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“I told her that Mika had hundreds of hours of video tape depicting George in assorted and extremely compromising positions with you.And if she didn’t shut her ugly cakehole and pretend like you weren’t there, I’d make sure every television affiliate got copies of the films.”
“Are you serious?”My mouth fell open as I turned and looked at Mika in shock.
“Of course,” Drake chuckled.
“Well, I wouldn’t say hundreds of hours, but I’ve got a few tapes that would grab plenty of unwanted media attention.”Mika winked.
“It shut her up, that’s for sure,” Drake chuckled.“She might be totally fucked in the head, but she knows better than to play hard ball with us.We’d slam her right out of the park.”
I couldn’t help but smile.George’s friends would go to any lengths to protect not only his memory but what he’d left behind as well…me.
“I’m almost afraid to ask, but did anything else happen?”I arched my brows, staring pointedly at Trevor.
“I didn’t get to have any more fun.”He stuck out a mock pout as he peered up at Drake.“I would have liked to, but Daddy put the kibosh on all my plans.Did anyone else get a dig in?”
From across the room, Dylan cleared his throat.A sheepish grin adorned his handsome face, and the dimple on the side of his cheek indented deeply.“I, ahh, ran into Judge Bernard in the men’s room.”
“Oh shit, this ought to be good.”Tony beamed.
I had no idea who Judge Bernard was or why he was important to the shit stirring Dylan had done.So I sat quietly and listened hoping to find out.
“Yeah, it was pretty funny.Of course, he had no idea who the hell I was, which made it all the riper.You know how Sloane was crying buckets of tears at the gravesite and again at the luncheon?”Nearly everyone’s heads bobbed affirmatively.“Well, I ended up washing hands next to the honorable judge.”
“Honorable?That’s a lie,” Mika scoffed.
“No shit,” Nick replied, wearing a cynical frown.
“Anyway, I happened to mention that poor Sloane wasn’t taking George’s death very well.He agreed and flashed me a ridiculous look of sympathy.What a tool.So, I just had to add that it was such a shame to see Sloane so distraught and that she still must have been head over heels in love with him.”
“Damn, Dylan,” Mika laughed.“You’re almost as bad as Trevor.”
“Thank you, Mika, Sir,” Trevor piped up, flashing a lopsided grin.
“What the hell did he say to that?”Tony asked.His dark, hypnotic eyes had grown wide.
“Not a damn thing.He turned a little pale and gave a sharp nod before he ran out of the bathroom.It was a damn good thing I’d already emptied my bladder, or I’d have pissed myself laughing.”
I couldn’t stand being left in the dark another minute.
“Who is Judge Bernard?”I asked Mika.
“You don’t know who Bernard is, Leagh?”The dungeon owner quickly sobered.
“I don’t know who he is either,” Savannah interjected.Grateful for her act of valor, I gave her a soft smile as the awkward attention was drawn off me and onto her for a brief moment.
“What did George tell you about his divorce, angel?”Tony looked at me, and I could tell the smile he wore was a mask meant to put me at ease.Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect.
“Umm, just that Sloane wanted out of the marriage and that he was happy to oblige.He said he’d grown tired of living with a shrew.”
Mika stared at me for a long moment, as if trying to decide what to say next.“Sloane is a shrew of biblical proportions, but she’s also calculating, manipulative, and probably one of the vilest women on the planet.Money was her husband.George was simply the machine that dispensed it.Years ago, one of the most newsworthy murder cases ended up on his docket.He worked the case for months, putting in twelve to sixteen hour days.Then, out of the clear blue, the suspect plea bargained, and George headed home.”
I looked around the room as Mika told the story.Savannah and I were the only ones clinging to his words.The rest were staring off into space or gazing at the ground, their faces lined with something more than sadness.Anger maybe?
“Sloane hadn’t expected George home for hours.And when he walked into the bedroom, he found his wife and Judge Bernard fucking like bunnies.Evidently, they’d been having an affair for years, and George never suspected a thing.”
Mika’s words slammed into me like a plow.George had never told me the details of his divorce.I had no inkling that Sloane had been unfaithful to him.I lowered my head and rubbed a finger and thumb over my forehead.For all the time I’d known him, George had kept the humiliating secret to himself.I felt slighted that his friends assembled in Tony’s living room knew more about my Master than I did.He’d kept me in the dark, while almost everyone around me was privy to his secret.It stung like a slap to the face.
Anger quickly rushed in.I’d revealed every horrific detail of my life in Atlanta to him, but he’d never reciprocated his darkest secrets to me.Why?Why had he shut me out?Was he afraid I’d think him weak or, God forbid, love him less?I wanted to scream and throw things.I felt betrayed that our vow of honesty meant nothing to him.Fighting back my tears, I knew this wasn’t the time or the place to come unhinged.I inhaled a deep breath and wiped my eyes before raising my head.
