“Oh, you like your bedroom better than this?” He angled a look at her.
“You should see—” she started to say before cutting herself short.
“Should I?” He raised a brow.
Gabby made a show of looking out the window and testing the sliding doors. “I like the deck, though.” She was not thinking about the deck, and Markus was boring a hole through her back with his gaze. She didn’t need to be a psychic to feel that.
More gruffly, he said, “There,” and made toward what must be Jasmine’s closet.
The term “closet” didn’t really reflect the room. Her closet wasthe size of a Blockbuster Video. After the party earlier, Gabby was going down an early aughts rabbit hole.
The back wall was nothing but designer clothes, racks of shoes that looked like they’d never been worn, and more bikinis than a person could wear in a year. There were framed photos of Jasmine’s modeling days, including one of her kneeling on the beach and making bedroom eyes into the camera with her arms crossed over her breasts. The frothy surf crashed over her shoulders.
Gabby said, “I feel like the ocean is cumming on her back in that one. Am I wrong?”
“No, I believe that was the artistic intent,” Markus said dryly.
“And if it’s a swimsuit ad, where’s the swimsuit?” Gabby asked.
“That one is for Inner Beauty’s new fragrance line.”
Gabby found Jasmine’s office in the form of a small desk tucked against the wall, between a display of purses and jewelry. At first glance, it looked like a makeup desk, but there were no brushes or powders to be seen. Tucked in a drawer, Gabby found some snapshots and a sleek Apple laptop.
She thumbed through the photos, mostly pictures of Genesis and Jasmine dressed up for various occasions. Then there were pics of her and some of the girls. Selfies of her and Naomi with smiles plastered across their faces. Then she found one of Naomi, Jasmine, and Amanda Duvall with the same big smiles. Amanda looked like Inner-G material.
“How about a USB?” she asked. “Do we have one?”
Markus searched his pockets. She saw him come up with a condom but no USB drive.
He saw that she’d seen. They locked eyes for a moment, neither saying anything. If it had been yesterday, they definitely would have made a joke or maybe made use of it.
Markus shoved it back in his pocket. “Let’s just take the whole laptop. We’ll return it later.”
After a cursory search of the premises for Sheridan’s phone, they were ready to skedaddle. Just as they were shutting the front door behind them, Genesis appeared, looking downtrodden.
“Hey,” he said, barely glancing up.
Gabby started stammering. “Oh, hi… We were just looking for you.” Which didn’t make any sense after she said it because they knew damn well that Genesis was at Together, the worst party that Inner-G had ever hosted.
He gave a nod, seemingly unconcerned that they were leaving his house. “Well, you found me.”
Gabby tucked the computer under her arm more tightly.
“Want a drink?” Genesis asked. With a heavy sigh, he said, “I know we’re a dry resort, but I need a drink.” Genesis looked ten years older than he had earlier that night.
Gabby and Markus exchanged a glance. She thought they came to a nonverbal agreement—definitely not staying.
Just as she said, “No,” he said, “Yes,” which about summarized their communication. With a shrug, she said, “Just one.”
Genesis opened the door for them and ushered them over to his bar. He poured two fingers of whiskey into highball glasses for each of them. “Together was a bust. Jasmine is off with the girls, not talking to me.” Genesis looked at Gabby. “I thought you might be with them.”
“Sorry, man,” Markus said, clapping him on the back. “Some nights are like that.”
“It feels like everything is falling apart.” He threw back the whiskey. “Did I tell you I was set to makePower Couple 2?”
“Really? That’s awesome.” Markus sounded truly happy for him.
G shook his head. “The finances are falling apart.”
