Family Sins(31)

Fiona arched a brow. “You don’t care what he’s doing without you?”

Nita snorted softly. “No, why would I?”

“You trust him that much?” Fiona asked.

Nita laughed.

“I don’t trust him at all, but that doesn’t have anything to do with our relationship. He has a hard dick and endurance. That’s all the job requires.”

Fiona blinked. “You never used to be so crude.”

Nita laughed again.

“Oh, Fee...I was always crude. I just don’t care enough to hide it anymore.”

She started to leave the table, then stopped, went back for the cake and her fork, and took them with her.

Now Fiona was alone.

She looked about the beautifully appointed dining room, at the elegant table with dirty plates and cups scattered up and down the length of it, and realized the scene before her was a shocking analogy for the family: a beautiful setting with a scattered assortment of very expensive, very dirty plates and cups. Cook would wash all of this clean, but who was going to clean their souls?





Eight

Charles had a raincoat over his dinner clothes and was heading out the door when his dad caught him in the hall.

“Where are you going?” Blake asked.

“Like I said, out with friends,” Charles said.

Blake frowned.

“Be careful. There could be flooding on the roads.”

“Yes, I will, and I’ll be home late.” Then he paused. “Can’t you do something with Uncle Jack? He’s getting on everyone’s nerves.”

Blake shrugged. “He’s trying to protect the family.”

Charles stood a moment, eyeing the serious expression on his father’s face. “Are you worried?” he asked.

Blake frowned. “Hell, yes. This has the look of a nightmare for all of us.”

“What happens if there’s no one to pin it on?” Charles asked.

“What do you mean?” Blake asked.

“Well, if everyone has an alibi that can be confirmed, then what happens?”

“Hell if I know,” Blake said. “But I can guarantee someone in this family will go down regardless.”

Now it was Charles who was confused.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“You don’t know your Aunt Leigh, but the rest of us do. She’s a Wayne first, and she’s the only one of us who ever defied our father. And she succeeded beyond any of our expectations, then went on to live a happily married life to spite him. She has five sons who, I suspect, would walk through fire for her, because that’s the kind of loyalty she inspires. If the police can’t determine what happened, she’ll take us all down.”

Charles was startled. He’d never heard his father talk like this before. He almost sounded uncertain, which was not how the Wayne family conducted business.

“Maybe it won’t come to that,” Charles muttered, and left the mansion, glad he’d had the foresight to park beneath the portico, because the thunderstorm was blowing the rain sideways.

He got into his car and headed up the driveway with his windshield wipers on high. By the time he got out to the street he’d already forgotten the family drama and was thinking about his night’s entertainment.

*

Andrew was glad he wasn’t going to have to put up with Nita tonight. She was fun and generous, but sometimes she was also too damn demanding. He knew why she liked him. It was the same reason everyone liked him. Because he was really good at what he did.

And he was simply following in the family footsteps.

In his day, they’d called his grandfather a ladies’ man. In his father’s time, the term was gigolo. Andrew had no qualms about his status and didn’t care if people thought of him as cougar prey for middle-aged women. He happily accommodated the people who could afford him.

He walked barefoot through the house with a plate of fruit and cheese as he headed to the liquor cabinet. After a quick decision, he poured himself a glass of wine from one of the better reds, plugged his iPod into his docking system and smiled when his favorite music began to play. He popped a piece of cheese into his mouth, dimmed the lights throughout the house and then strode to a window to watch the lightning flashes from the storm.

He liked storms, and the wilder the better. Thunder rumbled. It was so loud it felt like it was on top of him. Lightning cracked and flashed as it struck the dark surface of the lake before him.

Just as the flash faded, he saw car lights. His pulse kicked. It was about time. He turned to face the front door and waited for it to open. When it did, his guest blew in with the wind and rain.

“It’s about time you got here,” Andrew said. “I’ve started without you.” He held up his wineglass.

Charles Wayne began shedding his clothes. By the time he reached Andrew, he was naked. He took the wine out of Andrew’s hand and downed it, then set it aside and challenged him with an in-your-face smile.

Andrew threw his head back and laughed.

*

Leigh sat on the side of her bed, looking around the shadowed bedroom she’d shared with Stanton for more than thirty years. It still smelled like his aftershave. His clothes were still in the closet, and a pair of his shoes was beside the chair where he’d left them when he had changed into his walking boots.