“Later, I’ll take all the…licks…you want to give me.”
“Dress or we won’t be having lunch, Natalia.”
Laughing, she went and did exactly as he bid. Lunch extended to a bit of shopping for wines and then a light dinner several hours later.
When he cuffed her to his bed and striped the back of her body hot, she didn’t think the day could get any better.
Then he fucked her and proved her wrong. She didn’t mind even a little.
Chapter Seven
Gabriella ate lunch regularly with Riya and Tawny since they both worked from home. The three of them had a lot in common and the two best friends could make her laugh until her sides hurt.
Many of their discussions centered on sex. Brie was beyond fascinated with the lives they led with their men. Though she typically ended up blushing furiously, Riya had no problem answering her questions and Tawny could be downright slutty.
It was wonderful.
She’d never had many girlfriends growing up. Between extracurricular activities such as student government and band, she hadn’t had a lot of time during the school year. On breaks, she and Izzy worked all the time while their classmates played video games and took trips to the lake.
The range of their conversations was all over the map. Everything from food to travel to the best positions for a woman to achieve orgasms – alone or with a partner.
Sometimes their men would join them and Brie tried not to stare at their interactions. On a particular afternoon, the four husbands returned from the gym as they were finishing up.
There was an impromptu race/wrestling match as Zach and Quinn tried to reach Tawny first. Meanwhile, Max and Micah mock-battled over Riya’s first kiss.
Brie couldn’t have looked away if she tried.
Riya laughed for several minutes. “I know we’re ridiculous but your eyes are positively huge.”
“Not because it’s ridiculous. It’s nice.”
She thought she covered her wistfulness and would have been embarrassed to know how clearly the others could read her. Tawny and Riya shared a look as she started picking up their plates from lunch.
Tawny assumed a casual expression. “Why don’t you come to our club with us, Brie? You would love it. They’re doing a huge party for Halloween!”
Immediately, the image of Hudson’s lover came to mind. She’d overheard Riya talking to the woman a few days ago about the events at the club and looked it up. Natalia was listed as the manager. Somehow, she thought it was probably more than that.
It was also none of her business.
Grinning at the pretty redhead, she replied, “So my corruption is complete? I think not. I don’t need one man in my life yet, much less two. Besides, I’d probably make a fool of myself trying to look everywhere at once. Then end up talking to the bartender all night. I do that.”
Riya took the plates from her hands. “If you don’t stop trying to clean up, I’m going to put you in time out.” Max and Micah went around them. Each man tugged Brie’s hair playfully. “They know I’m serious. You are a guest…a friend over for lunch. You do not clean up.”
As Brie watched, they all cleared the table. “But…I like to help.”
Max gave her a wink. “You help by keeping us company. I made cheesecake.”
“Oh my god, no. Not another cheesecake.” The last one Riya’s husband made was so decadent; she wanted to weep when she bit into it. “I’ll be a parade balloon if you don’t stop. As it is, I watch what I eat the whole day before I come for lunch.”
Tawny frowned. “What the fuck for? You’re gorgeous. I’d give anything to have your ass.”
“Better in theory than in practice, I can assure you. Anyway, I have to get downstairs. Lunch was fantastic. Thank you so much.”
The friends kissed her cheeks and she waved at their men as she headed for the elevator.
Riya stared at the closed elevator. Tawny didn’t miss the little frown between her eyes. “Girl, I can smell the smoke…spill it.”
“She’s alone too much. I don’t like it and I’m sick of her cleaning this building when I know she’d rather be doing the job she has a degree for.”
“She filed formal charges about her money. Her parents know because the police sent subpoenas to their bank. I was with her getting coffee when they called.” Tawny sighed. “They asked her a million questions and wanted to know how she could be so stupid. I almost lost my shit.”
“What did she tell them?”
“Not much. She kept saying stuff like I know or you’re right and I wanted to shake her. When she hung up, she started crying. You know I do not know how to handle tears without beating the shit out of whoever caused it. The cops aren’t getting anywhere, of course.”
Micah came up behind Riya and put his hands on her shoulders. “Listen, Hudson knows something about who took her money.”
Riya whirled on him. “What do you mean? He doesn’t need her money.”
“No, he didn’t take it but he knows who conned her.”
“Why would he keep that information to himself?”
“The day we met Brie, Hudson showed up later at Trois, remember?” The women nodded. “I found out the next day that he kicked his girlfriend out. Had her packed up and moved out within hours of meeting Gabriella in the lobby.”
Quinn put his hands on his hips. “In cons like that, there are usually a minimum of two people. A man to get to them and a woman to impersonate them. Sounds like he found out his girlfriend was the latter.”
Zach frowned. “If he threw her out, I wonder why he didn’t go to the police.”
“Probably because that’s not the worst of it.” Max came downstairs with a file in his hand. “Riya love, don’t be upset.”
“Upset about what, exactly?”
“We had Brie checked out within a couple of days of meeting her. We kept it to ourselves because she was honest and we agreed it was her business to share details with you in her own time.” He sighed heavily. “Unfortunately, I think we all need to be on the same page. Just in case.”
