Something Forbidden (24 page)

I did remember her mentioning that a few times, but anyone with a small amount of investigative skills could have learned that. “I’m still not buying it.”

“Okay, well, once they were up there, they couldn’t really keep their hands off each other. They’d already crossed that barrier…what? Two times already, right? That’s the logic that Katie actually used, so Greg said. After that…well, they didn’t get much sleep that night. And from what I’m gathering, not much tonight, either.”

I thought about how tired Katie had sounded on the phone. Doubt took hold, but stubbornness spoke.

“Bullshit, Chloe. Goodbye.”

I hung up before she could fill my head with anymore…lies.

****

I thought about telling Nadia, but after that initial confession, I felt ashamed to share Katie’s infidelity. Nadia and John had things figured out. I’d come off like a novice to this game. Stupidly, I let that affect my judgment.

Katie actually finished up her project in Hong Kong that night, while I slept. The next phone call I got was from her during my morning, telling me that she was flying out. Any further discussion would have to wait until she arrived home.

The meeting at the airport was glorious, despite any doubts or reservations I had. Mya ran into Katie’s arms. There were tearful
hellos
and
welcome homes
. No one could stop smiling the entire drive back, or through the dinner out.

We ate at Callahan 2 because it was on the way home and I knew we wouldn’t have to fight to get a table on a Friday night. The bar scene was just beginning to pick up, but it would be a few more hours before the dining area was cleared to make way for the true money-maker of the evening.

Nadia was on duty when arrived and greeted us with a hearty hello.

“Katie, I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages,” Nadia said after hugging my wife.

“Since the holiday party, right?”

“Has it been that long? That’s crazy. Next time John’s in town, the four of us should get together for drinks.”

I nearly choked at the implication of that, but Nadia didn’t take her eyes off my wife.

“That would be great. How’s John doing in New York?”

“Being lonely. Don’t tell anyone, but he’s looking to start up his own accounting firm. Something small and, more importantly, back here.”

“Well, tell him if he’s looking for another accountant, I can send my resume over.” Katie laughed. “All this travel is killing me. I don’t know how you and John do it.”

This time, Nadia glanced at me before swinging her eyes down to Mya. “We don’t have a little one, first of all. Otherwise, we make it work.”

“That’s all we can do,” Katie agreed.

The dynamic was so different now between them. Was that just time? Marriage? Katie and I dabbling in the world of swinging? Probably the latter more than anything else.

“I think I’m going to have the fish and chips,” Katie announced, closing her menu.

“So much fried food. How unlike you.”

“I know, but I need to get Hong Kong out of my system, and I figure fish and chips is about as far from Hong Kong as you can get.”

Get it out of your system?
But why? “Something happen you want to talk about?”

Did Katie’s eyes dart to Mya? Or was I being paranoid?

“Actually, yeah, I do. But first, let’s order.”

Here’s the thing I love so much about Katie. She comes at things logically, matter-of-factly. When she sees a problem, she immediately sets about solving it. Me, I can sometimes wallow a little, I’ll admit, and that’s gotten me into trouble. I’d begun to wallow here, but as soon as the orders were in, Katie pulled me out of that.

“I think Greg—or at least his company—is up to something involving his Far East contracts.”

That was not what I was expecting to hear. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. And here’s the thing: I think it involves my firm.” Our pints arrived, she took a sip, and quickly went on. “I don’t know the extent of it, but it’s just too much of a coincidence that this crisis comes up and then Greg shows up right after. And while he wasn’t in any of the meetings I was with, I’m pretty sure he’s meeting with a lot of the same companies. And he’s still over there.”

“Maybe he came over to seduce you.”

Katie laughed it away like that was a total impossibility. The seed of doubt Chloe had sown wondered if that was good acting.

“That’s a pretty pricey seduction, don’t you think?”

“Greg’s got the means.”

“Here’s what makes more sense to me,” Katie said. “The overseas companies he’s got his fingers in fell into some trouble. He brings in my firm to fix them, realizes that it’s me they’re sending, and then maybe decides to fly out a little early just in case.”

“And was he right to fly out?
Just in case?
”

Here’s where I wasn’t sure how to answer. The honest answer was no, so I tried that.

“Good answer. There’s something…off about that couple. Ever since he showed up in Hong Kong…” She shook her head. “Everything’s different. I don’t see the man I saw in him before.”

I thought about Chloe and her persistence. “I know what you mean.”

Katie took a deep breath. I knew that look; she was about to say something I wasn’t going to be happy with. “So here’s the thing. I can finish poking around at a few things from here, but to confirm my suspicions, I need to go back to Hong Kong.”

I didn’t love the idea of losing her again, but I felt like this was the home stretch. “Right. Of course.”

Katie bit her lip. “The timing’ll mean I’ll miss the soft opening of the new bar.” She blew out a sigh. “And maybe the grand opening, too.”

