“Edie,” he’d said when she’d called, and she could hear the relief in his voice. “I was beginning to wonder if you were alive.”
“Why do you care?” she’d shot back. “Isn’t Linda keepingyou warm at night?” That was the other thing about their marriage—Edie had always found it hard to let go of her anger. It was another part of their ritual—she needed to punch and punch and punch until she got it all out of her system. She needed him to grovel.
“It’s over with Linda,” Simon said immediately. “I don’t know what got into me—”
“You’re a cheating, lying dick, that’s what. You don’t deserve to lick the bottom of my shoe.”
“I know. I—”
“I hate you, Simon. I don’t want to see your bloated face or ever hear your whiny voice again.”
“I’m so sorry, Edie,” he said, sounding almost tearful. “I swear to you, this is it. I will never be unfaithful again. It’s not even that, it’s just this sick compulsion I have. They never mean nothing to me. Linda is the last one, I swear it.”
“Until the next one comes along, you mean.”
“No, no, I swear to you, I swear on the lives of our children, I will never do this again. I miss you so much, darling. I want you to come home.Pleasecome home. We can work this out. Ineedyou.”
Edie hated herself because she let him back in. She wasn’t stupid enough to believe him, and she knew they would be here again until some STD rotted his dick. But she could not stop loving him. She had tried, and she could never stop. And he, for whatever reason, even knowing fully who she was, loved her. Their marriage was complicated before that was even a box to tick. It was dark and twisted … but it worked for them. They’d been together for years, had four beautiful children.
She knew they’d be together still. And she hated herself for it.
But she wondered if he would still love her if he ever learned what she did to their granddaughter. And that was perhaps the truly sick thing—she knew he probably would.
Edie stood outside the bar, her back against the wall, listening. She and Marcy did not speak. The only sound was Rocco’s constant snoring.
Marcy suddenly spoke. “Thank God, you’re back.”
“Give it fifteen minutes,” Irene said. “Then get out.”
Edie heard the door close. “I’ll see you back at the house,” Edie said calmly.
Marcy did not respond.
Thirty-four
The room felt charged with a high volt of electricity when they reconvened, everyone a collection of frayed nerves and adrenaline. Frances’s new meds weren’t working like she’d hoped, and she’d ended up taking a higher dosage of the steroid than prescribed. Now she felt ready to fight. Physically. Like in a ring, just box the shit out of someone or something. Except Joan—she’d watched Joan practice her kung fu, and that woman looked lethal.
“We did it,” Joan said excitedly. “The switch has been made and Prince Charming is snoring away on his couch.”
“How long before Boy Genius figures out his badge doesn’t work?” Irene asked.
“He doesn’t need it to get to the penthouse,” Joan said. “The guards let him up. Just the vault, I think. What’s his plan for tomorrow?”
“I just happen to have the latest communiqué between security and ownership,” Irene said, opening her laptop. “They still plan to transfer the casino to crypto at midnight. The money move will happen after that,” Irene said. “Mark’s calendar is blank.” She looked at Marcy. “What do you know?”
“I don’t … I don’t know,” Marcy said. She seemed tired. Confused, even. She pinched the bridge of her nose. “We didn’t really talk about tomorrow, other than some sort of celebration at the Nest tomorrow night.”
Frances was on pins and needles, and staring at the mopey face of Marcy, she felt all her steroid rage directed at her. “It would have been helpful if you’d asked.”
Her snippy tone caught everyone by surprise. Edie looked murderous.
“What?” Marcy asked dumbly.
“‘What?’” Frances mimicked. “You pushed yourself into this group, even after we told you to go away. You got your wish, so stop moping around and step up and get the information we need.”
“Hey,” Joan said softly.
Frances looked around at their confused expressions. Was she wrong? She didn’t think so.
