Chapter 7

“I thought you were buying a new dress for tonight,” Harrison asked when Vera entered the library. He and his father sat on the leather chairs drinking scotch while waiting for Vera and Sonny to join them.

“You don’t like this one?” Vera asked, glancing down at her dress as she took a seat on the small sofa.

“I didn’t say that. I just thought you went shopping this afternoon.”

“What’s the point of buying last year’s fashions? If you would let me take a trip to New York…”

“That’s ridiculous,” Randall scoffed. “Perfectly good clothes in Coulson.”

“Where’s Sonny?” Vera chose to ignore her father-in-law.

“He should be down soon.” Harrison glanced at his watch. “Our reservation isn’t for another thirty minutes; we have plenty of time.”

“You haven’t told me—you two seem to delight in keeping me in the dark. When will Sonny be leaving? I was hoping he’d be here for the holidays.” Vera smoothed out imaginary wrinkles from her dress’ skirt.

“He’ll be here for your Halloween party, but don’t count on him for Thanksgiving or Christmas. He’s leaving right after the election,” Randall told her.

“I don’t know what the rush is,” Vera said.

Anthony Marino sat alone in his car, watching. This was the most fun he’d had in months. She proved to be an easy and eager target. He had expected more resistance, but all he had to do was apply minimal pressure and she folded.

Headlights from the estate caught his attention, making their way down the long drive. When they reached the street, he saw it wasn’t Vera’s car but a limousine. Curious, he started his engine and followed from a discrete distance. When the limousine pulled into the Roseville parking lot, he turned into the gas station across the street. From the distance, it looked as if four people got from the vehicle, aside from the chauffer. He was fairly certain one of them was his princess. Anthony smiled. Time to play, he told himself.

They were just looking at the menu when the waitress brought them a chilled bottle of expensive champagne, something they hadn’t ordered.

“It’s from a gentleman at the end of the bar,” the server explained, as she began to pour them each a glass. Wondering who their benefactor might be, they all turned toward the bar.

When Vera’s gaze set on the man who was the subject of their curiosity, she froze. It was Anthony Marino. Sitting arrogantly at the end of the bar, his dark eyes watched for her reaction. The moment her eyes met his, a sly smile formed on his full lips. He stood up and began walking in her direction.

“Do we know him?” Harrison asked under his breath. Randall said nothing but watched with interest. Sonny seemed oblivious to the approaching man as he sipped the champagne, unconcerned as to its origin.

“Excuse me for intruding,” Anthony said with gallant flourish, making a brief bow. For all appearances, he was the perfect gentleman.

Vera was speechless, and while she had no idea what he was about to say, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. There was something so—so—sexy about the man, in a very dangerous and forbidden way. She noticed his tailored suit immediately; it was not something he bought in Coulson. He might be brash, but the man knew how to dress.

All three Coulson men stood to greet Marino, and each accepted the hand offered when introductions were made.

“I’m Anthony Marino,” he said as he shook Randall’s hand, before moving to greet Vera’s husband.

“I’m Harrison Coulson; this is my wife, Vera, and our eldest son, Sonny. And my father, Randall. But I don’t quite understand the champagne.”

“Oh, please sit down, I only ask for a brief moment of your time,” Anthony said after he had shaken their hands. The three Coulson men sat back down.

“I just wanted to send over the champagne as a thank you to your dear wife for being so tolerant of my boorish behavior.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand.” Harrison frowned.

“I happened to meet your wife the other day at Clement Falls. All very innocent, I assure you. We struck up a friendly conversation at the market, and I’m afraid I flirted shamefully with her. She immediately set me straight, informed me she was a married woman. I was, of course, devastated at that news. Yet, now in retrospect, I imagine, I may have made her uncomfortable, and I wanted to apologize to her and to her husband.”

“Are you the man who flirted with my mother?” Sonny blurted out.

“Sonny!” Vera gasped, horrified. Her face flamed red. Anthony laughed.

“Ah, she told you then! Guilty. What I find difficult to believe is that she has a son your age. You look more like her younger brother.” He then turned to Harrison. “You are a very lucky man, sir.”

“Ah, you do love to flatter the ladies,” Randall said. “Here, sit down and join us for a glass of the champagne you sent over.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I don’t wish to intrude. Enjoy your dinner… and the champagne.” With a final bow, he returned to the bar.

“Randall, why did you invite him to sit down?” Vera asked.

“Does the man make you nervous?” Randall took a sip of his champagne.

“Well, we don’t know anything about him.”

“He’s apparently quite smitten with you.” Harrison grinned at Vera and then took a sip of the champagne.

Before Vera could respond, the waitress returned to the table to take their order. After she left, the conversation shifted from Anthony Marino to Sonny’s European tour. Vera avoided looking in Anthony’s direction. When she finally did, he was gone.

Vera found it difficult to focus on the evening’s conversation. After she finished her dinner, she excused herself to go to the restroom. Leaving the men at her table in a heated discussion, they barely noticed her exit.

Walking from the dining room into the hallway, she glanced at her watch. It was almost 10 p.m. As she walked past the doorway leading to the lounge, she noticed there were only a few customers. She wondered if the late hour was the reason for the lack of people in the dining room and lounge.

