“Someone videotaped us! How could they get into your room? Do you think it was a maid? When I find out who it was, I’m going to sue their asses into next summer!”

Her voice was grating as it oozed from the speaker of my phone. My eyes weren’t even open yet, my body still drifting slowly out of sleep mode. I made a noise that must have sounded like a response, because she continued.

“My husband must have seen this. Do you think he’ll ask for a divorce? Hell, maybe that’s the best thing at this point. We barely speak to each other anymore. And Neri’s grown up now. She doesn’t need her parents together any more.”

“Rowena—”

“That means we can be together full time. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise!”

I sat up, suddenly fully awake.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Rowena.”

“It’ll be good, Quentin. Lloyd’s a generous man. He’ll give me anything I ask for in the divorce.”

“I thought your church frowned on divorce.”

“Not my church. I don’t go there anymore. That’s his thing.”

“But will he give you a divorce?”

“He better. I’m done with this marriage. Why would I want him when I have you?” She giggled a little. “I actually look really good on the video. You should see it! And your ass…mmm, babe, you look fucking fantastic!”

“I’m sure I do.”

I knew how I looked. I’d edited the video most of yesterday, removing the boring parts and making sure I left the really hot parts, the parts that took away any doubt that it was Lloyd Truesdale’s wife in the video, the parts that made it clear that she was there of her own free will and having the time of her life. I placed an emoticon over my face and blurred the tattoo on my chest, happy to allow Truesdale to know it was me, but not so generous toward the people on his contact list. All they needed to know was that Truesdale was a cuckold.

I set the video to be emailed to the list during the night. I wanted Truesdale to wake up this morning not only to the anticipation of the audit Malaika and her troops had come to conduct, but also to the humiliation of knowing his secret was out.

“Can I come over?”

I glanced at the clock. “I’m working today, Rowena. I do have a job.”

“I know, I just…it’s early. We can go really quick!”

“Not today.”

“Quentin! You’re being cruel! That video is making me so hot that—”

“I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

That shut her up. I hadn’t thought it was possible to truly shut Rowena Truesdale up, but that did it. She was quiet for so long, I wondered if she’d hung up.

“You’re just joking, right, baby?” she finally asked, her high-pitched voice lower than I’d ever heard it.

“I can’t risk my job. This getting out…it could ruin everything I’ve worked for over these past few months.”

“No one can see your face! They don’t know it’s you!”

“But don’t you see? If you come over here to my room now, people will start to put it together. My boss, he’s not the most morally conscious man in the world, but he is married to a woman of the church. It would be an embarrassment to him and his firm if people put it together. He’d have no choice but to fire me.”

“We can keep it under wraps. We’ve done well so far.”

“No, Rowena. It’s not right. Besides, I’ve told you from the beginning, I’m not a long-term kind of guy. This was just supposed to be for fun, and the fun’s running out.”

“Is there someone else?” she asked, steel coming into her voice.

“Of course not.”

“Then, Quentin, I don’t think this is necessary. I want to be with you. Don’t you want to be with me?”

No, not really. I’d never wanted to be with her. It was always just about hurting her husband, and I’d accomplished that. I was done.

“Goodbye, Rowena.”

I disconnected the call and climbed out of bed, stretching as I headed to the bathroom. Showered and shaved a while later, I stood in front of the narrow closet and debated over another pair of jeans and a clean button down, or a suit. I owned one suit, a dark one I’d bought for job interviews just after my folks left town. I hadn’t worn it in months.

I decided on the jeans. That’s who I was. If Malaika didn’t like it, she could call Jack and have him send over one of the other operatives.

I pulled the SUV around to the front of the building and stepped out, leaning against the side of the vehicle while I waited for my charges. They came out of the building one at a time, each already distracted by whatever was appearing on their cell phones and iPads. Malaika was the last to come out of the building, dressed in a navy blue dress that hugged all her curves, her deep black hair smoothed back into a simple bun. I normally didn’t like women in buns. It was a severe hairstyle that reminded me of my grandmother. But on Malaika, it highlighted the high curve of her cheekbones and made her eyes seem bigger than they really were. It was an attractive hairstyle on her.

