Book 2: Chapter 5
Tems POV
The drive back to their house was silent Tenn noted that Viki seemed shaken and was secretly enjoying her discomfort. When they got home, Viki murmured that she was going to bed.
“okay Night “Tenn went to the stairs to the basement, planning to send some more emails.
“You aren’t coming?”
“No, gonna work on a few things for tomorrow”
“You haven’t even okay’d any of this with me? She followed him down the stairs angrily
“Why would 17” Tenn looked up at his wife as he sat at his desk and woke up his computer
“Because I might have a problem with you working all those extra hours? And to suggest it for an entire year? What the hell was that?” Viki raised her
“Remember when I took issue with you going to the clubs almost every night? Or taking off for all those spiritual retreats every weekend? What did you tell me?” Tenn glared at her. “Get over myself, get used to it, and find something to keep me busy because you didn’t need my permission or for me to be okay with it. And I did for two years. I think I deserve the same courtesy, don’t you?”
“I don’t want you spending time with her” Viki shouted suddenly.
“Senously?” Tenn kept his voice quiet. “Why not?”
1
“I just don’t.” Viki crossed her arms and glared at him.
Thave two words for y
you:
David Grant.”
old you! Nothing happened with David She rolled her eyes.
“And nothing has happened with Quinn. We’re work colleagues, and we’re both married.“Tenn said patiently. “And I don’t appreciate you suggesting either o
of us would do something so underhanded, selfish, and hurtful to you and Joel”
Viki swallowed. “What makes you think she has the same standards?”
It was her idea to have me meet her husband and to meet you, so we keep everything open and transparent. But if she were to make a move on me, 1 would put a stop to it because cheaters are cowards, selfish, and cruel and deserve all the karma that comes back to them.” He pulled up his email and began going through his contacts, looking for people who would be good speakers. “That’s why there is a cheating clause in our prenup, remember?”
Viki stood there, mouth opening and closing, clearly struggling to come up with a response. “You’re trying to punish me for finding myself.
Tenn blew out a huge breath. “No. I supported you in trying to find yourself. Now, I’m asking you to support me while I do the first thing I’ve done for my own growth and enjoyment in three years.” He looked her over. “I thought you were sick?”
my!
Tam”
Then go sleep it off
“Come rub my back” She came over and tugged on his hand while she whined.
“Tilbe in soon” it took everything in him not to rip his hand away from her. Her phone chimed, and she backed off, read the text, and walked out of the room without saying anything else
Quinn’s POV
Quinn went back to the kitchen and started cleaning up. As she scraped Viki’s plate into the garbage, Joel came in and sat down at the island, watching her. “Are you feeling sick too?” Quinn raised her eyebrow as she picked up his mostly full plate and began to scrape it into a container for him “Usually you cant get enough of my spaghetti and meatballs, that’s why I made it.”
“Watching my wife openly fit with another man in my house right in front of me took away my appetite.”
Quinn looked up at him in surprise. “What do you mean? What part of that interaction said I was flirting?”
“You were smiling and happy
“Since when is smiling and happy flirting? Quinn snorted. She couldn’t believe they were having this conversation.
די!
“He was very comfortable in the kitchen. Are you sure he hasn’t been here before?”
“Considering I met him on Friday, yes. She rolled her eyes. 1 was surprised that you never mentioned Viki. What happened to Pota? the watched as discomfort crossed his face
her and her husband got back together, part of their agreement was to move back to her home state so he couldn’t have contact w
Woman”
“God, I cant believe she took him back Quinn shuddered. He got another woman pregnant!”
Joel shrugged. He made a mistake, she forgave him
“Oh, come on Joell Cheating is not a mistake, it’s a choice. He chose to fuck another woman, and then he chose to continue to do it for a year and hide it from her. He never would have told her either. It was only when the affair partner had to come clean about her clearly Middle Eastern baby to her WASP husband that he came clean Quinn rolled her eyes.