The women’s restroom was down a second hallway adjacent to the elevator. Once in the women’s bathroom she glanced under the stalls and didn’t see any feet. She was alone. She took the first stall, and when she was done a few minutes later, she went to the sink to wash her hands. Just as she finished drying her hands, she heard the door to the restroom open and then heard footsteps.

She glanced toward the door. To her surprise, it was Anthony Marino. Vera watched in stunned silence as he locked the door so no one could enter. He then flashed a smile and walked in her direction.

“What are you doing?” she demanded, turning to face him.

“I wanted to see you,” he said, his voice low.

She stepped back and her bottom hit the sink. “You can’t be in here.”

“I just wanted to say thank you.”

“Thank you?”

“You kept our secret.” He stopped walking and was a few feet from her.

Nervously, Vera smoothed the lines of her skirt. She glanced at the door and then back to Anthony. “I’m going to go now.” She tried to step around him but he blocked her way and grabbed her wrist. Her heart raced and she looked down at his hand as it held her in place.

“In a minute.”

“What do you want?”

“I want to reward you for keeping our secret. I want to give you something special.”

“I don’t understand,” she said nervously.

“Didn’t I let you go after I kissed you? Give me a few minutes, and I’ll let you go again.”

“You want to kiss me again?” She felt dizzy.

“Not exactly. Turn around.”

“What?”

“You heard what I said, turn around.” When she didn’t turn around fast enough to suit him, he reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders, and turned her to face the mirror. Confused, she glanced over her shoulder at him.

“I want you to look in the mirror. I want you to watch.”

“Watch what?” she asked, trembling. Instead of answering her, he stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tightly. She began to struggle but he held on tighter.

“Stop fighting or I’ll let you go and I’ll tell your husband how you kissed me—twice. How your tongue was down my throat. I wonder how your father-in-law will feel about that. And your son. What will he say when he learns his mother kisses strange men? I’ll be convincing. And by your expression tonight, I doubt you’ll be able to pull off a lie. And I won’t be lying; your tongue was down my throat.”

“What do you want from me?” Vera’s head spun.

“I told you, I want to reward you for keeping our secret. Just relax, and you can return to your table in just a few minutes. I don’t think this will take long.”

His arms felt like steel bands holding her in place. She stopped struggling and closed her eyes.

“No,” he whispered in her ear. “I want you to watch. Open your eyes.”

With her heart pounding and her stomach churning, Vera opened her eyes and looked into the mirror. He was standing behind her, pressing his body against hers. Much taller than she was, he looked into the mirror, their eyes meeting.

Very slowly, he moved one of his hands down to her thigh and slipped it under the hem of her skirt. She gasped.

“Shh,” he whispered into her ear. “This won’t take long, and it’ll feel good, I promise. Just relax.” His hand moved all the way under her skirt. Boldly, he slipped his hand into her panties.

Looking into the mirror she watched as her skirt hiked up. She could see her garter belt that held her nylons in place. He pulled her skirt up to her belly so he could see her panties.

“You’re wet,” he whispered into her ear, then nipped her earlobe.

Unable to move, she submitted to his touch. Expertly, his fingers played with her. Tugging her underwear down slightly, he could see the downy curls. He knew what stroke was needed, the precise amount of pressure to elicit the desired response. Anthony was right; it didn’t take long.

When he brought her body to the desired conclusion, he held his fingers in her, relishing the prize. Before releasing her, he looked down at the damp curls at the juncture of her thighs. Low on her belly, just below her panty line, was a heart shaped mole. His thumb moved over the mole as he nipped her neck. Finally, he moved his hand, straightened her underwear, and pulled the skirt of her dress back into place. Vera’s glazed eyes looked back at him.

“I’ll slip out the window; then you go back to your party.”

“You can’t go out the window. We’re on the third floor.”

“I have it covered. Don’t worry about me baby. I can’t wait to take your clothes off when you come to my room.”

“I can’t go to your motel.”

“Yes, you can.”

Anthony grabbed her one last time, gave her a rough yet quick kiss, and then let her go. He walked to the window on the far wall, opened it, and climbed out, leaving Vera alone in the women’s restroom.

Still dazed and confused, Vera walked to the window and looked out. The tree branches explained how he made it to the street.

On the way home from the restaurant, Vera was uncharacteristically quiet. Randall noticed a change in her demeanor after her visit to the restroom. Back at the house, the two Harrisons went upstairs, but Vera went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, while Randall went into the library.

Heading upstairs Vera passed the open library door.

“Vera,” Randall called out. Pausing for a moment in the hallway, she considered ignoring him but changed her mind. She walked into the library.

“Yes, Randall?” She stood near the doorway.

“That man is dangerous. Stay away from him.”

“Excuse me?” Vera couldn’t believe he was talking about Anthony Marino. He couldn’t possibly know!

“I saw how you two were looking at each other. If you have to take a lover, choose one you can control. You used to know how to do that.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she stammered.

“Yes you do. When you got my son to marry you, you were calling the shots. There’s too much at stake to get involved with someone like that.”

“Like I said, I don’t know what you’re talking about. However, you were the one who invited him to sit with us.”

“Yes, I did. You heard what I said. Stay away from him.”