Totlandia: Winter (15 page)

And that was when she heard the frantic moans coming from Bettina’s bedroom.

What the hell is happening in there?
Lorna wondered.

The door was open just a crack, enough for her to take a peek. The moonlight that glowed through the floor-to-ceiling bedroom window was just bright enough for Lorna to see the woman—not blond, like Bettina—straddling her brother-in-law.

Kelly
.

The sight of the two of them screwing was just as nauseating as it was fascinating.

As Lorna heaved Black Russians into the toilet, she debated whether or not she should tell Bettina.

Bettina, whose pride was so great, that the knowledge of her husband’s infidelity—with her oldest and dearest friend, no less!—would crush her.

Bettina, who hated Lorna enough already.

Bettina, who massacred the messenger as well as the wrongdoer.

I can’t deal with this, too
, thought Lorna.
Not right now. It’s better that I keep my mouth shut
.

She slipped out the bathroom door.

11:57 p.m.

Bettina, who had come up the maid’s back stairwell to freshen her make-up before the fireworks started, was certainly annoyed when she saw Lorna slipping out of her bathroom. She would have stopped Lorna right then and there to chastise her for breaching the sanctity of her private lavatory but she didn’t want to make a scene that any of the other guests might overhear.

Instead, she waited until Lorna was halfway down the grand staircase, and then she entered the master bathroom and looked around. Everything was in its place. Thank goodness Lorna hadn’t been rummaging in her drawers and found something embarrassing, like her facial depilatory cream.

That’s when she heard them.

Even the fireworks couldn’t drown them out.

11:59 p.m.

Art couldn’t think of a bigger thrill than fucking Kelly in his own bed.

Okay, maybe a bigger turn-on would be having her spank him over the antique Queen Anne chaise that Bettina coveted so ardently, but with a couple hundred people milling about in his living room—not to mention his wife—he’d make do with Kelly riding him long and rough and sore.

Her constant dirty talk kept him hard, which was great because the fear of Bettina walking in on them was enough to soften his dick into Silly Putty. He loved the way she ordered him to tweak her breasts, or to thrust harder into her, or to slap her ass. Still, he did so gently because he was afraid of her retribution.

When she asked him to hit her harder, he warned her he was close to coming. “Good,” she muttered. “And when you do, you know what to say, don’t you?”

He nodded.

They were climaxing when the fireworks began. They could hear the guests counting down the seconds before the New Year. “Now! Slap me hard and say it,” Kelly commanded him.

He couldn’t help it. He screamed it at the top of his lungs. “I hate you, Bettina!”

Then he collapsed.

“Good boy,” Kelly whispered in his ear.

Then she straightened her gown and sauntered out the door.

He knew he should get up too, but he was too happy.

And too sore. Before Kelly left, she had forgotten to give him the command to take off his cock ring.

It took a full five minutes for his erection to soften enough that he could get up and get dressed.

Tuesday, 1 January

12:01 a.m.

Bettina couldn’t believe her eyes.
Art is fucking Kelly…in my bed?

And obviously Lorna had heard them, too. No wonder she looked as white as a sheet as she ran down the stairs.

At least Lorna had taken off before the biggest humiliation of all—Art yelling out Bettina’s name, and the fact that he hated her.

Art…
and Kelly?
How dare he!

How dare
she!
Why, that simpering little mouse…

And now that Lorna knows, she’ll be laughing behind my back, too. Maybe even spreading malicious gossip about me.

Maybe not.

We may have had our differences, but we are family. Certainly Lorna would be loyal enough to confess what she knows
, Bettina thought.

If she doesn’t, I’ll ruin her life.

Bettina knew how she’d do it, too. She’d make sure that Lorna believed all the dirty little lies Kelly had been hinting at, about her and Matt.

With what Lorna saw with her own eyes, the knowledge would crush her.

Three Minutes Earlier

Ally felt Brady behind her before she saw him.

She knew she couldn’t ignore him. She knew he wouldn’t allow it, in any event.

Still, she would make him wait, until the time was right.

Unfortunately, the time was not right for them now.