“Cheaters are the absolute worst people in the world” She continued as she put the leftovers in tubs and put them up in the freezer. “They don’t care about the hurt and pain they cause the people they promised to love and care for. All they care about is having their cake and eating it too” Quinn turned around and faced him, ready to drop the delightful bit of trivia she had found the night before on him “Did you know it’s still a felony to cheat on your spouse in Massachusetts? Punishable by up to three years in a state prison?” She leaned on the counter and met his eyes. 1 would never forgive you if you cheated. But unfortunately, that law is hardly ever enforced anymore, so you would only have to deal with me making it my mission to destroy your life” She smiled at him sweetly
Well That’s not something
the dealership. I’m going to bed.”
either of us needs to worry about” Joel swallowed, “You know, I’m actually not feeling great. Must be a bug going around
“Can i get you anything?” Quinn once again managed to fake some sympathy.
“No. 1 need to be down, maybe put on a movie.”
“Okay I’m gonna sleep in the guest room. I don’t want whatever you have.” Joel nodded.
Qunn waited until she heard the bedroom door shut and got her laptop. She logged into Joel’s iCloud account that she had set up for him when he switched to an iPhone years ago and was not surprised to see he hadn’t changed the password. She doubted he even remembered she could access everything. She quickly went into his messages and found his messages with Viki or a man named Victor, in which case they needed to have an entirely different discussion that would have the same outcome. She scrolled back to when the affair started and began to screenshot the conversation and save them to a folder.
As she read through, she saw that, in the beginning, he had told viki what a terrible wife she was, how she never cooked or cleaned, and they never sex. She refused to have babies with him- which wasn’t true, she had a genetic predisposition toward early menopause, and he had refused to try to kids in her limited window, Now she had less than a two percent chance of getting pregnant. She later found out he had gotten a vasectomy behind her back. She was also just a public school librarian, which got her back up. Librarians needed a degree or higher to work. He had dropped out of college to sell cars and had only been at Porsche Dealership for three months when she met him.
Viki hadn’t been innocent about what she said about Tenn. Complaining he was stuffy, uptight, and boring. He financially abused her as a stay–at–home wife, giving her a monthly allowance of only a thousand dollars. He also expected her to keep the house spotless and cook his supper for him. He had taken on another job at the Museum on weekends and was never home, and they didn’t share any interests.
Their first date was a Boston Bruins home game, and everything devolved from there. It became amusing when she got to the bottom of the screenshots as she watched texts By back and forth between them, and Viki accused him of lying about her.
“You said she had let herself go
“She’s been working out lately.”
“I thought she didn’t cook, and when she did, she burnt everything!
your cooking more. Baby come on, she’s not that great, or I wouldn’t want to be
“So I may have exaggerated that to make you feel better. I still like y with you”
Tern seems to think she’s that great.
“Do you think they know?
“No. She wouldn’t have invited you over if that was the case. It’s a coincidence. They run in the same circles.”
Tenn finds out, I’ll walk away with nothing, there’s a cheating clause in our prenup.”
“He wont. They haven’t figured anything out yet. He bought the story about your friend, didn’t he?”
“I think so. He’s been sleeping on the couch though”
“Good I don’t want him sleeping with you”
Block 2 Chapter 5
“Are you sleeping with
11 told you she hates sex and doesnt care about me not initiating Lister, I need to get some sleep see you tomorrow
Have you more
had to set
Qun took the last screenshot and sat there seething for a bit. There was no way he was ever going to leave her. The house was built it for her and didn’t want Joel anywhere near it. He might make more money per paycheck, but her income was steady car to get a commission, and he most definitely was not the top salesman, so he relied on her to fill his gaps, at the end of the year, what went on the tax forms as they made the same amount so he wouldn’t get alimony
She decided the best revenge was living well. She was just going to get started before she left his cheating ass the printed the screenshots and put them in a folder for Tenn, then called Folla
“Hey 0, what’s up?”
