Perfect Betrayal

by Season Vining

  Taylor shrugged and leaned back against the seat. “You’ll make someone a terrific third wife one day.”

  “Don’t I know it,” Reese replied.

  There was a shift in the air as they neared the beach. The cooler breeze and cawing seagulls greeted them, as if announcing their arrival to a better place.

  Once parked, they grabbed their bags and made the trek across the sand to where the rest of the group had staked out some shade beneath beach umbrellas. It was the usual crowd, including Beau and a few of his teammates. Adrienne sat next to him. She laughed and touched his arm when she spoke—any excuse to get his attention. Taylor knew Adrienne had always had a crush on Beau. When she spotted them approaching, Adrienne stiffened and turned her attention toward the water. Taylor frowned at her friend’s unnecessary guilt.

  Beau jumped up and ran over. “Hey,” he greeted, planting a kiss on Taylor’s lips as he grabbed her bag.

  She sucked in a breath and gawked at him. They’d never shown affection to each other in public. There were rumors of a relationship but never confirmation. It looked like Beau was upping his game. Taylor huffed and followed him back to the group, where everyone sat wide-eyed and waiting for an explanation. All conversations had been abandoned, all activities ceased.

  “Are you guys together now?” Adrienne asked.

  “No,” Taylor answered. “We’re just friends.”

  Reese threw her bag down in the middle of the blanket. “Thanks for offering to help a lady out,” she said, breaking the tension.

  “I don’t see any lady,” someone shouted before a chorus of “ohs” rang out.

  The rest of the morning was spent catching rays or burying their toes in the sand while the guys kicked around a soccer ball. The sun was warm, the breeze was cool, and a soundtrack from someone’s iPod kept them entertained. Taylor, Reese, and Adrienne discussed college boys and how different they would be. The three girls talked about their move cross-country in a couple of months while Adrienne filed her nails beneath the shade of her beach umbrella.

  “It sucks that we have to live on campus. I applied for off-campus housing but was denied. I wanted to get an apartment,” Reese admitted.

  “It’s a rite of passage, Reese,” Adrienne said.

  “Well, you guys have each other. I’ll be living with a stranger,” Reese pouted.

  “It’ll be okay,” Taylor chimed in. “Unless your roommate is a serial killer or collector of human spleens.”

  “Spleens are pretty much worthless on the black market. It would probably be kidneys or livers. Much more profitable.” Reese and Taylor gave Adrienne an incredulous look. Adrienne flicked sand off her nails, then turned to Taylor. “Oh! I checked on that literacy program for you, Taylor. It’s on Tuesday afternoons.”

  Taylor stared out at the water, deciding that she shouldn’t waste an entire summer being a self-centered brat. She certainly had the time and ability to help out.

  “Will you go with me?” she asked.

  Adrienne turned her face toward Taylor. She wore a smile reminiscent of their younger days. “Of course. We’ll go next week. Any progress with your maintenance man?”

  Taylor looked around, noting that Beau was too far away to overhear. Reese sat quietly, grinning at her friends.

  “Maybe.”

  “Tell me,” Adrienne insisted.

  Taylor smirked at her friend and shook her head.

  “Come on,” Ade begged. When Taylor remained tight-lipped, Adrienne jumped up and tackled Taylor back onto the sand. She held her metal nail file in front of Taylor’s face, laughing.

  “Taylor Francis Hudson, if you don’t tell me about that hottie’s skills right now, I will stab this fingernail file into your medulla oblongata, therefore causing all your body’s autonomic functions to cease and desist.”

  Taylor chuckled and pushed Adrienne off of her. “You are freakishly strong for such a tiny girl. And violent too.”

  “I’d call it persuasive,” Ade answered.

  “I’d call it psychotic,” Reese chimed in, seeming disinterested.

  “Tell us, Taylor,” Adrienne demanded.

  “Fine, fine. I kissed him yesterday.”

  Adrienne’s eyes lit up and she scooted closer to her friend. “What was it like?”

