Perfect Betrayal

by Season Vining

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Suzanne knows everything that goes on in this house. She mothers us and finds it all very entertaining.”

  “Does she have kids of her own?”

  Taylor looked out over the lawn again and shook her head. “No. It’s always just been me and her.”

  “She had no idea what she was in for, huh?”

  “Not a clue.” Taylor smirked. Levi started to pack up his tools, and she scrambled to keep him there longer. “Do you remember your mom?”

  He twisted his lips and squinted up at the sky. “Yeah, somewhat. I remember her eyes. They’re the same as mine. I remember her singing in the kitchen while my dad played guitar. I remember her being sick and I remember her funeral.”

  “I bet she was pretty,” Taylor said, picturing a softer version of Levi. He nodded. “What about your dad? He never remarried?”

  “No. My mom was his only love. After she died, he took care of me and worked to keep a roof over our heads. When he was around, he smothered me with attention. Taught me lessons on becoming a man and how to play guitar. It was always important to him that I become something better than what he was.”

  “Sounds like you had a decent childhood,” Taylor said.

  “I did. But all good things must end, right?” He finished packing up his tools and stood to go.

  “Why, Levi? Why do all good things have to end?”

  He turned to face her. His usually cool eyes reflected the sky in hues of orange and amber light. His lips were set in an indifferent straight line, not giving anything away. She leaned toward him, drawn in by his closeness.

  Levi tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Taylor closed her eyes at his touch and kept them closed as his deep, velvety voice washed over her.

  “Nature’s first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; but only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, so dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.”

  When she finally opened her eyes, he was already gone.

  14. file folder and eye candies

  Taylor was flitting around her room, readying herself for the party tonight, when she heard the footsteps on the stairs. She went to the landing and leaned over the top banister, frowning when Nadine’s face came into view.

  “Hello, Taylor,” she offered in her usual cheery tone.

  “You don’t live here, you know. You can’t come and go as you please.”

  “I’m well aware that I don’t live here. I come and go as your father pleases. And right now, he’s asked me to retrieve something from his desk.”

  “Guess he’s too busy to come get it himself?”

  Nadine lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “We’ve got a huge acquisition coming up. He’s at the office day and night.”

  “I’m sure he is.”

  Taylor stared as Nadine gave her a smile and turned down the hall. She watched the woman punch in the code to Henry’s office and step inside. Knowing what Nadine would find, Taylor was all too happy to explain. She tiptoed toward the office and hid herself just outside the door.

  “What on earth…” Nadine whispered.

  Taylor grinned, remembering the mess that she and Levi had made in there—papers scattered, pens strewn about, and the antique Tiffany lamp on the floor. She peeked through the crack in the door and saw Nadine pull out each desk drawer. There was a noise from downstairs, and before Nadine could look up, Taylor hid herself against the wall.

  She cursed herself, feeling ridiculous spying on Henry’s assistant in her own house. So she pushed the door open. Nadine’s cheap shoes stepped around the mess and over the lamp, making her way to the door. She held Henry’s laptop and a file folder clutched to her chest—the name HUDSON, JULIA written on the tab. The name seemed familiar to Taylor, but she couldn’t place it.

  “Have a good night, Taylor. I’ll tell Henry you said hello.”

  “Is that part of your job? Reporting on me?”

  Nadine sighed and pulled the door closed and tested the knob to be sure it was locked. “No. Just thought I’d pass it along.”

  “Well, I didn’t say hello. But you can tell that asshole—”

  “Taylor.”

  They both turned to find Suzanne approaching.

  “Good evening, Suzanne. How are you?”

  Suzy gave Nadine a genuine smile as she wrapped her arm around Taylor’s waist.

  “I’m great, dear. Haven’t seen you in a while.”

  Nadine looked at her feet and back to Suzanne. “Yes, well, Henry keeps us working nonstop.” A moment of silence stretched between them. “Well, I’m off. Good night, ladies.”

  “Good night, Nadine,” Suzanne offered before nudging Taylor in the ribs.

