4

Milli was still shaking when she arrived at The Velvet Rope. Marni was sitting in a car with a guy Milli had seen before. Jarvis Adams was the lawyer for the owners of the club who were not so secretly connected to the mafia. Milli had catered many parties for the Valtini cousins, she sent cakes to their family members back east, and even sent a cake to the local Federal Supermax four times a year. Milli was horrified when her sister leaned over and kissed the lawyer before getting out and walking over to Milli’s Subaru.

Marni smirked and waved a handful of large bills. “Take us to a hotel, sis. There is no way I am going home to the jerk tonight.”

“Fine,” Milli readily agreed. She didn’t want to go home either.

“Wait? You’re okay with this? Since when did Ms. Frugal approve of spending unnecessary money?” Marni stared at her like she had grown two heads. Marni knew Milli never wanted to spend money on anything frivolous.

“Since both our husbands are drunk and rude, I don’t want to go home either. I mean, I know they lost their grandfather and he sounded like a great guy, but that is no reason to pin a girl against a wall or throw her down on a bed... like... like...” Milli pulled into a vacant parking lot suddenly, slamming the gear into park before she started sobbing violently.

Marni looked at her shocked then hugged her, “Oh gawd, Milli, sissy. Are you okay? Did Edgar hurt you?”

Milli cried for a long time. Marni hugged her as she sobbed out what Edgar had done, but not what happened with Heith right before she left. Milli felt guilty for that, and she knew Marni had enough problems with her marriage without knowing Heith had made a drunken pass at her.

Marni seethed with rage that Edgar would treat Milli like one of his rough-sex one-night stand girls, after all, Milli had given him and how much she loved him. It made Marni’s blood boil. Milli had been hurt in ways that gave her nightmares, and Marni vowed she would be having a very stern talk with him. Edgar could treat Marni like that all he wanted, but not her sister. She would give him the kind of talk a man like Edgar would listen to or else, and if he wouldn’t listen to her, she would ask Donnie’s bouncer Cedric to make him listen. As she soothed her sister, Marni cursed the fact Milli had fallen for Edgar’s charms and married him. They didn’t belong together; he was a player and Marni knew it was only a matter of time before he hurt her sweet sister. She had hoped marrying Heith would make Edgar behave, but it didn’t work.

Finally, Milli calmed down enough to drive them to a diner. Marni ordered them both food while Milli washed her face. As they ate, they talked about their parents and what they wanted to do once they got their inheritance. Marni wanted to travel. Milli wanted to open a small bakery and do custom cakes, and Marni teased that she needed a bigger dream to go with her Foodie Network shows. They laughed about the time their dad had tasted Milli’s first failed cake. She had made it from a box mix and put the eggs, shells and all, in it. Charles had choked down the gooey but crispy mess and praised Milli for her excellent baking skills, then ‘accidentally’ dropped the rest on the floor and begged forgiveness. He had taken her shopping and ‘helped’ her bake a replacement for Emily and Marni to try. Cheered by the memories of their loving father, they sat eating and chatting happily. They talked about anything and everything, except the fights they had with their husbands last night.

The sun was just rising when Heith and Edgar showed up at the diner.

“How’d you find us?” Marni hissed angrily.

Heith glared at her, “Your phone has a locator app.” He leaned down to glare at her. “I always know where you’re at and...” He glanced at Edgar who sat down next to Milli, “Who you’re with.”

Marni’s lips pursed in a thin line. “Maybe if you came home once and awhile, I wouldn’t need to go places and be with people.”

Heith snorted derisively as he shoved Marni over and took a seat next to her. Her eyes were sharp as she watched Milli trying not to cringe away from Edgar. She was glaring at him like she was tempted to pick up the fork off her plate and stab him. Heith also did not miss Milli’s sudden change in demeanor toward Edgar or Marni’s obvious animosity.

Marni purred in a sweet but angry tone. “Eddie darling, get your hands off my sister.”

Edgar stretched out his long legs under the table, and groaned, “Mar, I am too hungover to deal with whatever bug flew up your butt.” He reached out and waved to the waitress as she walked by. “Hey darlin’, get us some coffee.” When the waitress came back with two cups and poured, he took his arm from around Milli and gave her a million-dollar smile, “Thanks, sweetheart.”

The waitress practically swooned. Milli looked out the window, shrinking in on herself, but Marni was ready to launch herself over the table at him. She seethed, exhaling a hissing breath. “Come on Milli, let’s go home. When you boyo’s decide to stop being jerks, you know where to find us.”

“Give me a break, Marni. We just lost our grandfather,” Edgar snarled.

“And we lost both our parents. So, don’t expect me to get all mushy after what you did last night,” Marni snarled back at Edgar, who rolled his eyes at her.

Marni climbed over the back of the bench, so she wouldn’t have to scoot past Heith and practically dragged Milli over the top of Edgar. Grabbing Edgar’s collar, Marni whispered something only he heard. “I am going to tell Donnie and Cedric what you did to Milli, happy short life, Eddie.”

When Eddie made a derisive sound, she threw money on the counter for the bill and stormed out the door, dragging Milli with her.

Heith stared after them. Milli was weirdly timid this morning while Marni was on the warpath. Usually, when a person pissed off one of the Haywood sisters, they both came at them. He watched them get into Milli’s old coupe and drive off.

Not sure what else to say, Heith asked his cousin about Milli’s old Subaru, “How come you haven’t bought your wife a new car?”