She took the file and walked to the dining table, flipping through the contents. Thirty seconds later, her eyes went wide.
“Holy shit, she’s loaded.” Then she mumbled, “There’s a morality clause on her trust fund? What the fuck does that even mean?” When she reached the last page, she glanced at the others and whispered, “Oh god. How awful.”
Her men nodded. Micah crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re keeping an eye on the situation. That’s all we feel justified in doing at this point.”
“You’ll tell me if you find out anything else? I can’t talk to Brie about this. It looks horrible.” She glanced out the window and tapped her finger on the file. “I know you don’t particularly like Hudson but something tells me he’s going to make this right for her.”
“I know the apartment he’s renting to her normally goes for double what she pays. He’s paying her salary through his real estate arm and it’s a fair wage. Not what she could be making in her field but he’s strangely generous with people who work for him.”
Riya nodded. “I don’t like that you kept this from me but I understand why you did.” Sitting back in the chair, she smiled. “Cheesecake would go a long way to making me feel better.”
The men laughed and walked into the kitchen.
Her friend wasn’t fooled in the slightest. “Too easy. What the fuck are you up to?”
“Now, I’m going to stir some things up and see what happens.” She stared at Tawny. “She’s getting her fucking money back, first of all. There’s a good chance she’ll never see her trust fund. Morality clause…seriously? Then we’re going to make sure she gets her happily-ever-after. Those are the first two tasks on my to-do list.”
“I love shit-stirring. Sign me up.”
The men joined them with coffee and cheesecake while Riya’s mind played quietly with her new knowledge.
How she loved to fix things.
> Three weeks later, Gabriella was expected to return home for Thanksgiving.
When she calmly explained, once again, that employees who’d been working at her job for years had scheduled the time off months in advance, her mother hung up on her.
The next evening, she opened the front door of her building to find her parents and Izzy standing in the entry with Camille. She was shocked as the three of them surrounded her.
“If our girl cannot come to us for Thanksgiving, we come to her.”
They spent three days in the city, sightseeing while Brie was at work. They made enough food to fill her freezer, bought gadgets for her apartment that she didn’t need, and generally staged a full invasion of her peaceful space.
She and Izzy slept in the living room and her parents slept in her bed at her insistence.
Gabriella loved her family very much. Having them in her home had her off-balance and a little irritable. Izzy grinned over her coffee cup when they managed to go out alone for the first time.
“Hang in there. It’s almost over.”
“I feel…I don’t know…like I can’t do anything right.”
“That’s your insecurity talking. You do so many things right, Brie. Take a deep breath and stop expecting them to change. They’re old and set in their ways. Just be you and they’ll learn to deal or they won’t.” Brie’s eyes went huge.
“You wouldn’t be the first child to put distance in place with overwhelming parents.”
For the longest time, Brie stared at her sister as if seeing her for the first time. “You…don’t care, do you? How they are?”
“No, I don’t. I knew when I was fourteen that I’d likely never see my inheritance. Their idea of morality is far different from mine.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…I’m not perfect but I live the life that’s best for me. I make no apologies for that. You shouldn’t either.”
“I want to be like that.”
“You can. Stop giving them so much power. They’re just people. No more, no less.”
They took their time and when they walked up the steps of her brownstone, Izzy touched her arm to stop her. “Brie, I’m really proud of how you handled a situation that would have crippled other people. You look great and I like the life you’re making for yourself here.”
Tears were unavoidable. She’d always looked up to her sister. “Thanks.”
“Stop being a crybaby,” Izzy said with a grin. “When they act crazy, just breathe through it, nod, and smile.” She shrugged. “That’s what I do. It’s why they think I conform. I smile then do what the fuck I want because eventually, my happiness relies on my choices…not theirs.”
Their conversation stayed with her through the rest of her family’s visit. It made her stronger.
Naturally, men were a common theme since they now believed she was unable to distinguish the good ones from the bad ones. Their mother started listing the appropriate men she knew who would be perfect for Brie and Izzy smoothly changed the subject.
As frustrated as her parents could make her, she still cried a little when she saw them off at the airport. They boarded the plane for Seattle a couple of hours before Izzy’s flight left for Chicago. Their last words were that she should lose a little weight and put her shoulders back.
Gabriella smiled and nodded but didn’t reply. When they walked into the line for security, Izzy bumped her. “See? Better, right?”
“Better.”
They had lunch and made plans for Izzy to visit again alone. Only when her sister disappeared from view did Brie head back outside and hail a cab.
Her routine was calm and steady. She didn’t hang out with her co-workers but she grew close to Camille and a young woman who lived across the hall with her grandparents.
She had to promise her mother to attend Mass so they would feel comfortable staying in Washington for Christmas. Inclement weather made cross-country travel difficult for the holiday season and delays were consistent.
It was the first true holiday she’d ever spent alone but Riya didn’t give her time to feel lonely. When she wasn’t working or sleeping, she helped plan her friend’s annual Christmas Eve bash.