“Joel’s cheating”
I see you tomorrow morning”
“Thanks Ril”
Book 2: Chapter 6
Where
ere are you going?” Joel came out of the bedroom just as Quinn was grabbing the keys to her Porsche Cayenne. He had insisted she buy a Porsche when her Twelve year old Kia had died two years previously. She had to admit it was a lovely car, but he had been pissed when she went to a saleswoman the others had been bullying to go through with the sale. He didn’t know that she sent everyone who asked about her car to Trin
“Out with Billa We have a girls day planned, and then I’m meeting Tenn” She smiled, grabbed the bags she was taking with her, and blew him a kiss,
“Don’t wait up”
“What about dinner?” He asked, his eyebrows pulled down in confusion.
“Order a pizza” She shrugged and stepped outside. He quickly followed her
“You’re breaking the Sunday dinner rule”
“You were right. It was stupid.” She shrugged again as she unlocked the trunk and put the bags inside. She had started cooking Sunday dinner for them both when they got married, as Sunday was the one day they were guaranteed to have off together. When he had met Viki, he had started skipping them, and two weeks ago, he had walked in on her crying in bed When he asked what was wrong, she had unloaded on him, telling him she was
nerable and he clearly didn’t want to be married anymore, so they should divoren. He had begged for a chance to prove her wrong, and she told him he had to prove he wanted to be with her or get out. She refused to tell him how to prove it, saying they had been married long enough that he should know what he needed to do and refused to give him a timeline because it had to lie ongoing. If she felt he was slipping, she was out
“That’s not what I said?”
“You’re right. You said it was ridiculous for a grown man to have to be home for dinner.” She threw his words back at him and got in her car. “Congratulations, you were right “She closed the door and put down her window. It wasn’t right for me to expect my husband to spend a small part of the only day he knows for sure he has off with me. So go do whatever you want.” She pulled out of the driveway and waved cheerfully as she drove away
When she got to Rilla’s, she was greeted at the door and led down to her basement salon. She told nilla what had happened in her meeting with Tenn
and what they had decided to do
“So part of my plan is to suddenly give him lots of space, not complain about him disappearing for hours anymore while spending all kinds of time with Tenn, working on my project and looking fine as fuck while I’m doing it.”
“Well, let’s get started, shall we? Rilla grinned. “Are we sticking with the red?”
“Yeah, I think so, but let’s add some orange tones and make it look like fire.”
“Oooh. I like it.” Rilla started mixing the dye while Quinn told her about the dinner the night before and let her read the text exchange. “I can’t believe the guy you’ve been trying to get in touch with is the husband of the woman your husband is cheating with”
“Right? Small world.” Quinn snorted” was thinking I need some new clothes too”
“Are we going forties/fifties sexy? Because pinup Quinn is the hottest Quinn.” Billa grinned at her.
“Then we have to go with that: Quinn scrolled through her phone for a few minutes, “is Bishop around? i want to talk to him about a new tattoo.
Rita nodded, her grin growing as she walked to the bottom of the stairs: Joel hated tattoos. “Hey Bishop, come down.”
Quinn grinned as her tattoo artist and twin brother’s best friend entered the basement. “Hey Q” He smiled at her. “Rilla told me about Joel. We could knock him out and tattoo cheater” on his forehead.”
“Or tattoo me.” Quinn laughed
“What’d ya have in mind?” Quinn passed him her phone, which he studied for a few minutes.
“Obviously not that exactly, but something similar”
“Same placement?”
“Yeah, I like the way that looks.” Quinn smiled brightly.
“Give me a few nutes. We should be able to get it done while your hair sets.” He stood up and stretched before striding back up the stairs and into his genome studio he had for tattooing friends.
“So what does the other woman look like?” fulla asked curiously as she finished putting the fail in Quinn’s long hair
“She’s pretty” Quinn admitted Long blonde curls, icy blue eyes. Tall and slender, nice body, definitely Joel’s type”
“I can’t believe he said you let yourself go. What a fucking prick. You got better”
“Yeah, that pissed me off. Apparently, he preferred me more when I was
as skin and bones.” Quinn studied her hands She had battled with anorexis
Pook 2 Chapter &
since she was twelve. Quill, Rills, and Bishop had been the ones to step in after the last two relapses.
“Hey Rillacaptured Quinn’s chin and lifted her head so she was looking into her eyes. “Everyone else prefers curvy, sexy pinup Quinn, Right Bish?”