Yet, the idea of seeing her hair falling around her face seemed kind of erotic.

“Morning, Ms. Gray.”

She glanced at me, her eyes raking over my choice of clothing, and dismissed me with barely a nod.

We were back in boss lady mode.

“We’ll be going to the bank,” she informed me as she climbed into the vehicle. “But we’ll need you to stick around because we’re doing a tour of bank properties after our initial meeting.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I closed the door and climbed behind the wheel, wondering how Truesdale’s day was going. I’d checked my little program to see who’d watched the video and who had yet to open it. Truesdale had watched it from beginning to end, as had his wife. Three times. A dozen others had opened the video and watched at least a few seconds, a few had watched more than a couple of minutes, a small handful had watched the video in its entirety, and one man from California had watched it twice. It was spreading.

I wondered what Malaika would think of it when she opened it because she, too, was on his contacts list.

“Who is this Truesdale?” one of the male executives asked as I pulled the SUV into traffic.

“He’s managed this branch for fifteen years,” Malaika informed him. “Before that, he was a loan officer, and before that a teller. He’s been a loyal employee of the bank for nearly twenty-seven years.” She was quiet for a moment. “Because of that, we show him respect no matter what we believe this audit will prove.”

No one bothered to comment on her warning. I glanced in the rearview mirror and caught her glancing at me. She quickly looked away, but I didn’t miss the curiosity in that glance.

Interesting.

The bank was less than a mile from the hotel. I pulled to a stop by the front doors, amused to see Truesdale and his assistant waiting for the executives looking like toy soldiers with their hands clasped behind their backs. His expression was completely neutral, void of all emotion. But there was a flicker of surprise quickly followed by a spark of hatred when I stepped out of the vehicle to open the back door.

“Ms. Gray,” Truesdale said after taking a deep breath to steady himself, “it’s my pleasure to welcome you to the Ellaville branch of Sunshine Bank.”

“Mr. Truesdale,” she said politely, accepting his outstretched hand. “I’d like to begin with a one-on-one meeting with you in your office, if you don’t mind.” She glanced behind her at the executives still piling out of the SUV. “Clark and Donovan, you can get started with the computers. Jane, you check out the open loans. Kai, you’re with me.”

She walked into the building like she was leading her troops into battle. I watched, once again admiring the sight of her body moving under that tight dress. And I wasn’t the only one. Clark and Donovan seemed to find the sight interesting as well.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

I glanced at Truesdale. He’d moved up beside me, speaking low enough that only I could hear him. But the expression on his face…if anyone turned around and looked at him now, they’d see a man that was quite different from what was advertised.

“My job.”

“Your problem is with me, Forrester,” he muttered. “But my wife? Do you realize the humiliation this will cause her?”

“She didn’t seem to mind when she called me this morning. Seemed to think she looked pretty good, considering.”

Truesdale’s face flushed. “My daughter’s coming home today. If she sees this—”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure a perfect little Christian girl like her would never open an email marked ‘Truesdale’s Dirty Wife.’”

I didn’t think a man’s face could get as red as his did in that moment. “You sent a copy to my daughter, too?”

“To everyone on your contacts list, Lloyd.” I slapped his arm. “Should be more careful about the password on your phone. You made it far too easy.”

I walked off, climbing back into the SUV to move it to the parking lot. I could see Truesdale still watching me from the curb, the anger and hatred on his face written as clearly as words on a page.

He was a lot like his wife that way.

I parked and walked the perimeter of the bank before going inside, quickly locating each of the executives with a quick stroll around the wide, open building. Then I took up my station near the front door, watching everyone who came and went, everyone who moved anywhere near my five charges. I wasn’t just a chauffeur, after all.

Malaika was locked behind the door of Truesdale’s office, which was no longer down the long corridor at the back of the room, but located behind a glass wall that was once part of the tellers’ stations. I guess my little attack on him last year had scared him enough to inspire the change. Whatever the reason, it made it easy to watch Malaika as she strutted her stuff, whatever words she was spewing at him. She seemed calm, sitting there like she had all the time in the world to do whatever it was she was doing. But the tension was evident in Truesdale’s expression.

Whatever she was telling him was not making him happy.