Edgar shrugged. “She didn’t want one.”

“But her car is a P.O.S.,” Heith pointed out.

Edgar sipped his coffee. “She doesn’t like to spend money unless she has to. Said she doesn’t want us to have car payments. She’s just weird that way. It’s like she doesn’t know how rich we are.” Scowling at the cup, he set it back down. “Damn, this coffee is awful. Don’t know what Milli does, but hers is always the best.”

“What happened last night between you and Milli to piss Marni off like that?” Heith asked, trying not to think about what happened between him and Milli in the living room. He had kissed her, and she had been terrified.

Edgar shrugged again. “Heck, if I remember. Let’s go. I’m too hungover to drink bad coffee, eat bad food, or deal with those crazy whores. We gotta catch our flight. I’m getting tired of Vegas, anyway.”

* * *

Dallas, two weeks after leaving Las Vegas…

Heith and Edgar stood side by side with Heith’s father, Cornell, and Edgar’s mother, Colleen. Edgar’s sister Chloe was sobbing loudly beside her mother. Hundreds of people walked by and murmured unmeant condolences. A few even had the nerve to offer the family business cards, which Heith politely tucked in a pocket to remind himself who they would not be doing business with, in the future.

As he took the next hand, Heith had stopped looking at the faces. He just said, ‘thanks for coming, have a safe trip home.’

“Heith? Heith?”

Heith looked up to see intense sapphire-blue eyes. It was Kyle Hightower, CEO, and founder of Blue Water Resorts, and the last son of the once great Hightower Construction Industries. Kyle’s eyes had always seemed weird to Heith, they were so dark they almost looked fake, but Kyle’s late father’s eyes were the same shade. Heith and Kyle had known each other since childhood. His other childhood friend and Kyle’s head project manager, MacMillan ‘Mack’ Beal was beside him. All three of their fathers had worked together before Kyle’s father died 12 years ago, followed by both of Kyle’s brothers. Heith still helped him out with surveys, especially for his remote resorts.

“How are you doing, man?” Mack asked sincerely.

Heith swallowed against the lump in his throat, at least two people who cared about him made it today. “I’ve been better,” he answered tightly. “Will you both be around after this shindig gets through?”

Kyle nodded. “Sure. Whatever you need, what’s up?”

Heith breathed out quietly glancing around to make sure no one else was paying attention to them. “I think I did a dumbass thing and married a Sophia.” Both stared at Heith at the mention of Kyle’s ex-fiancée and the bane of his existence.

“We’ll meet you after,” Kyle promised. Mack nodded, then they moved on.

At the memorial meal, servers in black vests and pants with crisp white shirts served their grandfather’s favorite meal. Heith pushed the food around on the plate, a glance told him Edgar and his father were doing the same. Colleen and Chloe had wandered off to mingle. The plates cleared and a slice of red velvet cake with white icing was set in front of each of them. Cornell ate his, but Heith and Edgar pushed there's away after the first bite.

“Milli’s is better,” Heith said.

“I don’t want to talk about her or her stupid cakes,” Edgar said tiredly.

“Would you rather we talked about Marni?” Heith’s voice dropped an octave in anger.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Edgar snapped.

As his anger flared, Heith’s eyes lightened until they were almost silver. “I know you’ve been screwing my wife all along.”

Edgar threw his napkin down on the table, “I saw her first and she wasn’t your wife then, so let it go, cousin. Maybe if you treated her better, she wouldn’t be looking for affection from other men.”

“Maybe if you respected your own wife, you wouldn’t be after mine,” Heith followed the gesture.

“You’re just mad that my slut can cook and yours can’t.” Edgar was trying to deliberately provoke his cousin, mainly so he would have an excuse to leave because he always hated funerals.

“Milli isn’t a slut, she’s nothing like Marni or you!”

“Boysssss,” Colleen’s angry hiss had them both sitting back down. Edgar's mother glared at them. “This is neither the time nor the place.” She stood up straighter and waved to someone.

Heith almost groaned aloud as Chloe’s best friend, Heith and Edgar’s former girlfriend, glided over.

“Oh Eddie, Heithie, I am so sorry for your loss.” Heather cooed.

Edgar pulled her into his lap, smiling pathetically. “I need some soft comfort about now.”

“Edgar...” Heith warned, but Edgar shot him the middle finger behind Heather’s back. Heith stood up, snapping in staccato, “You are un-freak-ing-beliv-able.”

He found Kyle Hightower and Mack Beal at a table. “Please tell me you have a car and we can get out of here.”

“Sure, Heith.” Kyle nodded, remembering how it felt after his father died. “Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere I won’t have to watch my cousin cheat on his wife,” Heith growled with another disgusted look back towards his cousin, who flashed him a smug smile around a cascade of fake red curls.

Kyle and Mack followed his gaze, then looked back to him.

“Damn...” Mack swore. “Edgar got married too?!?”

“I take it, it’s going to be a long evening.” Kyle was already fishing out his valet ticket. “Is it that bad?”

“I’ll let you tell me,” Heith said, then he caught the event coordinator by the arm as they were walking out, “That was the worst red velvet cake I have ever tasted, don’t expect us to pay for it.”

In the penthouse suite of Blue Water Resort’s Lone Star Cove, Heith stared down at the waterpark below. He began his story simply.

“It all started when Edgar got mugged and carjacked in February. He was rescued by a tiny angel who had a beautiful demon for a sister…”