“Get off me,you loon.” But she was laughing as she sashayed away.
“Friend ofyours?”
“She wasalso a cop.”
“Was she?”
“Yea. Eatup.”
“Yes, mother.”
*****
“Flying toParis for a holiday is simply wonderful.” Kelly stretched outher legs and leaned back in the chair with a sigh.
“With therunning of the restaurants and the various charities we’vepicked up along the way, Kane and I feel like we’re goingthrough revolving doors. Pile on the mud, darling.” She grinnedat the burly man massaging her. “You know you’re wastedbeing gay, right?”
“As if youwould go for me if I wasn’t into men.” Bruno tsked as herubbed the mixture into her torso. “He has money to burn and asmoldering look that makes anyone quiver.”
“He also has ablack belt in Taekwondo.”
“There you go.”He grinned over at the other ladies lined up on the massage tables.“Your drinks will be right here. We’ll leave you to sitand relax. Ring if you need anything.”
“God, I neededthis.” Monique stretched luxuriously.
“You’renot supposed to move.” Stacy Stone told her dryly, closing hereyes and resting her head back against the padded rest. “Itsmells tropical, which reminds me that Christian and I are going toJamaica for Christmas.”
“A cruise?”Amari reached for the drink that had been brought to them. The traywas placed on the table between them, and the doors were discreetlyclosed to give them some privacy.
“No. You knowhow I hate being on a ship for long periods of time. We’reflying out.”
“Any word fromKenji?” Leesa opened one eye to look at Kelly. “It’sbeen like what? A month?”
“Six weeks,to be precise.” Kelly’s sigh was heavy. “He left aright mess behind.”
“You mean withChantelle?” Monique asked. “That poor girl. How’sshe taking it?”
“She’spretending it isn’t tearing her apart. I tried to talk to herabout it, and she brushed me off.” Kelly took an appreciativesip of her champagne. “Remember when we were in similarpositions? When I didn’t love Kane to death, I was wishing thathe was run over by a truck.”
Leesa laughedsoftly. “My darling husband was determined to avoid me at allcosts. He told me to get the hell out of his life.”
“I was stupidand naïve enough to sleep with a handsome stranger, notrealizing that he was the Romano.” Monique gave a laugh.
“You’reforgetting the bizarre deal I had with Christian’s wickedfamily.” Stacy could feel the mixture cleansing her pores. “Wealmost died, and then I almost lost my husband. This relationshipthing isn’t a walk in the park.”
“It’scompletely worth it, though,” Kelly murmured.
“Absolutely.”The rest of the women chorused.
“What aboutKenji?” Leesa posed the question.
“Kane is tryingto get in touch with him. I can tell that he’s worried. Oh, Icould just strangle that guy.”
*****
Kane stared at thebrief email furiously.
‘Don’tworry about me. I’m sorting things out and will be back in acouple of months; thanks for looking after things for me.