Bruno glanced at her reflection in the crystal clear glass….leaning her shoulder against the door rame, her hands tucked inside the pockets of her floral dress. Then, he dropped his eyes slowly to peer at the clock. It was past nine pm.
Shit. Double Shit.
Reaching into her shoulder bag, Annie brought out a plate wrapped in foil. “BRUNO! Listen to me!” From behind him came the rustle of aluminium foil.
Bruno looked up as she tossed the ball in the direction of the wastebasket. He spun his chair around.
“Hell, if I’d have known it was gonna be like this De Luca…” Grimacing in exasperation, she headed his way like a locomotive, stomping right up to his desk, she slammed his dinner down in front of him. “There,” she huffed.
Bruno grabbed her arm and studied her for a moment. “Shit woman, I work damn fucking hard to make you happy and STILL it’s never enough!”
Annie shot him a pointed look as she shrugged his hand away, eyes like twin light sabres, she crossed her arms over her chest.
Bruno growled. “You want to know my idea of marriage? It’s a partnership. Where people help each other through hard spots. A little consideration would damn well be appreciated.”
Annie shrugged. “Whatever!” There was a clumsy pause as if she were almost challenging him to say something but Bruno set his jaw and said nothing.
Annie planted her hands on her hips. “Okay. Okay. You wanna talk about what’s right and wrong in a marriage? Huh? If you don’t think I didn’t just see you ogling that woman, you have me down for a fool….” She tutted, averting her eyes. “Distracted by a showgirl’s perky pair of tits. Too distracted to come home to me, too distracted to even see me come through the door!”
Bruno’s eyes popped wide. “Annie! I would never hurt you that way.”
“And don’t think I haven’t noticed the calls to our house, the letters in the post from other women,” she retorted.
Bruno swore. “I don’t tell them to call. I don’t tell them to write. They’re just obsessed with my celebrity, Annie.” He shook his head. “What do you expect? The media follows me like I’m half Robin Hood, half rock star. You think all that comes without attention. Hell no!”
Her eyes rolled exaggeratedly into the back of her skull. “Oh...Puh-lease,” she quipped. Closing her eyes, she allowed her emotions to settle. Then, taking a deep breath, she said, “I think you and I should talk when you get home.”
“There’s nothing to talk about, woman. I do my fucking job in this relationship!”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Annie glared at him. “You think you’re so hot now that you’re—”
“Watch your tone with me,” Bruno stopped her mid-speech and shook his head. He knew he wasn’t the terrible husband Annie made him out to be.
Meanwhile, his phone rang insistently, nearly buzzing off the desk. Growling, he snatched his phone and held it to his ear.
“Ohhhh!”Annie shouted. “You really are an insufferable asshole sometimes, Bruno! Get off your goddamn phone and talk to me!”
Slowly dropping the phone from his ear, Bruno stared at her for a moment. She’d never raised her voice to him before. And it sent a sensation he didn’t understand licking down his spine. He hung the phone up.
On the one hand, he hated this, this outrage on her part. On the other, nobody had the balls to say this kind of thing to him.
He eyed her as she stood there, statuesque. More than that girl-next-door kind of beautiful, her beauty wasn’t real easy to spot but when you saw it, you’d never forget. Inwardly, he smiled. She dressed more like a librarian than the vixen she was.
His cock twitched in his pants and he crossed his legs.
“That’s it, Bruno. If you don’t start listening to me, I’ll be out that door and I’ll never come back.”
Bruno stood up. “Annie, come here.”
“No! You’re gonna listen, shithead! Fire them! If you love me, fire them!”
Bruno licked his lips. “Who?”
“The women out there who lost their way looking for the pool. Get rid of them!”
“Baby, this is a Casino!”
“I don’t fucking care. This isn’t the fucking Vegas strip,” Annie snapped.
