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OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL hours, we lost Lisa and Tank to the undeniable heat of desire that had been building between them for most of the night. Clearly, they left early to go home to farm better pastures in their bedroom—and good for them. Ben Cade—a surveillance expert—had his own surveillance team on site, so we were fine to let Tank go.
May they have a wonderful time...
We also lost Epifania to Rudman Cross, who seemed consumed by her every time I caught a glimpse of him holding her close to him at the bar.
May they become a couple some day soon...
And so, in their absence, and wanting to fully support Kate and Ben in their efforts to support Michael’s memory, Alex and I decided to stay. With fresh martinis in hand, we moved through the crowd, greeting and speaking with friends we hadn’t seen in days, weeks, or months—including Countess Castellani, her blind husband Count Luftwick, and our great friend Henri Dufort, who was speaking with them as we approached.
As usual, the countess was dominating the conversation. Since I knew that she was a bit off, I placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder and stopped him cold so we could eavesdrop on what she was saying before we were seen.
“No, Henri,” I heard her say. “You don’t understand. We are still building the house in San Miguel de Allende.”
“The house we talked about a year ago?” Henri asked.
“Yes—that house! I know it’s difficult to believe, but it’s true. We are now three years into the building of it, and my stress is running so high, I’m actually considering the use of medicinal marijuana in an effort to reconnect with who I used to be before this nightmare began.”
“You’re considering what?” Henri said.
“You heard me—a prescription for marijuana. But only to calm my nerves. It was my doctor—you remember, the esteemed Dr. Manhub Al Shammari—who suggested it to me.”
“Isn’t he the man who convinced you to eat exotic bugs and mushrooms?”
“That would be him.”
“Are you still eating them?”
“The bugs, not the mushrooms. The mushrooms didn’t do a thing for me. But the bugs? The bugs have an undercurrent of power. But don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not as if I’m eating cockroaches, for God’s sake. These are very exclusive, rare, and expensive bugs flown in from the Amazon. Some of them are so huge, I need to use a fork and a steak knife just to cut through them. To assist in that effort, I sometimes have my cook peel them like shrimp before I pop them into my mouth. They’re perfectly suitable with a dipping sauce.”
“What are they supposed to do for you?”
“Calm my nerves. But since I clearly need something else, we’re now thinking about the marijuana. Imagine,” she said. “Me rolling and lighting up a joint! Oh, the cards that life deals us! But what choice do I have? The way this house is going, the Count and I will be dead—dead!—before we even step foot inside of it. And worse, I can’t even begin to have it properly decorated. My darling Sebastian, who does all of our houses, is at his wits’ end with me. He wants to get into this house, but I won’t have it until it’s finished. The lot of it is so tragic, I need another glass of champagne.”
“That will be your seventh,” Count Luftwick said. “You know I can’t see shit, Countess, but I’ve heard you tossing them back all evening long. Clink, clink, clink. Glug, glug, glug. And after listening to you for the past ten minutes, I’m sorry to say that it’s beginning to show.”
“I still want another.”
“Here’s one for you,” I heard Henri say as he swept a fluted glass off a passing server’s tray. “It must be difficult to continue on with your stories if your throat is parched.”
“Oh,” she said, pressing a hand to her breast. “Have I been talking too much?”
“Are you fucking kidding?” the Count said.
The Countess pointedly ignored him. “Because I don’t mean to be. It’s just you, Henri. I always feel as if you and I connect in ways that the Count and I no longer do.”
“She’s all yours, Henri,” Count Luftwick said. “I don’t know what the old girl looks like these days and I really don’t care, but she’s yours for the asking. So, please—just ask.”
“You’re a horrible man,” the Countess said.
“We should help Henri out,” I said.
“Agreed,” Alex said. “Let’s make ourselves known.”
“Hello!” I said to them as we appeared through the crowd.
“Who in the hell is that?” the Count said.
“It’s Jennifer and Alex Wenn, Count Luftwick,” I said. “We thought we’d come over to say hello.”
“Well, I’m glad that you did, Jennifer, because I’ve always liked you. I have no idea what the hell you look like, but I’ve heard rumors that you’re gorgeous, and I have a feeling that tonight you’re one of the room’s stars. Give me a hug.”
I gave him a quick hug and a kiss on each cheek.
“You smell incredible,” he said. “It reminds me of the old days, when the Countess used to smell good. Now, she smells like an antique chair that’s been locked away in an attic and covered by a dusty sheet.”
Oh, dear...
“Hello, Henri,” Alex deftly interjected before the Countess could respond to that.
“Alex,” he said as the two men shook hands. “Great to see you.”
“And Countess Castellani and Count Luftwick,” Alex said. “It’s always a pleasure.”
“It is,” I said to the Countess, who was a tall reed of a woman with dark hair pulled back so tightly that it assisted her facelift. She was wearing a chic black evening gown and enough jewelry to give most of the women in the room a run for their rubies. “I just love your dress,” I said. “It’s beautiful.”
“Vintage Dior,” she said. “Cost the Count a fortune, which always makes me smile. How I love holding his checkbook ransom. It thrills me to keep taking notches out of it. But I digress—how are you two? We haven’t seen you since your jungle nightmare and naturally we were concerned.”
“We’re fine,” Alex said. “All of that is behind us.”
“And so it is,” she said as she turned to look at me. “Jennifer, I’m so sorry about the loss of your child...”
The sting I felt was real, but so was her sentiment. I could see it on her face, and so I absorbed the memory of my loss and nodded at her with a grim smile.
“I appreciate that, Countess.”
“Will you try again?”
“Yes. Of course we will.”
“Well, bonne chance, I say. Because both of you deserve it.”
And when she said that, I almost wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. She was being genuine—I could hear it in her voice. She felt for our loss. Who knew that she even had it in her?
“Imagine the bugs you could have eaten on that island,” the Count said with a smirk to his wife. “I bet there were plenty of them to feast on there...”
“Where?” the Countess said.
“On the island Jennifer and Alex were stranded on. Where else?” He held up a finger. “You know, I should just ship you there for a few weeks. Consider it an all you can eat buffet, my dear. And, look, it’s highly probable that even pot grows there. You could just munch and puff all of your anxieties away.”
“You’re a horrible man.”
“Anyway,” I said to each of them. “There are still so many people to see. Alex and I just wanted to stop by and say hello. We’re glad to see all of you looking so well.”
When I said that, I locked eyes with Henri, who knew what I was doing—getting out of this while we could. He gave me a subtle wink and said, “Glad you both dropped by. Let’s have dinner soon. Shall we? Just the three of us?”
“Name the place and time, and we’ll be there, Henri,” Alex said.
“Then expect a call from me this week.”
* * *
“WE SHOULD LEAVE,” I said after we’d said hello and spoken to a whole host of other people. “It’s late, and it appears as if others are leaving. I think it’s safe to say that the party’s over.”
“Back to real life?” Alex said.
“If real life means you taking me in our bedroom, then I can’t get back to real life soon enough.”
“Time to go!” he said with a laugh. “Let’s say goodbye to Kate and Ben, and then let’s get out of here.”
After saying goodnight to our hosts and promising them that dinner had to happen soon, Alex texted Cutter to pick us up and we walked out of the Stone Foundation—and into the bare, broad, open air.