  “Good night,” Taylor forced out.

  The sound of the woman’s high heels faded down the stairs and out the front door.

  “What the hell, Suzy?”

  “You were being rude.”

  “She deserves it!”

  “That woman has never been anything but polite to you. I think she has put up with enough of your verbal bashing over the years. I taught you manners, now use them.”

  Taylor sighed and made her way back toward her room.

  “You also taught me how to use aerosol hairspray as a flamethrower, but I’ll never use that.”

  “You’ll be thanking me when the zombies come,” Suzanne replied coolly.

  Taylor slammed the door between them and leaned against it. She shook her head and smiled.

  “She’s nuts. Absolutely nuts.”

  * * *

  The thumping bass of the music felt like a hammer driving nails into Taylor’s skull. The people dancing in the crowded room bumped into her with no regard for personal space. She was three drinks in, and still nothing could soothe her scattered brain.

  Taylor made her way to the edge of the crowd and looked for Reese. After checking the room and downstairs bathroom, she came up with nothing.

  Not wanting to navigate through the horde of people, Taylor slipped out the front door and took a seat on a wooden swing on the porch. On the outside, this place was just a nice suburban home, complete with a fenced-in yard and blue shutters. Inside, the smell of sweaty bodies and alcohol, the drumming of the music, and the roar of conversation made it feel like Taylor’s own personal hell.

  She kicked off of the ground and let the swing carry her back and forth. The cool night air against her skin felt like a reprieve from everything inside her head. Taylor leaned back and thought about Levi and the Robert Frost poem he quoted. She was familiar with its meaning, but she wasn’t convinced of its accuracy. She refused to believe that nothing good could stay. If that was the case, then what the hell was life all about? What was the purpose of finding happiness only to know it’ll be ripped from you? After surviving childhood and adolescence, Taylor was holding out for something better. And she was willing to fight for it.

  Tipping back her cup, she finished her drink and gave in to the numbing bliss that pulled down over her. She let go of all those heavy thoughts, releasing them into the black sky like balloons. Her thoughts drifted to Levi. She knew where he was tonight and she wanted to see him. Before she could talk herself out of it, Taylor called a cab.

  An hour later, she stood in the dimly lit bathroom eyeing the place with disgust. If this is how the other half lived, she was glad to have no part in it. She leaned over the counter and applied her favorite lip gloss before adjusting her cleavage. Of course the bouncer hadn’t questioned her fake ID when she’d handed it over with a $50 bill. Money talked in a place like this.

  She strode over to the bar and ordered a vodka tonic like she’d been doing it for years. Making her way through the space, Taylor found a dark spot near the stage. She listened to a woman fumble her way through an acoustic version of Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” and applauded exaggeratedly when it was over.

  From this corner of the wide-open room, Taylor took i
n the crowd. She loved people watching, and this was, by far, more interesting than the snooty dinner parties and country club brunches she was used to. There was a gaggle of groupies gathered near the stage. These girls varied in age but not wardrobe. They wore their highest heels, low-cut shirts, and bras that pushed their tits up to impossible heights.

  In back of the bar, staking claim to a large corner booth, were the hipsters. They looked too cool in their throwback fashion and detached attitudes. She imagined that they sat around drinking cheap beer and quoting Tolstoy and Bob Marley. Taylor liked this group and envied their autonomy. She couldn’t imagine being so comfortable with who you are and not caring what other people think.

  The majority of the population were generics. Average looks and the ability to disappear in a crowd were the trademarks of these people. They hung with their generic friends and drank generic drinks, happy in their generic existence.

  Scattered throughout the bar were the eye candies. They didn’t travel in packs. This group was secure on their own. They were beautiful and sexy beings who radiated confidence and demanded attention. Some of them didn’t even realize what they were.

  A couple of guys were giving Taylor looks from across the room, but they weren’t who she was looking for. She came here for Levi, that bad boy eye candy.

  When her glass was empty, Taylor took a seat at the very end of the bar and ordered another drink.

  “Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?”