The night of the party, the penthouse was packed with dozens of guests. Most of her friends and family were staying in the short-term residences on the second floor.
Riya and Tawny insisted she have a sleepover the night before so they could take their time with last minute details and enjoy getting ready before the first guests arrived.
She and Tawny finished wrapping gifts while they encouraged Riya to relax and have a drink or three. They laughed their asses off as she attempted to make sense of nonsensical things.
“I’ve never seen anyone get drunk so fast…and so thoroughly,” Brie snickered.
“I love it. Usually I record her idiocy and share it among our mutual friends. She’s so fucking perfect sometimes, I don’t have a choice.”
“Tawny, that is just mean…clever, but mean.”
The redhead shrugged. “It’s all part of my charm.”
Eventually, Tawny went in the hall and whistled for the M’s. They appeared in sleep pants and tank tops. Micah’s brow arched. “Please tell me you didn’t record her like this…again.”
“Nah. Everyone is still laughing from the last time when I convinced her to try hoola-hooping while intoxicated and she broke every bottle on your bar cart.” She shook her head. “You have to leave them wanting more, dude.”
“I’m not even a little bit drunk. Not even a little.”
Max laughed as he scooped up a limp Riya from the guestroom bed. “I know, love. You are completely sober. How about you let me carry you so you don’t fall down the stairs?”
“I can walk. I wouldn’t fall down the stairs because I’d be going up them.”
“Then I won’t point out the fact that you’re quite adept at falling up the stairs.” Max winked at them and left with his wife in his arms.
From the door, Micah asked, “Can I get you anything before I turn in?”
“We’re set. Give her the magic potion because we kept telling her she wasn’t actually drinking.” Tawny was not remotely ashamed.
“You are fucking diabolical.”
“It’s why you lo-o-o-ve me, Micah. It’s my job to remind her that she isn’t really a fairy princess. Otherwise, she’d get a fat head. I take my job seriously.”
Laughing, Micah followed the others upstairs.
Tawny listened carefully and gave a nod. “Coast is clear. I’m going for baby cheesecakes.”
“Aren’t those for the party?”
“I’m a party guest, here very early. Max made them special with eighty-percent cacao. Mine. Be Bonnie to my Clyde and let’s get a couple of those destroyed. Almost everything is being catered but those are here now.”
They ended up with Patrón and cheesecakes on a tray between them on the bed.
“I love the relationship you guys have. You remind me of my sister.”
“She’s totally awesome then…obviously.” She popped a mini-cheesecake in her mouth and sighed. “You know, Riya is the only chick friend I had until you. I normally can’t stand women. You’re like Riya without the halo.”
Brie couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up. “Uh, no. No halo.”
Tawny grinned. “Things come easy to her. She’s naturally good at shit. If she weren’t such a good person, I would have punched her out when we were teenagers. Until her project, Riya was so fucking sweet it could make your teeth hurt.”
“I read the books…it was an education.”
“Right? She has some dings in that halo now, I tell you what. I’m glad she took to you. You’re a good fit. A halfway point between us.”
“Thanks.”
“Alright, I’m going to pull out your deep dirty shit now. Time for some Truth or Dare.”
The next hours were spent acting like teenagers and Brie could say she’d never had so much fun with another
person besides Izzy.
After a three-hour nap, they were up again…making pancakes.
The others were awakened to the sounds of them singing Here Comes the Sun at top volume. Max and Micah appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Ladies,” Micah said carefully. “Good morning. Is something the matter?” His voice was still scratchy from sleep.
Tawny blew them kisses. “Nope! Just want you to get a sample of what holiday mornings will be like when you have kids. Up, up, up! Lots of stuff to do today!”
Max mumbled, “She’s not serious.”
Behind them, a yawning Riya said, “Oh yeah. She’s serious. Best to go with it or she’ll get worse.”
Brie laughed quietly as Tawny nodded soberly. “Trust her. She’s a doctor. Come on! We made pancakes!” Then she dashed back to the kitchen.
Stopping in front of Brie, Riya said, “She got to you.”
“Sorry.”
“Liar. You’ll never be the same now.”
“I know. We have coffee and mimosas.”
“I smell the coffee. It’s the only thing currently keeping her alive, Brie.”
The day was beautiful. The light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows was perfect as they decorated. Christmas carols played through the rooms while they worked.
A couple of hours before the party, Tawny and Riya pulled her upstairs to get ready. Riya ordered all of them coordinating dresses and shoes. They were the same fabric but different colors and styles. All of them fell just above the knee.
Hers was custom-tailored for her odd shape and even had built-in booby support that even her own bras sometimes failed to provide. The dark blue brought out the color of her eyes. When she originally took Brie to the dress shop for measurements, she refused to show the design.
“Trust me. You’re going to love it.”
The finished product was beautiful. They took her hair out of the big clip and it fell to the middle of her back. Tawny grabbed a lock and watched the tight curl spring back. “I want to see what it looks like flat-ironed.”
Hudson Page 8