  Taylor couldn’t help her growing smile. “It was pretty great. He’s … intense.”

  “So was Jeffrey Dahmer,” Reese pointed out.

  Adrienne and Taylor rolled their eyes.

  “So, just a kiss?” Adrienne asked.

  The boys ran over, rejoining the group, and Taylor nodded at her friend, ending the conversation about Levi.

  “I’m starving,” Reese announced.

  “Me, too,” Taylor said. “No one thought to bring snacks?”

  Beau hopped up and dusted the sand from his feet before sliding into his shoes. “Taylor and I will go get something.”

  “We will?” she asked. His expression was hopeful and she couldn’t deny him. “Fine.”

  Taylor threw her clothes back on and followed him to the parking lot. She was nervous being alone with Beau and wasn’t sure why. This was her childhood friend, the guy she’d lost her virginity to. She knew all his secrets. Nothing had changed between them, but something felt off. Maybe he was still upset that she’d turned him down the day before. After seeing Levi in her doorway, Taylor just couldn’t stand the feel of Beau’s hands on her anymore. She had stopped him and sent him on his way, along with the excuse of having her period.

  “What’s up with you lately, Tay?” Beau asked once they were on the road.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ve been weird … distant.”

  She leaned back into the leather seat and traced the door handle with her fingertips. “I don’t know,” she said. “You ever wonder if there’s more to life than what we’re doing?”

  He chuckled nervously and kept his eyes on the road. “What are we doing?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, we’re just kind of floating through life, taking what we want. We don’t answer to anyone. We don’t appreciate what we have. Or don’t have,” she added as an afterthought. “I graduated top of my class. I’ve been accepted to Harvard and I don’t even know what I want to major in. I’ve got all these questions and no answers. I don’t know what the hell I want to do with the rest of my life. Do you feel passionate about anything?” Taylor asked, watching his profile.

  He shrugged and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

  “I feel passionate about soccer. And you,” he said.

  Taylor frowned. His declaration felt stifling. What did he know about passion? In all their years of hooking up, she’d never felt the desperate need she felt with Levi. With Beau, it was easy and safe. The two had known each other since birth and had been friends just as long. So it seemed natural to end up together. They started sleeping together when they were sixteen. When they started dating other people, things kind of fell off.

  A year ago, their fathers had a huge falling-out over a business deal gone bad. Taylor and Beau were told to stay away from each other. There were threats and promises made between the families, creating a definite rift in the social hierarchy of Newport Beach.

  She rolled down her window and looked out at the passing cars. They were a blur of colors and sounds, a swirling mess of nothing solid or static. She hung her arm out the window and basked in the sun. Taylor flattened her hand and used the wind to lift and lower it like a dolphin diving in and out of the surf, letting go of all the tension that plagued her.

  7. hustler and quivering jelly

  Levi spent his entire morning avoiding Taylor’s room, still undecided on how to deal with her. He completed a more thorough search of the attic space after Crystal rerouted the cameras, ruling it out as a place for the safe. They repeated the same process with the gym and theater in the basement, eliminating them from the list as well.

  He threw himself down in one of the plush home theater
chairs. A relaxing sigh slipped from his lips as he let himself get too comfortable. Levi pushed a button and the chair reclined, kicking his feet out in front of him. His worn-out, dirty boots had no place on leather this soft. Still, he didn’t move.

  “What are you doing?” Crystal asked through his earpiece.

  “Seeing how the other half lives.”

  “Other half? Try the one percent.”

  “Here we go,” Levi huffed, rolling his eyes and hopping out of the chair.

  “What? The rich get richer and the poor stay poor. It’s an endless cycle meant to keep people like us in our place.”

  “That’s why we’re here, right? To make our own rules.”

  “Amen, brother.”

  “And what if we don’t find the safe? Or what if there is no safe, Crystal? It’s like we haven’t even considered those options.”

  “You can’t think like that. Positive energy out into the universe, Levi. There is a safe. We will find it. Get rich or die tryin’.”

