MAC 

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THE UNNECESSARY DETOUR to pick up my runaway wife had turned my day into a disorganized mess. I’d had to reschedule a meeting with my contact and I was a few minutes late arriving at the parking garage and the asshole informant had taken off. It took me an hour to chase him down only to find he had fuck-all to offer.

Jesus, only a couple of days of this and I was already convinced that I never wanted to be married for real. I should have shipped the girl off to some faraway destination.

Miss Innocent wasn’t the only one with trust issues. Like hell, daddy’s little girl didn’t know the true source of her father’s wealth.

It was nearly midnight by the time I drove up the winding road. Music and light were pouring out of the house. I pulled into the garage and turned off the ignition. I yanked loose my tie and sat in my car trying to get my temper under control. I felt like a parent coming home to his teenage brat.

Enough, just face the fucking overloud music. I found Tom sitting on a stool in the kitchen, looking more than a little putout. No wonder, there was a goddamn party going on in my living room. Four women, not one of them my wife, were sitting on the couches, cocktails in hand. I walked over to the surround sound amplifier and turned down the volume. They all stared wide-eyed at me.

The tall redhead gave me an appraising look and then a dimpled, mischievous smile, before shouting toward the bedroom, “Serena, your hubby’s home.”

I was seized with instant suspicion. What the fuck was Serena doing in the bedroom while all her friends were out here having a fine old time? Had she invited her good friend Ryan, too?

Jealousy hit me hard and fast and then logic took over. That would fucking never happen. Ryan was too much of a chicken shit to cuckold me in my own home. Besides Tom would have dangled him over the cliff by his feet by now if he’d tried.

The girls on the couch were still gawking at me. The redhead, seemingly sensing my impatience, hurried down the hall. She opened the bedroom door. It actually took me a moment to register who the dark-haired beauty was stepping out of my bedroom. I’d never seen her without carnival-colored hair. That hair had been a distraction. As it turned out, the real girl was one of those gorgeous Snow White creatures with creamy pale skin, long dark eyelashes, perfectly curved dark eyebrows, and contrasting pale blue eyes.

As she got closer I realized she’d been crying...again.

“Sorry,” she said. “Were we being too loud?” If she was being insincere I couldn’t detect it. She had on a pair of skintight jeans and a lace shirt over just a bra.

She padded barefoot across the room and took my arm. I could smell alcohol on her which probably explained why she was acting sweeter. She introduced me around to her friends. I knew none of the names would stick. I was too preoccupied with the fact that the little witch was still clinging to me.

“Let’s leave the newlyweds alone, girls,” the tall redhead said as she pried a cocktail glass from one of the girls and set it on the coffee table. She ushered her friends to the door with gestures and nudges. She was clearly the only somewhat-sober one in the group. Serena left my side to give each of her friends a quick hug. Tom cussed under his breath as he grabbed his car keys off the counter. He was clearly annoyed at having to chauffeur a bunch of giggling drunk girls.

Then it was just the two of us in the house.

Serena gathered the glasses from the living room, and brought them to the sink. I helped myself to some whiskey.

“Are you hungry? Can I make you something?” she asked after loading the dishwasher.

I nearly choked on my drink. “I’m good.”

She dried her hands on a towel. “Goodnight, then.”

I watched the tempting little thing walk back to my bedroom.

To get my mind off my wife, I occupied myself with ledger books. The company accountant was brilliant at hiding the fraud. I kept expecting a second set of books to surface, but, despite my best efforts...nothing.

I took a ball-freezing shower for good measure before turning in for the night.

She’d left on the overhead light on her side of the headboard. The book she’d been reading had fallen to the ground. She’d changed out of her clothes into something silky. One of the thin straps had slipped down her arm. As I set the book on the nightstand, she opened her eyes.

She gave me a drowsy smile.

“How much did you drink tonight?”

She held up two and then changed it to three fingers. “I’m sorry about all the noise. I thought it might help to have visitors.”

“And did it?”

“No.”

“It takes time, baby.” That phrase, coming from somebody who’d never shed a single fucking tear over anyone, rang so hollow it made me cringe inwardly. She offered me another sleepy smile. She knew I was spouting bullshit.

I switched off the overhead light and undressed in the dark and got into bed. I wanted to pull the—it’s a wife’s duty to make her husband happy card. Instead, I just laid there in pain with a rock-hard erection.