She had floated away from Barry and Christian right after they’d greeted their hosts. They had timed their arrival for when the crowd was at its thickest, so that when the time came, it would be easy for them to leave without being noticed. So far she’d talked only to Jillian, who had also made a speedy entrance and an even quicker exit, using the excuse that Amelia had a fever, and that Scott had stayed home with the girls.

“Bettina gave me a dirty look, but what else could I say?” Jillian shivered. “I guess that means another infraction for me.”

Ally had almost been in the same predicament at first, because Barry had refused to go with her. “I’d never leave Christian on New Year’s Eve,” he huffed.

“Of course not! He can come, too. We’ll just say he’s…oh, I don’t know, my cousin.”

“As if he’d want to.” He turned to his lover. “You don’t, do you?”

Christian laughed, then smiled at Ally. “Tempt me, dearest. Make it worth my while.”

“The Summit. Lots of swells. It’s always a Stanlee Gatti extravaganza—”

To Barry’s dismay, that cinched it for Christian.

Seeing his frown, Ally added, “We’ll leave right at midnight. I promise.”

Now that it was just a few moments to midnight, standing in the Crosses’ library alcove looking down at all the twinkling lights on the bay, she realized that she’d made a mistake. How could she have presumed that she could pretend that her heart wasn’t breaking every time Brady came into view? She had made a vow to Jade, and she planned on keeping it.

Even if it meant giving him up.

Her heart seemed to stop when she heard him beside her. “Let’s get out of here.”

She could tell he meant it.

She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Instead, she shook her head and prayed that her tears stayed in her eyes. “You’re being silly. Besides, you promised to stick to the plan, remember?”

“Promises are made to be broken.”

“That’s a cliché.” She turned to face him, tears be damned. “You know, I think you like it this way.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You like the fact that you can flirt with me without any commitment. That you can break my heart with no consequence.”

“Seriously, is that what you think?” He shook his head angrily. “Or is that what you tell yourself so that you can keep your promise to Jade?”

The next moment he was beside her. Too close. She could see the stubble on his chin, smell his aftershave, and imagine that his frown meant he ached for her as much as she for him.

“Or maybe you tell yourself that because you’re afraid of what it would be like to be happy for once in your life.”

Happy.

How she longed to be happy. She thought she was happy when Foot Fetish became a success. But then the euphoria of giving birth to Zoe proved to her that true happiness was something far removed from a balance sheet.

None of the other men in her life had lived up to her expectations. Or maybe she hadn’t lived up to theirs, who knows.

If I could be happy with Brady—
because
of Brady—why am I holding myself back?
she wondered.

He’s right. I’m afraid of what could be...

The
pop, pop, pop
of the fireworks outside the window drew gasps and laughs and claps from the party’s guests. While everyone’s eyes were drawn toward the bay, Brady’s fingers found her hand and held tight.

In one voice, the guests counted down the seconds to midnight then shouted, “Happy New Year!” Ally knew that Brady dared not kiss her. While she admired his restraint, it suddenly dawned on her that this was her chance; that her happiness depended on her taking a chance on the one man who was willing to take a chance on her.

So she kissed him.

She caught him off guard, but his instincts kicked in when he, too, realized that this was his chance.

Their
chance.

He held her close and tight, as if he never wanted the kiss to end. As if he’d never let her go.

***

Watching them from the doorway, all Jade could think about was that she wanted to die.

No
, she thought,
that would make it too easy for Brady
.

Instead, her New Year’s resolution was to ruin his life.

Wednesday, 2 January

10:05 a.m.

“I’m sure the party was a rousing success, as always,” Kimberley gushed as she bussed Bettina’s cheek.

Bettina shrugged. “A good time was had by most. And yes, you were missed.”

In other words, fair warning:
follow my lead in this vote.

But Kimberley had her own axe to grind. As far as she was concerned, Jade was a goner. Brady Pierce would learn the hard way that there was nothing worse than a lover scorned.

