Open Door Marriage (23 page)

Chapter 24

Monday, December 24
—
7:07 p.m.

“
Dallas!
”
Tori shrieked and it tore him from his spot in the loft and he hurried down the spiral staircase and into the living room.

Tori and Alicia were both standing in the center of the living room, staring at the wide-screen television.
The real estate listings of Alicia
’
s final house selections slipped from her fingers and landed on the floor.

Dallas followed their line of vision.

Bernice Mitchell primped a little while the cameras panned first to the host, and then a wider shot of the studio and Los Angeles cityscape background itself.

Dallas was riveted to the screen when the words,
NBA Star
’
s Secret Life.
flashed across.

The host crossed one leg over the other, causing her already short skirt to expose even more of her thighs.
“
So you
’
re the mother-in-law to be and the sister-in-law to the aunt?
”

“
Yes, I am,
”
Bernice
replied
.
“
I
’
m here to tell it all. The man is having a threesome with relatives.
”

The shocked gasp of the tow-headed host was more fake than the weave slapped on her head.

“
Dallas Avery is known for his charity work, and funding start-up businesses,
”
the host said, looking directly into the camera.
“
We
’
ve only heard a few details of his love life until Tori Mitchell came on the scene. You know, those unfortunate court cases were just a mess.
”
The host looked back at her guest.
“
We
’
d love to hear everything. A Threesome. An aunt and a niece.
”
She gave Bernice
’
s thigh a reassuring pat.
“
Give us all the dirt, honey.
”

Bernice leaned in as though she and the woman were old friends.
“
Well, it was Thanksgiving …
”

“
Uh huh.
”

“
And he was coming to meet the rest of Tori
’
s family.
”

The host looked at the audience and said,
“
Looks like one family member checked him out more than everyone else.
”

“
Oh, yes,
”
Bernice gushed.
“
She sure did. I caught him in bed with my brother
’
s sister right before Thanksgiving dinner.
”

“
Well, that could be a major problem. Doesn
’
t your daughter have this big wedding coming up?
”

“
Sure does, and I was planning the whole thing.
”
Bernice nodded, looking more like a puppet.
“
But you know what he did?
”

The host leaned in.
“
What?
”

“
They moved that man-stealing cougar in with them.
”

Tori gasped, and inched away from the two standing next to her, mumbling,
“
She said she wouldn
’
t say anything.
”

Dallas did a 180.
“
You
’
ve been talking to her?
”
he demanded, then caught up with her before she could make it out of the room. He whirled her around to face him.
“
You
’
ve still been telling her what
’
s going on in
my
house?
”

She tried to shake off his hands.
“
It may have slipped out that Alicia was living here.
”

“
Slipped out!
”
he roared.
“
Tori, I swear to God you can be dense sometimes. You
’
re the one who said you didn
’
t want people to know and you told your mother?
”

“
Don
’
t snap at me,
”
Tori shot back, trying to free herself from his grasp.
“
We wouldn
’
t be in this situation if you hadn
’
t let your dick do all the talking.
”

Dallas put an instant three feet between.
“
Yes, all my fault. Got it. Again. You
’
re still here
—
because somehow I twisted your arm. Got it. Again. And let
’
s not forget one major issue that started it all was you telling too many people my business in the first place. What part of that did you not get?
Again
.
”

“
Dallas
—
”

“
I don
’
t even want to hear it,
”
he said, waving her off. He scooped up his cell from the coffee table and dialed up his publicist, who finally answered on the third ring.
“
Y
’
all watching this?
”

“
Yep,
”
Liz answered.
“
The entire staff is in the boardroom taking it all in.
”

“
And y
’
all didn
’
t have a handle on this?
”
he demanded.

“
Hell, we didn
’
t know this was coming,
”
she protested.
“
They contacted us about a doing an interview with
Backstage Pass
, but we know you don
’
t do rag mags or gossip shows.
”

“
And you didn
’
t think to mention it when we talked the other day?
”

“
They didn
’
t say anything about this Bernice person, who is making up these kind of stories,
”
she protested, then paused.
“
She
is
making all of this up?
”

“
A little truth thrown in with a whole lot of lies,
”
he replied.