  “You’re quoting 50 Cent now,” Levi pointed out.

  “Seriously, man. I know you think this job is worth the risk. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have pulled us in. This money will change our lives, Levi. It’ll give us a voice where we had none before. Thank you for your generous donation, Henry Hudson III.”

  Levi laughed at his friend before signing off. He took a break for lunch only to be met with another plate of food and a smiling, flirty Mandy. While her affection was annoying, the food was just too good to turn down. Levi hadn’t had home-cooked meals in years.

  He spent the rest of the afternoon completing his work list and avoiding the leaky showerhead in Taylor’s bathroom. When he ran out of excuses, he stood at the bottom of the stairs, one hand on the banister, trying to gather his wits before facing her.

  “She’s not here, you know,” Suzanne sang as she walked past him through the foyer. He exhaled and heard her chuckle as she exited the room.

  Levi made his way to Taylor’s bathroom and got to work on the leak. While he was in there, Mandy came in.

  “Hi, Levi.” She gave him a shy wave.

  He nodded and watched her dart around Taylor’s room, making the bed and picking up dirty clothes. She entered the bathroom and threw an armload of clothes into a small door on the wall.

  “What’s that?”

  She leaned against the wall and eyed Levi through the glass shower door now closed between them. “That’s the laundry chute. Goes down to the washroom.”

  He nodded and turned back to the showerhead. As Mandy left, Levi told himself to just finish the job and go home. Another day over and still no safe, but they were making great progress. He tightened the fixture, stepped out of the way, and tested the shower. No leak.

  As he turned to leave, the glass door flew open and a very naked sunbaked Taylor Hudson appeared in front of him.

  “Levi!” she yelled, grabbing a towel to cover herself. “Shit! You scared me to death!” Taylor leaned against the stone wall of the shower and tried to catch her breath. Meanwhile the vision of naked flesh and soft curves flashed in Levi’s brain, taunting his resolve.

  “You look alive to me,” he said, forcing his hands into his pockets.

  Taylor saw his wavering and took advantage. She stepped to Levi and pressed her body against his with only the towel between them. She weaved her fingers together behind his neck and pulled him down to her waiting lips.

  Levi stopped short and inhaled deeply. The memory of their kiss made him want to lean in and take want they both wanted, but there was always this nagging reminder that he was here for the job.

  “What’s stopping you?” Taylor asked. Her voice was breathy and just a whisper between them.

  “I’m your employee, Miss Hudson, not your newest conquest.”

  She scowled at him, a deep V appearing between her brows as she tamped down the rage boiling just below the surface. He unhooked her arms from around his neck and pushed past her. He grabbed his toolbox and made his way through the bedroom.

  “Try not to steal anything on your way out,” she yelled.

  Levi smiled at her jab, finally satisfied he’d gotten under her skin.

  * * *

  The next morning, Levi sat having coffee with Mandy and Suzanne. It had become a habit for them to share this ritual. Mandy was her usual flirty self, but Suzanne sat quietly, just enjoying the company. Levi sipped his brew and watched Suzanne. He wondered how she’d maintained her sanity in this house for eighteen years. She seemed like a genuine and caring person, and he thought she deserved so much more than being Taylor Hudson’s shadow.

  Her sweet smile and motherly instincts reminded him of the few memories of his own mom. Levi pictured Suzanne living a different life, where she was a mother and wife and not someone to be used by these shallow people. He wondered if she wanted those things for herself, or if she was fulfilled in serving this family.

  His work list was short today, and that afforded him the opportunity to search more of the house. Levi stayed quiet and kept out of sight as he made his way from room to room on the first floor.

  In the pretentious dining room, his calloused fingers slid behind centuries-old plates and silver platters that probably served food worth more than his truck. The china held a complex pattern of gold and pearl designs. Frankly, it reminded him of the print on his Dixie paper plates at home. In the main room, he lifted end tables and checked under floor lamps while steering clear of the back glass wall. Crystal was rerouting only inside cameras at the moment. The one on the back patio would be able to see him if he went anywhere near that glass.

