My butler, Bernard, is waiting for me. “Ms. Flanning, may I get you anything before you retire?”
“No, thank you. Actually, do you know if Ariela is still awake?”
“She had a rough day. I just took her down a pint of ice cream.”
“I think I’ll have one of those too. I’m going to change.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I throw on a cashmere loungewear set, grab my ice cream, and walk down to the guest house.
Ariela answers with spoon in hand.
“Rough day, I heard?”
“Yeah, dealing with my ex. I’m emotionally drained.”
“What happened?”
“We talked on the phone tonight. I told him I’m filing for a divorce. He freaked out and hung up. Then he called me back, crying. Making promises he won’t keep. Begging me not to tell my parents. That we’ll work it out. That I just need to come home. Hung up again, then called back. That happened about ten times.”
“Typical,” I say. “Wait, why is he so worried about your parents?”
“He’s about to become a partner in my dad’s firm.” She tilts her head at me. “Do you think that’s the real reason why he’s so upset? He’s more worried about the partnership than our relationship?”
“I don’t know him,” I say, carefully. “What do you think?”
“I think . . .” She takes a bite of ice cream, lets it melt in her mouth, and then says. “I think he might be.”
“There’s one way to find out,” I tell her.
“How?”
“Has he been seeing the secretary while you’ve been gone?”
She sits up straighter. “He said he’d never see her again. But . . . I bet you anything he still is.”
“I happen to know a private detective. He’s very good at getting photos of asshole husbands and their mistresses. Those photos are often quite helpful in divorce proceedings.”
“So everyone can see them?”
“Well, depending on the man, sometimes that isn’t necessary. Sometimes it just helps them realize that you’re on to their bullshit game and aren’t going to stand for it. And, for a man, particularly one who is married to the boss’s daughter, I would think that would mean you would have him by the balls.”
“I just want out.”
“I’ll call first thing in the morning and put the two of you in touch. He’ll need a lot of information. Where he works, the girl’s name, things like that.”
“Okay. Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“Anything happening on the Riley front?”
“No. There was an article in the paper about him and that actress from the party. Apparently, they’re an item.”
“Don’t believe everything you read, Ariela. This town is built on gossip and rumors.”
“Just up your alley. How was work? Are you just getting home?”
I roll my eyes. “Yes. Keatyn hired Riley’s brother to work for the company and asked me to help him get acquainted with their projects.”
“Ohhh, which brother?”
“Dawson.”
“I have to admit, I had a bit of a crush on Dawson when I was younger. All the girls at Eastbrooke crushed on the Johnson brothers.”
“How many are there?”
“Four. Camden is the oldest. He was a senior when I was a sophomore. He had partying down to an art form and a body that girls swooned over. Dawson was next. He was a junior. Riley, who’s a year younger than Dawson, got kicked out of school his Freshman year, got sent to military school, and came back our junior year looking like a man. That’s when we started dating. And their younger brother, Braxton, is three years younger than Riley.”
“Tell me more about Dawson.”
“Well, he dated a girl named Whitney for most of high school. They broke up the end of their junior year. He looked even hotter when he came back for his senior year. Had spent the summer doing what Johnson boys do.”
“And what’s that?”
“Partying in the Hamptons. Working out. Screwing every girl in sight.”
“He looks like he still works out. That Whitney girl from high school. That’s who he was married to.”
“Was married to?”
“She left him two years ago.”
“She tried to commit suicide during her senior year, which really shocked all of us. She was the school’s Queen B, The Alpha, Mean Girl, whatever you want to call her. Things changed when Keatyn came. Keatyn didn’t give a shit what Whitney thought. I feel bad saying this, but I was glad Whitney went to some sort of counseling facility instead of coming back to school. I was a cheerleader and kind of popular, but it didn’t matter. She could belittle you and make you feel like shit with one sentence. I kinda felt like whatever bad she got in life, she deserved.”
“Well, he must have loved her. He hasn’t worked for two years.”
“Dawson is, or was, really sweet. He and Keatyn dated for a while, before she and Aiden got together.”
“They dated? Why didn’t she tell me?”