AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Don’t compare me to such a boorish person, please.”
“I don’t dream of it. I’m only trying to understand the situation.”
Vanessa sighed. “To be blunt – and you cannot tell anyone this, do you understand? – Mitch has been working as an entertainer in Club Night for a few weeks. I have concerns, but she’s adamant about continuing until she’s sure what’s going on there.”
That was probably more information than Vanessa should have disseminated to the only real best friend she had, but she needed reassurance.I also need to know someone else is in my corner.Sure, she threw Mitch beneath a bus that only weighed the same as a cloud, but Vanessa had to be careful about exposing the undercover op. For Erica’s sake, at least.
“Mitch is working at Club Night? As anentertainer?Dare I ask what that means?”
“You know we get hired to perform at various events across the globe, but sometimes she’s hired on her own to keep small parties… well, happy. You know her. Put her in a crowded room of horny people and she’s like a warm breeze blowing in their ear. Even if she doesn’t touch you, you’re having a great time in her presence.”
“Yes, I’m aware. I’ve been to some of those parties.”
“You’re one of my few friends who has touched her.”
“Goes to show how much you trust me.”
“More like how much I trust your wife. I don’t think Natalie would let any other woman in your vicinity unless it’s someone shealsowould love to touch.”
“Your partner sure has a lot of admirers…”
“Says the person who isn’t a lifestyler.”
“Nowhere near your level, no, but I appreciate what you’ve built. I can understand why you might be nervous about her working at Club Night. The rumors are not favorable.”
“So you know what I mean?”
“As someone who has not partaken in her club or what she may or may not offer, I’m not ignorant. The rumors say that if you grease her wheels the right way, she can hook you up with a woman that ‘makes your body weep.’ The words I’ve heard, not my own.”
“You know…” Vanessa dangled her glass of sparkling water by the chair, stretching her neck back and staring at the intricate knotwork in the wood ceiling. “Even at our loneliest and most depraved, I don’t think we would have ever taken her up on that offer.”
Erica’s foot nearly grazed Vanessa’s knee when one leg swung over the other.At least I can tell her this much.The relationship between them had taken many turns over the years but stabilized when they both entered their first real and meaningful long-term relationships independent of each other. Sure, Erica had been engaged to another woman before ever hooking up with Vanessa, but that woman hadn’t known that Mr. Mann would one day go by “Miss” in certain circumstances. Vanessa had known that right away, but they would never be more than good friends who once had a sexual relationship. In the end, they were too similar.
“Then again,” Erica said, “if there’s anyone I can imagine taking on Club Night and surviving, it’s Mitch. That woman can take care of herself.”
“You’re not just saying that, right? Because Candace has requested Mitch’s presence as her plus one at the King Crown’s party happening off the coast of Mexico.”
“You’re kidding. I went to that a couple of years ago and had to take a hundred showers before I felt clean again. Never mind how Natalie refused to talk about it after she spent most of the weekend hiding in our room because too many men had made passes at her. Why am I not surprised that Lister goes to that?”
“Now she wants my Mitch as her arm candy. Something about using her to advertise Club Night. She’s acting like Mitch’s residency as a performer is lasting beyond January.” Vanessa knew the truth. It would last as long as the investigation continued. Agent James had told her they might have enough evidence by Christmas, but this might last until Valentine’s Day – or longer. “It’s one thing to pay my partner to make more money for yourself. It's another to take her away from me for your gain.”
Erica turned her head toward Vanessa but didn’t say anything for a minute. Not until Vanessa finally calmed down and stopped threatening to dump the rest of her water on the carpet.
“What did you tell her?”
“What do you think? They left Puerto Vallarta an hour ago.”
That was Erica’s cue to take the glass of water away from Vanessa. Instead of dumping it out for her, though, Erica returned to her wet bar and poured enough gin into the glass to fell an elephant. Luckily for them both, Vanessa could hold her liquor before dinner.
Get the damn evidence you need,Vanessa thought as she followed one flame dancing in the fireplace,and get out.
Her breath was still caught in her chest as she drank from the glass Erica handed back to her. It was going to be a long weekend.
Chapter 15
Thebillionairewhoownedthe King’s Crown superyacht had spared no expense for his special friends – all three hundred of them, based on Mitch’s cursory glance of the main ballroom she entered while holding Candace Lister’s arm.
No amount of research had adequately told Mitch what to expect when she arrived. Not only was it damn difficult to find outanyinformation about the party online, but the few acquaintances she had who might have gone before were mum. Whether because of NDAs or being blackout drunk for most of the party… well, Mitch didn’t judge. It wasn’t like she was at liberty to tell any of them why she was going, let alone with a womannotVanessa.