Abso–fucking–lutely “Bishop jumped down the last few stairs and handed her the sketch of her tattoo for approval. “You know the offer to rejoin us is always on the table. We’d worship you like the goddess you are.” Rilla nodded eagerly next to him.
“One hundred percent.” Rilla winked
“Aw, thanks you guys, but it didn’t work before, remember? We discovered how very monogamous I am” Quinn laughed. She had gotten jealous of Bishop with Rilla, and of falla with Bishop, it was very confusing for her. They had been wonderful about it and insisted it could be worked on, but Quinn did not share well. And I’m an attention whore in the sack
“That’s true” alla grinned. “Who would have thought the twin would have problems with sharing?”
1 had to share everything with him!” Quinn protested as she laughed. “I like having things that are just mine.”
“Speaking of Quill have you told him yet?” Bishop nudged her shoulder and pointed at the drawing.
“I don’t want him to go to prison for murder one, so no.” Quinn smiled in delight as she looked at the sketch of the sun, moon, and stars. “This is perfect Bishop!”
Tgo make the stencil, and Quill is on his way over.” He ducked out of the room quickly. Quinn sighed. They all went to university together. Rilla and Quinn were best friends, Bishop and Quill were best friends, and she and Quill had become inseparable after they reconnected, so they all hung out together all the time. They were all Art Majors but had gone in different directions with their pursuits. Bishop was an award–winning tattoo artist with a very expensive and popular shop in downtown Boston. Rilla was a hairdresser and nail technician who had just left the high–end salon she worked at over differences with the new manager. Quinn had gotten her a job at the Library to tie her over until she figured out where she wanted to go. Quill had gone into architecture and excelled, winning multiple awards. Quinn had always been interested in the history of art and the various mediums. She had a few art shows, three showcasing her paintings, and was now working on a show for photography.
“Come on, or your hair will be done before your tattoo” Rilla took her hand and led her upstairs. Quinn pulled her arm out of her shirt collar and pulled her bra strap out of the way so Bishop could put the stencil on her shoulder,
“When’s Quill gonna get here?”
About two minutes ago.” Quinn looked up as her tall, muscular brother walked into the garage. Everything about Quill Turner was precise, from his neat close–cropped beard to his tousled light brown waves of hair that just touched his shoulders and matched her natural hair colour, to the jeans and t–shirt that fit him perfectly. His eyes, the same shade of green as hers, were studying her face anxiously. “Are you okay?”
“What do you know?” Quinn narrowed her eyes at him.
“That y
you’re getting your hair dyed and a new tattoo, so something’s up?” He raised his eyebrow as he smiled at her.
“Joel’s cheating on me with the new receptionist at the dealership.”
“Excuse me.“Quill
I turned to leave the room.
“Quill, stop, please” Quinn chuckled. “Killing him won’t fix it”
“I’ll make me feel better Quill rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. It’s been a while since I had to defend my sister’s honour, but I’m up to it” Quinn laughed “Come hold my hand, and I’ll tell you what’s going on and my plan.” Quill pulled up a chair and took her hand, letting her squeeze when Bishop ran the needles over her collarbone. When Quinn finished, he sat back
“So basically, you’re gonna make them think you and Tenn are cheating on them with each other and rub their noses in it.
“Exactly” Quinn nodded. “Then when they lose their shit, well hand them the proof and kick ‘em to the curb.”
like the revenge idea.” Quill nodded. “How are you doing otherwise?”
“Fine“Quinn fought the urge to roll her eyes. “I ate a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs last night. And i ate breakfast on my way here.”
“Good” Quill let her hand go as Bishop finished the tattoo, cleaned it, and covered it so it wouldn’t get infected. Quinn followed Rills from the room to get her hair rinsed. When she was done, Quill came down and handed her his credit card. “New clothes are on me. He turned and left before she could protest
He tows me so well “Quinn chuckled.
Pretty sure thats because y
you guys practically share a brain” illa grinned.
“Haha, Very funny Come on, let’s go shopping