  She turned to find one of the generics breathing down her neck. He had shaggy blond hair and smelled of cheap liquor. Taylor was nauseated by his mere presence.

  “Excuse me?” she said, shifting in her seat to put more space between her and the encroacher.

  “You’re so damn sexy. Those lips would look good around my … name.”

  “Not interested.”

  “Come on, beautiful. I know you’re just playin’ hard to get,” he slurred.

  “Be gone, loser.”

  He leaned in closer now and Taylor could not escape quickly enough. She wanted to scream when he pressed his sloppy lips to hers, but that would only give him access to more of her. Her hands pushed against his solid chest, but the jerk would not move. And suddenly, he was gone.

  The drunk was held against the bar, a hand around his throat. Levi was beautiful in his anger. The tendons in his inked arm flexed as his fingers wrapped tighter around the asshole’s throat. Taylor wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and watched silently as a threat was delivered.

  “When a woman tells you to get lost, that is not an invitation to kiss her.”

  “I wasn’t—”

  Levi shoved harder, cutting off the guy’s air supply.

  “Save it. Now get the fuck out of here.”

  He swung the asshole away from the bar and shoved him before running his hands through his hair. Taylor’s breath was stolen by her savior. She’d only seen Levi in her home, in his uniform. Here, he was a completely different being. A threadbare black T-shirt and jeans made him a simple kind of sexy. His gorgeous brown hair was just long enough to fall in his eyes. His face was all hard lines and tension. Dark stubble covered his cheeks and jaw, and Taylor immediately remembered what it felt like between her thighs.

  “Thanks for that,” she said. “I thought he was going to club me over the head and drag me into a dark corner before anyone noticed.”

  “I noticed.” His eyes connected with hers, a bright mix of hazel among his dark features. “What are you doing here, Taylor?”

  “I heard you on your phone today, saying you were coming here. I wanted to see you in your element.”

  “My element?” Levi frowned at her and tapped his fingers on the bar. “You treat me like I’m a fucking experiment.”

  Taylor dropped her eyes to the floor and let out a sigh. She didn’t mean to treat him that way, but she felt the truth in his words.

  “How’d you get in here, anyway?” he asked.

  “I have my ways.”

  She trailed her hand down his chest. Levi jumped back and looked around the bar, his eyes sweeping the space frantically.

  The house music was cut off and the bartender stepped onto the stage. He held his hand over his eyes, shielding them from the blinding spotlight.

  “What’s up, party people? I’m Gregory. We’re going to finish up our open mic night with a friend of mine. So keep quiet. Listen up. And don’t forget to tip your bartender,” he said, pointing to himself. “Levi? Where you at, man?”

  Levi left Taylor at the bar, grabbed his guitar, and stepped onto the stage. He shook hands with Gregory, and Taylor was mesmerized again by the colorful inked images on his arm. Beneath the spotlight, the art seemed to glow and move, as if animated.

  Alone on the stage, he took a seat on the stool. She was enamored with the way his lithe fingers danced back and forth along the strings of his guitar as he strummed. She thought of those fingers playing her body and had to bite back a knowing groan.

  “Hi, I’m Levi,” he said into the microphone as he adjusted the height. “Can you lower this light?” He waited a beat while the spotlight softened. “This is ‘I’ll be Your Lover, Too’ by Van Morrison.”

  When Levi started singing, Taylor felt lost in his voice. He sang line after line of sexy prose and promised adoration, and she felt like it was all for her. With no conscious decision, she left the bar and made her way to the front of the stage. Taylor didn’t care that she was huddled up with the groupies; she needed to be near him.

  When the last chord was played and his voice faded away, Levi finally looked up into the crowd. Their eyes did not meet in some kind of soul-baring connection. In fact, he didn’t look her way once. It didn’t matter. Taylor felt possessed.

  She watched closely when Levi began the next song. There was so much pleasure in the way his lips pursed together in concentration when he wasn’t singing and how his eyes fluttered closed on certain lyrics. She felt herself swaying to the melody, getting lost in his sound. This was something so new, so surreal, it felt like she was floating above it all.

