Men of Fortune 1: Derek (6 page)

“And you need to see us fuck your wife.”
Oliver’s matter-of-fact tone belied the disbelief in his eyes.

“Strange as it may seem, yes. And if it
should help Carly, too,” he shrugged in an offhand manner that
didn’t fool anyone, “why not?”

“So…” Adam drawled, one finger stroking his
chin as he considered, “you won’t kill us in our sleep when it’s
over?”

“I hope not.” Derek gave an uncertain, shaky
laugh. “I have no intention of spending the rest of my life in
jail.” He then drew a hand down his face, blowing out a breath and
becoming serious. “I know I won’t. I trust you guys.” Trust them
not to poach his wife. “We all grew up together and I trust you,
each one of you, with my life. And now…I’m going to trust you with
something even more precious.” What he said was true. He searched
his heart, his soul, for any trace of jealousy, but there was none.
“Carly needs a boost to her self-esteem, and you guys are going to
give it to her.”

He glanced from one man to the other and was
unnerved by the intense blue gaze from Matthias. “What?”

Matthias hesitated. “If the plan pushed
through, I’m just saying it doesn’t have to be
the test
, Derek. Some women
are overwhelmed by so much testosterone and might react differently
from their usual fashion.”

“I know.” Derek grasped the lifeline with
grateful hands. The plan was about Carly, not him. Not him.

In the end, they’d all agreed to help him,
even Nathan.

The only thing left was to gain his wife’s
approval, but he was finding it hard to tell her. In fact, how to
tell her?

Carly dear, would it be okay for my cousins to fuck you? I
think it would help with your self-esteem.

Or, Carly dear, my cousins would love to fuck you. See how
desirable you are?

He didn’t think either approach would go
well.

“Derek?”

He glanced up, startled, to see Carly seated
opposite him, her eyes wide.

“Is something wrong? You aren’t eating and I
called you three times.”

He gave her a brief smile. “Sorry, dear,
just composing the shoot I’m doing today.” Yeah, right, now he was
lying to his wife. He picked up his fork and looked down at his
plate. Nothing looked appetizing. Desperate, his gaze slid to the
right. Coffee, great. He gulped down a mouthful.

“Oh. Well, I’m sure it’ll be awesome, like
your other works.” She sent him a tentative smile with lips that
trembled. “By the way, we never go out anymore. I was thinking a
movie and dinner this Saturday night—”

“I’ve invited my cousins over for dinner,”
he blurted out. Okay, maybe that came out better than he’d planned.
Now, how was he going to insert the matter of the fucking?

“Oh.”

He happened to look up at her, in time to
see the hurt cross her face. “Oh, fuck.” He slapped a hand to his
forehead. “I’m sorry, I know I said I’d check in with you first.
It’s what we agreed on.” A rueful smile touched his mouth, a
genuine action that dispelled a bit of the awkwardness. “You have
to forgive me; I’m still getting used to being part of a couple. Is
Saturday a bad time? I can move the dinner to next week—”

“No, that’s fine.” She nibbled on her toast
and wouldn’t look at him. “We can move the movie to next week. Do
you have any food requests for Saturday night?”

He thought of the fucking that would ensue
after dinner, or maybe even before, whatever the mood would be. Of
course, there was the slightest chance that Carly wouldn’t agree,
and if so, he wouldn’t force her. He’d just find some other means
to help her. “Nothing heavy. Maybe…salad?”

Her head jerked up, the expression on her
face incredulous. “We
are
talking about dinner, aren’t we?”

“Yes,” he said cautiously, wondering if he’d
made a misstep somewhere.

“Salad? You used to say only goats eat
those.”

“I changed my mind,” he said, relieved that
it was nothing disastrous. “Oliver convinced me real men eat
veggies, too.” Throwing in her favorite writer’s name ought to do
the trick.

Her mouth twitched. “Your cousin.
Really.”

Now that she seemed to have forgiven him,
he’d better not do or say anything to ruin it. Yeah, maybe they’d
just wing it Saturday night.

* * *

“What’s wrong, Carly?” Sue asked.

“Nothing.” She forced herself to spoon a
mouthful of pasta into her mouth, and she chewed and swallowed, but
it could be sawdust for all she tasted of it.

