Page 20 of Beni

Just to make a point, August did a little twirl right there on the spot. Holding the jacket open all the while, so that Camilla could get a good look at it while the two of them got ready in her bedroom for the evening.

Camilla laughed. “I do like it.”

“A custom Frankie Zombie.”

And shit, she loved the damn jacket. It was probably her favorite piece in the whole look, and there was no way she wasn’t wearing the hell out of it as much as she could. She would be burning up after a few minutes in the club because of the leather, but oh well.

Beauty was pain.

The contrast between the two girls couldn’t be more obvious with Camilla in her slinky, black club dress that fell tightly against her curves, and showed off all kinds of leg. Her pixie-like features had been painted seductively with dark kohl and mascara lining a smoked-out eye, and a bright, red lip. Letting her light hair hang loose, it settled in soft waves down her back.

The red-soled six-inch stilettos on her feet, showing off freshly painted toes, would have more than one person giving Cam second looks in the club, and her husband a raging headache from glaring right back. That was the thing, though, Camilla loved attention.

Lived for it.

Men or women, she was game.

Well … August supposed that Cam used to be game for it. Now that she was married, Camilla stuck to one man, and didn’t chase a good time as much as she used to.

As for August, she went with distressed, black skinny jeans that she had rolled up around the ankles to show off the black, strappy three-inch heels on her feet. Under the custom, leather Frankie Zombie jacket with graffiti covering every single inch, she settled for a spaghetti strap, black silk camisole that hung loosely around her body, and showed just a sliver of her stomach.

She had chosen to go for a similar, dark, smoked-out makeup look, but with slightly less kohl lining her brown eyes than her friend, and a russet lip to compliment the golden undertones of her dark skin. As for her braids, she had gathered them with a snag-less tie at the nape of her neck, and secured it in a thick pony.

She wasn’t dressed in typical club apparel, but that was fine, too. Normal was boring … well, as long as you weren’t Camilla, because that bitch could make anything fucking work for her, and still turn heads while she did it.

“You wanna pick something from my collection for jewelry?” Cam asked. “I’ve got more than enough to share.”

Understatement.

Camilla’s walk-in closet could make a boutique store jealous. Any woman who appreciated the finer things in life would give their firstborn for the chance to go on a free shopping spree in Cam’s things. She had expensive taste, too.

August shrugged. “Better not. I drink, and things start getting lost.”

Her friend wouldn’t care, she knew, but August did.

“I mean, that’s fair.”

Their laughter in the bedroom must have gained the attention of Camilla’s husband down the hall in his office, because soon enough, he darkened the doorway. August noticed him first from her position sitting on the end of their four-poster, canopy bed. A small, amused smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he watched his wife lean over her dresser to get a better look at the line of her lipstick in the mirror.

“Can’t draw a straight line on this bottom lip to save my fucking life,” Camilla muttered.

“Just like the good old days, yep.”

Tommaso chuckled darkly in the doorway, gaining the attention of his wife when she swung around in those towering heels of hers. “Now, don’t go getting her worked up and remembering that time in her life, August, or she might run off on me to do it all over again.”

“I would not, Tom.”

“Mmhmm.”

Camilla gave him a simpering smile. “And even if I did, you would chase after me.”

“This is true. Are you nearly ready? Your lipstick looks fine.”

All it took was a compliment from her husband for Camilla’s dark eyes to light up, pleased. “Just about, yeah.”

“Good.” Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Tommaso used his shoulder to rest against the doorjamb as he added, “We should go over the ground rules for tonight.”

Camilla gave him a look. “This again?”