I raise my near empty glass. “Going out on the terrace to smoke a bit. I’ll be back.”
She grabs my wrist. “You okay? We can leave.”
I lean down and plant a kiss on the top of her head. “Never better. Just need a smoke.”
Out on the terrace, I jerk my tie loose and unfasten the top button. Between that and the fresh air, I’m able to take my first full breath of the night. I close my eyes and suck in the smell of the mountains and sea. It’s beautiful here, not gonna lie. I could see Cam and me vacationing here, lying out on our own private terrace making love under the sunshine. I pull the cigar out of my inner breast pocket, bite off the end, and pat my pockets for a lighter.
A flame appears in front of my face.
“Thanks,” I take a few deep draws until the tobacco is lit. “Tucker Justice,” I introduce myself.
My new friend ignites his own cigarette before pocketing the brass lighter. “Crowd getting to you?”
“Just enjoying the scenery,” I lie.
“My wife’s an extrovert. Her battery gets charged by being around other people. It sucks because for the most part I can’t stand others. For her sake, though, I strap my balls tight and endure.” He taps the cigarette off the edge of the stone balustrade.
“You have to endure often?” I ask this unknown man. He’s dressed much like me. Black suit, black shoes. His shirt is white while mine is black.
“About once a month.”
I grimace.
He snorts. “Yeah, seems like a lot, but marriage is give and take, you know? She does shit I like. Learned to play golf for me.” He pauses, takes a drag, then snorts again. “Well, she tried. Now she just drives the cart and looks pretty in her little golf skirt.”
I’m not much of a golfer, but Cam knows how to ride a horse. I stare at the crowd inside the terrace doors and wonder how I could manage to attend something like this once a month, even if it meant thirty other days where Cam would spend riding around the ranch with me. As much as I’d hate it, there isn’t anything I won’t endure to have her.
“Sounds like you’ve got it all worked out.”
“Yeah. I thought so.”
“Thought?”
“Apparently once a month is too little.” He points indoors. “See the pretty one in the red dress? No, not that one. The one with the sequins.”
I spy a blonde wearing a dress that shows almost more skin than a bathing suit. “You’re a better man than me. If my woman was wearing that, I’d be glued to her side.”
“She’s prowling,” he informs me, and the bitterness in his voice is striking. “Like I said, once a month wasn’t enough for her. She served me with divorce papers and now she’s looking for the perfect man to keep her company at all these parties. Said that I cramped her style and made her feel embarrassed when she would show up at events without me.” He drops his cigarette and grinds the butt out with the heel of his shoe. “She said I should be grateful that she was up front with me instead of cheating on me behind my back.”
“That’s something.”
The man winks. “Good thing she has a sister. I plan to fuck the sister tonight in my wife’s bed. She’ll think twice about doing this shit to another man.”
“Eye for an eye,” I murmur, not saying the second part out loud.
He does it for me. “The whole world turns blind? Yeah, but fuck it. Might as well get my jabs in now. If your woman isn’t a good match for you, I’d cut my losses early. No point in turning your life into a war zone like I’m about to.” He throws open the terrace doors and strides in, about to throw a bomb into some family’s life.
Cam peeks out. “Making new friends?”
I point the cigar toward the man’s back. “Do you know him?”
“That’s Edgar Frank. He’s a famous playwright. Last year, he married Glorianna Costatelli.”
“The actress from Dead Friends?” The woman played a psychopath that befriended lonely suburban moms and then killed them in various gruesome ways.
“Yep. That’s her.”
“She has a sister?”
“Yes. A younger woman. Maria just turned eighteen a few months ago. I went to the birthday party in Cannes.”
I drag a hand down my face. If I share what I heard with Cam, she’s going to interfere. It’s really none of my business.
“Tell me,” Cam urges. She can read my mind, I guess.
I sigh. “Edgar says he’s going to fuck Maria because Glorianna wants a divorce.”
“Oh my God! We have to stop them.” She twirls around to run inside.
I catch her before she clears the doors. “Do we really? It’s not our family or our problem.”
“Tucker! We have to do something. Glorianna is a nice woman, and her sister just turned eighteen.”