“
And that
’
s all it takes,
”
Liz said dryly.
“
I
’
ll get our legal team on this.
”

Dallas tossed his cell onto the sofa and went back to stand between the two women.
Finalizing house choices was going to take a backseat to getting a handle on this today.

“
You should
’
ve listened to me,
”
Tori said, folding her arms over her bosom.
“
We should
’
ve paid her the money.
”

“
We? You
’
ve been paying her enough!
”
Dallas yelled.
“
By the way, where
’
s your American Express Card, Tori?
”

She quickly looked away.

“
See, that
’
s what I mean. You gave her access to more than enough money, and it still wasn
’
t enough,
”
Dallas growled.
“
You feed a starving hound, they
’
ll keep coming back to the same bowl. Again and again. This right here,
”
he said, gesturing to the screen,
“
was bound to happen. Giving her that million or not.
”

“
You don
’
t know that,
”
Tori snapped.

“
Oh, but I do. Didn
’
t you say that she ripped into your college fund?
”

“
Well, the family needed it,
”
Tori protested.

Alicia laughed and it caused both of them to look her way.
“
James didn
’
t need a damn thing until your mother lost her mind. What did she need twelve damn furs for? It
’
s never that cold in Chicago. Three cars? Really?
”
Alicia said.
“
The woman has two-hundred pairs of shoes.
”

“
So she
’
s stylish,
”
Tori protested weakly, then shook her head as if she knew how dumb that sounded.

“
Be honest, Tori,
”
Alicia said.
“
She
’
s always been stupid when it comes to doing what it takes to keep an address and some food in her belly, but she certainly knows her way around the bedroom.
”

“
Well, she isn
’
t the only one,
”
Tori taunted, smirking.
“
I mean, knowing their way around a bedroom.
”

“
That might be true,
”
Alicia shot back.
“
but I don
’
t need my husband
—
or in your case, fiancé
—
to keep rescuing my ass from financial messes I made.
”
Tori froze, but Alicia kept going.
“
How long did you think he
’
d keep doing that?
He had to get tired sooner or later.
”

Alicia was more right than she knew. Dallas had grown tired of relatives and family friends who were continually hitting him up for cash that they thought fell from some orchard of money trees growing in his backyard.

Some of them kept their hands outstretched in spite of the fact that Dallas had given them each a one-time cash distribution when he came into his good fortune. The smarter ones
—
mostly the women
—
used it to partner up with Dallas and open up businesses that ranged from bakeries to boutiques and foundations
to
social agencies. Dallas had received more than a return on his initial investment from them, even expanding some of the businesses for a greater return.

The fellas, on the other hand, thought he was kidding about that one-time rule. They squandered theirs away, then put themselves in line for another hand-out.

So now there were two dinners during the holidays
—
the early one where Dallas could enjoy his time with his parents and sister, and a second one that Dallas rarely attended because he didn
’
t want to insult everyone by leaving when someone pissed him off, which they frequently did.

And since Dallas kept his business to himself, there were no tabloid stories for his family to sell.

Somehow, Tori
’
s mother didn
’
t get that memo. She was all in for serving up anything that could turn a quick buck. The woman should have been a hooker instead of a wife
—
she would
’
ve made a mint with the way she liked to screw people over.

“
Say what you want about what I did,
”
Alicia said after a few moments.
“
You can
’
t say anything about that fact that I bailed your parents out of a tight spot. And that didn
’
t have anything to do with Dallas, that came from having basic common sense in knowing that a woman has to have four things to survive: An address, food, clothing, and a way to keep bringing in income.

“
Your mama thinks it
’
s a man, fancy clothes, and material things—and not exactly in that order. And I
’
m beginning to think you
’
re a hell of a lot more like her than you think.
”