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I widened my eyes. “What sort of man?”
“Oh please! Don’t tell me you don’t know what he does for a living?” she screeched. She lowered her voice. “They say the family is going legit, but everyone knows his dad was a mafioso.” She nodded. “Uh huh. Shocking, isn’t it? Though I’m surprised he didn’t tell you.”
Her eyes ran up and down my gown as if she couldn’t decide what to make of me. I was extremely glad I had chosen the black one over the scarlet satin negligee.
“I haven’t seen you before,” she said. “Are you from out of town?”
I shook my head. “No, I work at the—”
“Youwork?” said Georgina, screwing up her pretty nose. She shot her friends a scandalised look.
Tina’s eyes widened. She leaned her head forward, and lowered her voice. “My gosh. You’re the one who was with him at that strip club when the murder happened!” she exclaimed in a shout of a whisper.
“No!” screeched the other two.
“But I thought he was with an escort?” said the redhead.
Tina shook her head. “No Tammy! We only thought that because it couldn’t possibly be true that he was with a fiancée. Everyone knows he’s not the type.”
“Oh, but he is.” I batted my lashes. “He said he’s never met a woman like me. That he’s been waiting all his life.” I clutched my heart as if overcome by my emotions.
Tina threw me a look that could curdle milk.
“So youwerethere when that stripper was murdered?” said Georgina. “Tell us everything.”
I felt like telling them that Dolly was no stripper. She had been a hostess and proud of it. The bravest woman I knew. A kind and cheeky and delightful soul. But these three would never get it. It sickened me that everyone must be talking about her like some sordid slut they thought deserved to get killed.
“It doesn’t look good for Marco with his family history,” said Tina. “Some dead girl turning up on his property. Why does he even own an apartment above a strip club anyway? Pretty dodgy, if you ask me.” Her eyes glittered like she wouldn’t be surprised if Marco was in on it.
“Bet you’d still jump into his pants if you could,” said Georgina.
“No way,” said Tina, looking annoyed. “Maya would though.”
The trio looked across the room at a strikingly pretty Indian woman in a gold ballgown.
My head had turned sharply in her direction. So that’s who Maya was. I felt a flash of betrayal that Marco had not said she would be here. Not that it mattered. I wasn’t really his fiancée.
“Oh, so you haven’t met Maya yet?” said Georgina, smirking. “This is her father’s party, you know.”
A steel billionaire’s daughter. I should have known. Just the kind of woman Vittoria would want for her son. Not the money part. Marco had more than enough of his own. The prestige part. Or maybe the avoiding-a-gold-digger part.
Georgina and Tina had been eating up the expression on my face.
“Jealous?” said Tina.
“Of course she’s not,” said Tammy. “She’s the one Marco proposed too. It can’t be true that you were the one at that strip club anyway. I never believed the silly rumour.”
Oh, how good it would feel to stalk away from them and leave them wondering. But the whole point of coming to this party was to flush out a killer.
“I was there,” I said regretfully. “It was such a shock. I even knew the girl who got killed.”
“No way!” All three of them gasped and craned closer to me.
“Uh huh. We were quite close, really. We both worked at the club together.”
“No!” they screeched in unison.
Georgina’s face soured like she couldn’t believe I had the temerity to be in this glorious environment. Her arms crossed over her chest. “I can’t believe he brought you here.”