“Aw, come on, I’ve got eyes, girl, and I’m
not stupid, despite what people believe of models, or ex-models.”
The last was muttered beneath her breath.

Carly really didn’t want to have lunch with
Sue, since all she needed now was to have someone confirm her worst
suspicions. Especially after the number Sue did on her yesterday.
But as soon as the clock struck twelve, Sue had hauled her along to
the cafeteria.

“Something’s wrong.” Sue’s gaze skewered
her. “You’re restless, your concentration’s shot to hell, and you
let that troublesome witch model get the better of you.”

“I’m sorry, I’ll do better this afternoon,”
Carly said, keeping her gaze on the noodles. She wanted to be
alone—no, she wanted to talk to someone, to unburden herself,
someone to tell her she was imagining things, that Derek still
loved her, that he wasn’t thinking of…of…She shied away from the
thought. She felt like a keg full of firepowder, varied emotions
roiling within her and brimming to the surface. Just one match and
she’d explode—

“That’s not what I mean,” Sue said, the tone
of her voice changing, becoming gentler, sympathetic,
understanding. She touched Carly’s hand, closing over the fist she
made on the cutlery. So gentle, so soft. “Something’s bothering
you. How can I help, Carly?”

She never thought kindness could be a
kindle, but it was and it struck when she was at her most
vulnerable. She burst out with the one thing that bothered her the
most. “He lied to me.”

“Derek?”

Carly nodded, miserable. “He was distracted
this morning, and he didn’t have his customary appetite. When I
asked him what’s the matter, he lied and said he was thinking about
the shoot today. But he wasn’t, I know he wasn’t. He wouldn’t look
me in the eyes when he said it.”

“Is that his usual behavior when he was
lying?”

“I’m not sure if that’s his usual behavior,
but that’s what I noticed the first time he…lied.”

“Tell me.” Compassion flowed out from Sue,
her eyes lit with understanding.

Carly gulped in a deep breath. It felt
treacherous to be telling another person all about Derek, his
secrets and his foibles. “He—It was for my birthday, two weeks
after we married. He had a surprise all lined up, but he made me
believe he’d forgotten the date. He looked anywhere but at me all
while he was telling me some tall tale about needing to work
overtime and all, and I found it suspicious. It was only later,
when the surprise was revealed that I made the connection.” Her
voice cracked. “God, I wish I hadn’t! Then I wouldn’t be—”

“It’s good to know, Carly, whatever you may
believe,” Sue interrupted her.

“Is it?” She felt hollow and empty, devoid
of the happy satisfaction that had inundated her since she met
Derek. Was it only yesterday morning when he’d made her purr with
pleasure and scream with ecstasy? How many hours since he’d last
entered her and made her his? When he’d wrapped his arms around her
and made her believe she was safe as long as he was by her
side?

“And last night,” she said abruptly. “We
didn’t, we didn’t…I wanted to, but he—”

“Oh, Carly.”

She didn’t protest when Sue hugged her. Her
tone of voice said it all:
He was with another woman last night. He didn’t want to
make love because he’d used up all his energy elsewhere.

Her own inner voice chimed in, a devil’s
voice:
If he were
with his cousins last night, why then did he invite them over
tomorrow night? He couldn’t miss them that much, could
he?

She didn’t know what to think. She wanted to
howl and scream in frustration and anger and hurt. Oh God, the
pain, crowding her heart, squeezing her, as though her heart were a
grape that had gone through the winepress.

It was only when her breath hitched in her
throat that she realized she was crying, great, wracking sobs that
shook her whole frame. “Sue, what am I going to do? I can’t lose
him, I
can’t
lose him…I love him, I love him…”

In the end, Sue didn’t have any advice
except to confront him and nip the affair in the bud while it was
early. Her theory was that part of the thrill in an extramarital
affair was the element of the forbidden and the challenge to outwit
the spouse, to keep the spouse from discovering the affair while
satisfying the “sweet tooth” with another for as long as
possible.