  Kyle helped guide him, making sure to check every place where a safe could be hidden. As he slid his hands over imported furniture and crawled on their expensive rugs, Levi thought about how much this money would change their lives.

  There would be no more worrying about where their next meal would come from or how rent would get paid. No more slaving away to make someone else a profit. They would control their own destiny and settle into the kind of life they were meant to have.

  Of course, there would be sacrifices. Each of them would have to disappear once the job was complete. Levi had already chosen his place, a small town outside of Florence, Italy. His father had always talked about this town when he was a child, telling stories about their family’s roots. He said their heritage and bloodline resided there and he’d always wanted to visit. Levi’s dreams of making that happen died with his father. He never got the chance to go, but Levi was determined to follow through.

  “Okay, this floor is complete except for the study and Suzanne’s bedroom. I’m getting kind of nervous that we haven’t found anything yet,” Kyle said.

  “It’s only been a week. Before we start to panic, let’s work on the second floor. I’ll check in with you after I grab some lunch,” Levi said, heading to the kitchen.

  “You mean from your girlfriend?” Kyle sang.

  “Really? What grade are you in?”

  Kyle laughed and made kissing noises in Levi’s ear. “Later, bitch,” Kyle said before signing off.

  Levi was surprised to find the kitchen empty. He made a sandwich for himself and was disappointed when it didn’t taste as good as the ones Mandy made. After eating, he cleaned the pool, restocked the chemicals, and cleared out the filter. He swiped the sweat from his forehead with the red rag and made his way inside.

  He decided to pass through the study again and stopped to look at all the shelves of books. Surely it would be an easy place to hide a sliding panel or secret door. He let his eyes scan over each shelf carefully as he looked for a seam or anything out of the ordinary.

  “If you’re looking for something to read, you’ll have to find it elsewhere. There are no Dr. Seuss books up there.”

  Taylor’s voice surprised him, and he turned to find her lounging in one of the oversized chairs, her legs thrown over one side. Levi glared at her. He was a lot of things, but he wasn’t stupid.

 
“Actually, I prefer the pages of Hustler to all the pretentious bullshit in this room.”

  She smiled and returned her attention to the book perched in her lap. “I would expect nothing less from you, Romeo.”

  It didn’t go unnoticed that she was using his own words against him. She was testing him, trying to break him down and conquer him.

  “I’m actually surprised that you guys own books. Don’t you just pay someone to read them for you?”

  “Henry wouldn’t waste his time with such things, and I’m sure Virginia reads nothing more complicated than InStyle magazine. These books were my grandfather’s. We inherited them when he died. Henry added this room just to house them. The craziest part is, my grandmother could barely read. I think she was dyslexic or something. She had all these books at her disposal and didn’t use them.”

  Levi was surprised that she’d shared such personal family information with him. The look on her face showed that she was surprised at herself as well. He filed the information away for later use.

  “There are some great books of poetry in here,” he said.

  “I wouldn’t know. I don’t read that stuff.”

  He took a seat in the chair across from her. Taylor ignored his presence, returning her focus to the pages of her book.

  “This is the female form,” Levi recited, “a divine nimbus exhales from it from head to foot.” Taylor’s head snapped up, her eyes meeting his. “It attracts with fierce undeniable attraction.” She sat up, placing her bare feet on the floor. Levi slid forward to the edge of his seat, his knees now between hers. “I am drawn by its breath as if I were no more than a helpless vapor.”

  Taylor’s book dropped to the floor, but her eyes stayed on Levi’s face. He placed his rough hands on her knees and slowly slid them up her bare thighs to the edge of her shorts and back down. Her fingers dug into the arms of the chair, her breaths came faster.

  “All falls aside but myself and it, books, art, religion, time, the visible and solid earth, and what was expected of heaven or fear’d of hell, are now consumed,” Levi continued. Taylor leaned forward as if tethered to his words.