I wished I could be a fly on the wall in there.

An hour passed. And then the better part of another. I was beginning to wonder if I’d be standing sentry all day when the bank doors opened, and the last person I wanted to see wandered into the building.

Rowena.

But she wasn’t alone. A young woman with dark hair, but her mother’s blue eyes, walked in beside her. And, as I’d assumed, she’d grown into quite the woman with more curves than her mother had. She was petite, with bone structure that reminded me of a bird. Delicate. She was pretty in a sweet, good girl sort of way.

Rowena spotted me almost immediately. Her expression flitted between pleasure and surprise as she made a beeline toward me.

“Neri, you remember Quentin Forrester, don’t you?”

Neri bowed her head slightly in acknowledgement. “How are you, Quentin?”

“Can’t complain. How are you?”

A slight smile touched her lips, her eyes moving to my face and quickly away again. She blushed like a child speaking to her crush for the first time.

Did she have a little crush on me? Wouldn’t that be perfect?

Imagine, what could be more insulting to a man than sleeping with his wife? Maybe taking his little girl from him, too?

I straightened up, deciding to see how far I could take this.

“I heard you were serving the poor in South America.” I moved close to her, touching her wrist lightly. “That’s impressive.”

“I was just doing my part.”

But she was blushing hard, clearly loving the compliment.

“It must have agreed with you. I can’t believe you’ve blossomed into such a beautiful woman. Last time I saw you, you were just this awkward teen, but now…no one would ever believe you were ever awkward.”

Her blush deepened. She peeked up at me under a heavy curtain of eyelashes. “And you’ve become quite the charmer.”

“Hasn’t he?” Rowena asked, her tone a little less than appreciative.

“We should get a drink some time. You can tell me all about your adventures.”

“I’d like that.” She tilted her head slightly, her eyes moving over me again, growing a little braver. “Maybe tomorrow night?”

“Sure.”

Rowena barged up beside her daughter and forced her arm through the girl’s. “We’re here to see my husband,” she said, putting extra emphasis on the last word. “He hasn’t seen Neri in more than a year.”

“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to see you, but he’s in a meeting right now.”

Rowena glanced over her shoulder toward the glass office where Truesdale was still locked up with Malaika and her assistant.

“I’d forgotten the auditors were supposed to be here today.”

“Auditors?” Neri looked sharply at her mother. “Why is the bank being audited?”

“It’s complicated. Someone’s been making complaints to the executive offices.”

Neri seemed deeply concerned. “What about?”

“I don’t think it’s that big of a deal,” Rowena said, brushing the question off. “Your dad will be okay. He always is.”

Neri didn’t seem to agree. She kept glancing over her shoulder, her brow creased. And then, almost as if the people inside could sense her desire to speak to her father, the door opened, and Malaika led the group out.

“Daddy!”

Neri rushed across the room and threw her arms around her father’s neck. True pleasure blossomed on his face despite the tension everyone in the room could feel coming out of that office like lava from the mouth of a volcano. But, for this instant, it was gone. He held his daughter like she was the love of his life, rocking her in his arms in a way that was almost touching. At least, it would have been if I didn’t hate him with every cell in my body.

“I know what you’re doing,” Rowena hissed as she moved up close against me. “You don’t have to make me jealous. I’m already burning every time I see a woman so much as look in your direction. This secrecy is driving me insane!”

I glanced at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You and I are done.”

She grabbed my arm. “Be nice, Quentin, and I’ll make it more than worth your time.”

I pulled away just as Malaika approached. “We’re going to do a tour of the bank’s properties now, Quentin. If you’d kindly bring the SUV around.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Malaika’s eyes fell to Rowena and then shifted back to my face. Curiosity burned in her eyes again, but she dismissed us both without asking the question she clearly wanted to ask. She walked over to the desk in the center of the room where two of her people were busy staring into a computer monitor like it held all the secrets of life within it.

“Who is that?” Rowena demanded.

I walked off, not really in the mood for her antics. I was more interested in the quick conversation going on between Truesdale and his daughter. They clearly had a tight connection. I wondered what it would take to screw that up.

Probably not a lot, if I was the one doing the screwing.