“What a great way to start the new year,” Mallory sang gaily. “Reviewing infractions! Shall we?” She pulled out a notebook and opened it. “Of course, there’s Jade’s stupidity for allowing poor, innocent Lily to lose her way—and perhaps her
life
—in the corn maze.”

“Yes! Jade screwed up royally,” Kimberley piped up. “Being a missing child will scar Lily for years! Such trauma.”

Bettina shrugged. “You’re both being a little melodramatic, aren’t you? It’s not as if her picture ended up on a milk carton, or something. The way I see it, ‘All’s well that ends well.’”

Damn it
, thought Kimberley.
Jade’s demise should be a slam-dunk! What’s with Bettina?

But she knew better than to push it. Missing Bettina’s party had already put her on the club founder’s shit list. She’d have to bide her time on Jade.

Mallory couldn’t believe her ears, either. But she was smart enough to realize that if the child’s own mother didn’t blame Jade, there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell that she’d be the proby who got iced. “Oh. Okay. Hmmm…Then there’s Ally. The adult holiday party was nice but a little boring. Carolers are
so
last century.”

Bettina waved her off. “Everyone had fun. We’ve got bigger fish to fry. If you think you’ve got something, make sure it’s a whopper.”

Mallory arched a brow. “Well, the biggest one I can think of is Jillian’s fiasco at the Fairmont. My little Ferguson almost ended up being detained by security for doing what any child would do, picking a cookie up off the floor—”

“Own up, Mallory,” Bettina muttered. “Your little hellion almost tore down the whole gingerbread house. We’re lucky the
Chronicle
wasn’t covering it that day. He’d be the most despised kid in town.”

Mallory teared up. “That’s a bit harsh, Bettina.”

“It’s also true. So no, we’re not blaming that on Jillian. Frankly, she saved the day. All the children adored that Santa she found.”

“I thought it was cute the way some of the Moms wanted to sit in his lap, too,” Sally added. “Something about him. If there’d been mistletoe hanging over his tree, the mall would have had a riot on its hands.”

“And those pies of Jillian’s…” Joanna sighed longingly. “I’m so happy she included the recipe for the berry one in our new cookbook. Speaking of which, did you know we’ve already sold over twenty thousand dollars’ worth of those books? Lorna’s idea was brilliant, selling it through online bookstores.”

“But she did so without our permission,” Mallory whined. “Surely that’s a major infraction!”

All heads turned toward Bettina. Despite her party’s success, she was unusually subdued, which meant that she was in no mood to be debated. If she felt Lorna had stepped out of bounds…

It was Bettina’s chance to dump Lorna, and she knew it.

But no. All of Lorna’s slights were insignificant when compared to Kelly’s.

This time, it was Kelly who had bedded the man in Bettina’s life, and not the other way around. How dare she!

“Lorna pulled it off. We should commend her for it.”

The others nodded, relieved.

Bettina sighed and cast her eyes downward, as if what she had to say next was causing her so much distress that she could barely stand it. “Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about Kelly. In fact, I’ve got proof that Kelly’s potluck event was a sham. Although she was specifically instructed to decorate the clubhouse herself, she hired Stanlee to do it for her.”

Everyone gasped.

“So I presume it’s unanimous,” Bettina continued, “Kelly is certainly not PHM&T material.”

Only Mallory was disappointed that the vote was over so quickly. “How anticlimactic,” she grumbled. “But hey, I guess there’s always next year’s Onesies, right?”

12:10 p.m.

“I’m so glad you were free for lunch on such short notice,” Bettina murmured to Kelly. “And I knew you wanted to hear the news as soon as possible.”

Kelly nodded in anticipation.

If they hadn’t been in public, Bettina would have clawed that smile right off her face.

“Scrumptious meal, wasn’t it? Des Amis never fails us.” Bettina dabbed her lips with her napkin. “Well, no more beating around the bush—unless it’s yours. But I’ll leave that for Art.”

Kelly’s smile stayed on her lips even as the color left her face. She didn’t have to say anything. Bettina could read her thoughts through the defiant look in her eyes.

When finally the blush came back to her cheeks, Kelly still didn’t speak. Instead, she pulled something out of her satchel.