Carly didn’t know what to think about Sue’s
theory, but she did agree on the matter of having it out with her
husband. The only thing stopping her was, how exactly did one go
about it? Every time she opened her mouth, nothing came out. She
didn’t know where to start. Part of the reason was the new
awkwardness between her and Derek, an awkwardness that hadn’t been
there even during their courtship period. And perhaps, she was
afraid. At least, right now, Derek still came home to her. When his
secret was out, would he forsake the other woman? Or would he leave
Carly?

She was afraid she might not like the
answer. That, more than anything, stayed her mouth.

But no more. After tonight, after the dinner
with his cousins, she’d tackle him about his affair. Or perhaps,
she’d do it over dinner—no, that would tacky.
Right after
dinner, then, so
she’d have witnesses. See if he could lie to boyhood friends,
cousins who’d grown up with him, sheltered him, treated him like a
brother and given him a family when he was abandoned by his
mother.

She dished up the last of the spaghetti into
the serving bowl. She wasn’t that much of a great cook, but Derek
and his cousins were good all-American boys, and the last time
she’d served them spaghetti and fried chicken, they’d dug into the
meal with gusto. She figured she couldn’t go wrong with serving up
the same menu.

Oops, Derek had said salad. She snorted. How
could such big men be full with a few leaves? They need carbs and
protein. Even if she and Derek were having problems, the least they
could do was feed their guests well.

“Oh, man,” Adam wailed when he saw her
coming out with the tray of food. “I thought you said salad?” He
shot Derek a look that said “traitor”.

Carly stopped midway to the table and aimed
Derek a look of her own. “You were serious?”

“The guys are on a diet,” he replied, his
eyes sliding away from her gaze to glance at each of his
cousins.

Seriously?
was her incredulous thought even as she
noted he was lying again. The realization weighed heavy on her. She
really needed to have that talk with him. No more delay, no matter
how it might hurt.

“Just for tonight,” Oliver assured her.
Rather hastily, she thought. “We all had a big lunch.”

“Very well. We can have the chicken and
salad then. It’ll take me a few minutes to toss one though.” She
turned to go back to the kitchen, the big bowl of mouthwatering (if
she may say so) spaghetti still in her hands. “I’ll just keep
this—”

“No, no.” Adam rescued the bowl from her and
placed it rather firmly on the table. Then he plunked himself down
on one of the seats. “I’m sure we can find room for a few strands.”
He gestured toward the empty seats. “Come, sit, everyone. I’m
hungry.”

Mystified, Carly let herself be persuaded,
and she sat at one end of the rectangular table with Adam and
Oliver on her left and right side respectively. Derek sat at the
other end, with Nathan on his left and Matthias on his right.

One thing did strike her as inconsistent and
she had no trouble expressing herself. Other women might be
tongue-tied in the presence of so much male beauty and virility,
but not her. Oh, she found Derek’s cousins attractive enough, with
the kind of masculinity that would turn any living woman’s head,
but she was in love with Derek and thus had eyes only for him.

“Hmm. How could you be hungry when you’re
full?” she asked Adam sweetly.

Adam choked on a mouthful of noodles.

“I think Adam meant—”

“Can’t Adam talk for himself?” she
interrupted Oliver in the same sweet tone.

Something was going on among the men, she
was sure of that. A funny vibe vibrated among them, and though they
were relaxed, she couldn’t help but sense that it was a touch
forced.

Adam chased down the food with some beer.
“Honey, I just meant that your food’s so delicious my
full
stomach couldn’t
help rumbling and I just had to have a bite. Or several.”

She grinned, appeased. Nothing was sexier
than a man who loved food. “All right. Help yourself to more.”

The conversation and the banter became
easier after that. Though she’d met Derek’s cousins only thrice,
they included her in the discussion as though they were all
long-time friends. The talk meandered from family and common
friends to politics to the latest movie.

She noted that though each of the men took a
small helping of spaghetti, Adam included, they did concentrate
their meals on the chicken. Perhaps there was some truth to Derek’s
word. Her heart lightened. Perhaps she couldn’t read Derek as well
as she thought after all, and that meant Derek might not be lying
that morning at the breakfast table.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that it
was a while before she registered a crawling sensation on her calf.
A mosquito? Or one of those big, red ants? She shuddered. No,
please.