favor. I had no idea she’d trade up to something this nice.” She wiped her tears. “If you wanna see her, try her friend’s place. Josephine Martinez. Or the OWM office. It’s not like Hilary has a life or a place to be other than those two.”
Mark doubted Hilary was at the office. So Josephine’s place it was. Thankfully he knew where she lived since she sometimes worked with his family.
* * *
“Drink this.” Jo put a big glass of iced coffee in front of Hilary. “You look like shit.”
Count on her friend to be honest. On the other hand, Hilary had to look awful after tossing and turning all night long. And she’d spent only a few minutes putting on some powder and lipstick that morning.
“What happened?” Jo asked.
“I should’ve never agreed to go to the charity thing with Mark. I should’ve just joined a convent.” Hilary drank the coffee deeply. As the caffeine kicked in, she felt almost normal. “You think it’s too late?”
“For what?”
“To be a nun.”
Jo pretended to give it some thought. “Gavin will do everything in his power to stop you. He probably has the Pope on speed-dial, given how he seems to know everyone.” She took the seat next to Hilary. “And you like food too much. Don’t they only eat bread and water in convents?”
“The charity event was terrible.” Hilary sighed. “I made a fool of myself, and I’m sure a lot of people there think I’m some terrible skank or something.”
“You? Ha. I had to spend days to convince you to wear real shoes. If it weren’t for me, you’d have the most drab sense of style ever. The invisible woman.”
“I wish.” Hilary moaned and buried her face in the crook of her arm. The three in the bathroom had seen through everything. “Walt confronted me last night.”
Jo gasped. “That rat bastard? What did he have to say?”
“He wanted the bracelet back.” Hilary lifted her head. “Apparently it’s an heirloom.”
“What a dumbass. He shouldn’t have given it to you then.”
“I know, right?”
“Did you tell him to shove it?”
“More or less. He said he has no idea who the woman in the YouTube video is.”
Jo started laughing. “Oh my god, that’s rich. Was he serious? He wasn’t on crack or something?”
“Definitely serious. But that’s not all of it.”
“There’s more?”
“Bebe’s in town.”
The snarky humor vanished from Jo’s eyes, and her mouth set in a tight line. “Uh oh. Since when?”
“Sometime yesterday, I guess. She was in my room when I got back.”
“What was she doing there?”
“Sleeping…allegedly.”
“She’s such a piece of work. You want something a little more therapeutic th
an coffee? One of my clients came back from Russia and brought me a bottle of vodka. It’s good stuff.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m just trying to wrap my head around all this.” Or more like not let her head explode all over it. “Why would she come back after all this time?”
“Probably to cause trouble. She’s still wild, isn’t she?”
Hilary nodded. “Same old Bebe. She was virtually naked in my bed.”
“Ewww.”
“And really in my face about everything. You know… Freddie.”
“What a bitch.”
Hilary pressed her fingers to her eyes, which were dry and irritated. Thank god she’d put on glasses instead of contacts. “I can’t even…” She sighed. “She was rubbing it in. I’m sure she didn’t crawl into my bed without a reason.”
“Of course not. God, I hate her.”
Jo knew the humiliating end to Hilary’s sordid relationship with Freddie. He’d seemed so perfect…so true and genuine…until she’d gone to her dorm room and found him screwing Bebe in Hilary’s own bed. She’d expected him to apologize, maybe even grovel and try to explain what the hell he thought he was doing. But he hadn’t been sorry. He’d been offended Hilary hadn’t wanted to join them. “Come on! You’re a Rosenberg,” he had said. “I know all about you and your family.”
The scene had reminded Hilary of her mother and aunt’s relationship with Tim. How dysfunctional and destructive that had been for both women. Her mother had died precisely because she hadn’t learned how to live on her own and take care of herself. After Tim had gotten himself killed in a car accident, she’d more or less poisoned herself with drugs.
Hilary wasn’t going to end up like that.
A gentle touch of Jo’s hand on Hilary’s shoulder pulled her out of her dark memories. “Hey,” Jo said. “Do you want to crash at my place until Bebe takes off again?”
That was a definite possibility. “Are you sure? She might not leave for a while.”
“I’m sure. Hilary, you really need to stay away from that toxic family of yours. They aren’t good for you, and being around them only brings you down. Trust me on this.”
