Hot Sauce (Suncoast Society #26)(25)

She didn’t interrupt, sensing Tony had far more to say.

“When everyone learned, mostly after Kade’s passing, what he’d set in motion to provide for Leah, it sort of changed those who’d known him, even a little. It drove home the point about how not living authentically meant condemning yourself to a future in a prison, in a way. That life was short. That love was important. That if death could take someone as determined to live as Kade was, and who loved Leah as much as he had, then it could take any of us at any moment.”

That was exactly what had happened with her brother.

Taken at any moment.

“When did Kaden die?” she asked.

“About four years ago. In January.”

That would have been just before her Tony had admitted one night at dinner, when it was just the two of them, that he was going to be filing for divorce.

And when Vanessa had immediately insisted he’d move in with her.

In his journal, he’d mentioned sussing out BDSM before making the decision to divorce Kelly. How he’d attended several munches and events, trying to figure things out for himself before taking that final step and initiating the divorce.

This hadn’t been an overnight whim for her brother, but a carefully researched, thoughtful decision.

“Wow,” she said. “He must have been a really great guy.”

“He was. Poor Ed, I feel sorry for him. He had it rougher than a lot of us. He was Kade’s partner at the law firm, and the one who had to steer Seth and Leah through the process Kade had set up for them.”

“Wait…who?”

“Ed. Ed Payne.”

She closed her eyes and started laughing. Laughing so hard and long, that she realized she was crying, sobbing, only when Tony pressed a few tissues into her hand from a box of them setting on a small table at the end of the couch.

“Are you okay?” Tony asked her.

She sob-laughed some more, shaking her head, nodding, then shaking her head again as she blew her nose and dabbed at her tears.

Finally, when she could speak again, she looked him in the eyes. “Ed Payne, an attorney from Sarasota?”

He looked confused. “Yes, why?”

“He’s the one who handled my Tony’s divorce, drew up his will, and who is also my attorney—referred to me by my brother—and who drew up my will for me. And he’s handling Tony’s probate. Basco’s.”

I really need to get my head around calling him Basco when I’m here.

Tony smiled. “He’s a good attorney. Let me know if you need an accountant. I can give you two names right off the top of my head, one of them a CPA.”

She froze. “Is one of them Mark Jarette?” That was her CPA, also referred to her by her Tony.

Tony playfully grinned. “Ah, so you do know Scrye.”





Reed and Lyle sat at the table, talking with Shayla, Tilly, and Jenny and Ken, and waited while Tony took Vanessa off to the “new side,” as everyone thought of the recent addition to the club, to talk in private.

Reed fought the urge to pull his phone out and check the time repeatedly. Cell phone use was forbidden in the dungeon, although it wasn’t uncommon to see people pulling them out to check the time before quickly shoving them back into their pockets or purses. The new wristwatch, an engrained reaction that was difficult to remember not to do.

Then Keith and Scott walked in, and Reed held a hand up to them in greeting. The men veered over toward their table, and Reed and Lyle both stood to hug them.

“Hey, guys,” Reed said. “Where’s Noel?”

Her husband, Scott, grinned. “Her morning sickness is now afternoon and evening sickness,” he said. “She feels like shit, but the doctor says the baby is perfectly healthy and normal, so she’s staying in.”

Keith, the Master and Owner of the couple, snickered. “She’s cursing at both of us, too. I’m giving her a pass for that, obviously. She said for us to give our love to everyone.”

Keith was one of the mechanics at the marina where Reed kept his boat. Noel ran the office. Scott was a 911 dispatcher for the county and couldn’t always make it to the club with Keith and Noel if he had to work, so it was nice to see him out for a change.

Reed wouldn’t deny he’d felt a little bit of envy for the triad. While he didn’t want to be a full-time sub or slave like Scott and Noel did, he wouldn’t mind a switchy third to satisfy both his and Lyle’s switchy natures.

A switchy third they’d thought they might have found with Basco.

The men pulled up chairs to chat. “Why does everyone look so damned sad?” Keith asked.

Everyone looked to Tilly.

“Great, thanks,” she snarked, but still only at about a tenth of her usual pointedness. She gentled her tone. “Did you guys know Basco?”

Scott frowned. “Did we? What happened?”

“Yes,” Keith said. “We do.”

Tilly shook her head and told them what Vanessa had related. By the time Tilly finished, both men looked stunned.

“Damn,” Keith said. “I just talked to him, what, two weeks ago. At the munch. Noel was with me.”

“He was a nice guy,” Scott said. “That’s a damn shame.”

Keith reached over to where Scott’s hand lay on the table and laced fingers with him. “New rule,” he said. “And you and Noel can use this one against me, too. Anyone’s sick and it’s not getting better? Doctor visit. ASAP.”