  A couple of the groupies started whispering about Levi. They planned their seduction and encouraged each other with fist bumps and devilish smiles. Taylor wanted to make sure they never got a piece of him.

  After a couple more songs, Levi announced that this would be his last. Taylor left the groupies and took a seat at the bar, ordering another drink. The bartender delivered it with a smile and flirtatious wink.

  “Thanks,” she said. “This place sure got quiet.”

  “It always does when Levi’s up there. He’s the real deal, ya know?”

  “Seems like it. I’m Olivia,” she said, holding out her hand. The name on her fake ID felt wrong in her mouth.

  “Gregory,” he answered, shaking her hand. “Nice to meet you. Don’t see many ladies of your kind around here.”

  “And what kind is that?” Taylor fingered the edge of her glass.

  “The kind whose shoes cost more than my whole paycheck.”

  She glanced down at her feet and tucked them beneath the barstool, surprised that he had noticed.

  “It’s okay, shortie. Your secret is safe with me.”

  Taylor offered a weak smile and turned toward the stage. Levi’s voice floated over the crowd and returned her to her happy place.

  “He is so talented,” she said mostly to herself.

  “Yep. And he’s pretty popular too,” Gregory replied, wiggling his eyebrows.

  A roar of cheering, whistling, and applause got their attention. Taylor turned just in time to see Levi hop down off the stage. She followed his movements through the shadows as he dropped his guitar into a case and latched it closed. The house music was turned back up and the lights over the stage faded to black. The groupies dispersed, along with the generics, while the hipsters remained unimpressed.

  Taylor smoothed down her hair and stared straight ahead as Levi approached the bar. She forced hersel
f to not look when he stood beside her and ordered a beer. The whole time, Taylor kept her eyes on the shelf of liquor bottles along the wall across from her. Gregory delivered the bottle and Levi paid for his drink.

  “You did it big, man. Like always.”

  “Thanks. Nice crowd tonight,” Levi said, taking a sip of his beer.

  Taylor felt the pull of gravity as her body leaned slightly closer.

  “Speaking of the nice crowd,” Gregory hinted, “here’s one now.” He turned toward Taylor and waved his hand. “Levi, this is my new friend, Olivia. She drinks vodka tonics and thinks that you are so talented. My work here is done.”

  Gregory stepped to the end of the bar to fill more drink orders. Taylor’s cheeks flamed and her heart beat wildly against her chest when Levi turned his eyes on her. Even though she knew him intimately, this felt so different from their stolen moments in the house. This felt real.

  “Olivia?”

  Finally, she turned to meet his gaze. The corner of his mouth lifted up on one side, and she realized that she’d been caught wordlessly staring.

  “It’s the name on my fake ID,” she said. Taking a sip of her drink, Taylor recrossed her legs toward Levi, letting the hem of her dress slide higher on her thighs. She did not miss his gaze landing there before moving back up to her face.

  “So how would you pick up a girl here?” Taylor asked.

  “I don’t usually have to try.”

  “Humor me. Pretend we don’t know each other,” she said.

  “Do we know each other?” Levi raised one eyebrow and took a sip of his beer.

  Taylor leaned forward. She ran her hand up the side of his neck and pulled his ear down to her lips.

  “I know how you feel inside me and the sound you make when I kiss beneath your chin. I know what every inch of your body feels like and the way your fingers dig into my hips. Now, play my game, Levi.”

  He straightened up and finished his beer, meeting her challenging eyes.

  “I haven’t seen you here before,” he said.

  “Is that the best line you’ve got? You’re not doing much better than the pencil dick who tried earlier.”

  He laughed and Taylor almost forgot to breathe. Until that moment, she’d almost forgotten what a hold he had on her. She’d almost forgotten the dark moments of hurtful words and the shining moments of passion and desire. Taylor wanted to make him laugh again, because it was the quintessential fuzzy feeling she’d been searching for since their last shared moments together.