Katie had been with me through the opening of all of my other bars. She was my constant. This one was named after her, for God sakes. And now she wasn’t going to make the opening?

Reading my expression, she reached across the table and touched my hand. “I’ll try to make it home, honey. But I have to do this. It’s now or I may miss this opportunity.”

I turned my hand over and squeezed hers back. “I understand, Kates. Do what you need to do.”

Katie was home for just over a week before we were driving her back to the airport. We made love every night, but things felt strained. The rational part of my brain told me that there was no reason to be worried. That Chloe was full of it and that everything Katie had told me was true. There was no reason for her to lie.

But details nagged. When Katie shared photos she’d taken from her room, I thought about how Chloe knew about that view, too. Had Greg been up there? I thought about Katie’s exchange with Nadia and how pleasantly they seemed to get along, despite their past “rivalry.”

I should have asked about these things. That’s what Katie would have done. But I had the opening of The Katherine on my mind, filling my days and nights, and I had to remember to be a father and husband in that time, too.

Just a little longer,
I kept reassuring myself. Pushing it off. Delaying the inevitable. When we dropped Katie off at the airport, the soft opening was Thursday. Grand opening was Friday. Less than a week, and everything could go back to normal.

“This’ll be quick. A couple nights, tops,” Katie said. We kissed. “Max, trust me. Okay?”

“I trust you. Good luck, honey.”

Just one more week and all would be well. So why did I keep thinking that everything was about to go terribly wrong?

****

Soft opening a restaurant was mostly about training the staff, making sure everything goes smoothly before the grand opening to the public (and to the critics). Soft opening a bar was more about buzz. The invitees comprised bloggers, journalists, local celebrities, and moneyed clientele—influencers in the community who’d start a buzz once the bar opened to everyone.

It was also my least favorite part of opening a bar. I hated schmoozing—not because of the socializing. You couldn’t be a successful bartender, let alone bar owner, and not be comfortable with socializing. But I hated mixing with people just to get something from them. It was why I hired a firm to handle my PR.

Tomorrow night’s opening, the one to the public and my real customers, was much more satisfying. I could blend in there. Listen to what they said. What they liked. And get a much more genuine critique.

After dropping Mya off at my parents, I stopped by The Katherine to do one final inspection. A few people were already here, preparing for the opening. They looked up at me and nodded. I nodded back. We all had a job to do and we were all focused on doing the best we could.

It was a narrow space with a long bar down the left side and private booths along the right. I’d used The James as inspiration, although this place was far more polished than her grittier bar.

The chairs were all up on the tables, the stools resting on the top of the lacquered bar (save for one spot where the bartender was practicing making cocktails). A few people were going through the place, putting the finishing decorations up.

I took a deep breath. Smelled like paint and lumber. Smelled like hard work.

My phone rang. Chloe. A chill ran up my spine.

“Hello, Chloe.”

“Hello yourself, stranger. You give Katie a good homecoming?”

I wondered if she knew that my wife was onto her husband. Judging from that tone, I doubted it. “We had a good time.”

“And now she’s back in Hong Kong. With Greg. Just like that. I knew she’d accept his invitation.”

“What?”

“Didn’t she tell you why she was headed out there?” Chloe asked.

Now there was an awkward question to answer.
To bust your husband’s criminal ways?
Luckily, it was also a rhetorical one.

“He wanted someone to be his date for this celebratory reception at one of his latest acquisitions. Hold on, let me text you a photo of them just before it started.”

A moment later, my phone buzzed and in came a pic of my wife and Greg. He wore a tuxedo. She wore a long evening gown that I’d never seen. Everything about her screamed elegance, from her make-up to the way her hair was styled to the chandelier earrings. I would have killed to have her on my arm looking like that tonight, and she was thousands of miles away on someone else’s.

“I need have too much shit on my plate to deal with right now, Chloe. I need to go.”

I pressed
end
, cutting her laugh off sharply.

“Hey, Max,” said the bartender. “Can you taste this? I’m still getting the hang of using egg whites in drinks. I can’t tell if it’s off, or just in my head.”

“Sure,” I said, happy to do something other than worry about what the hell Katie was doing. “What is it?”

“It’s the Pisco Sour,” he said, holding the drink up. The milky yellow concoction had a frothy white head on it.

“Looks authentic.” Taking it from him, I tipped the drink back and drank it down like lemonade on a hot day. “Tastes about right. Nice job.”

Behind him, the door to the back swung open and the three-piece jazz-band struggled in. “Want us to set up back here?” a beefy guy holding a cello case asked.

Business called. Thank God for that.

“Hold on, I’ll show you where to put that down.” To the bartender, I said, “Make me another. Let’s make sure we get it right.”

Why wouldn’t she have told me about the reception? Where did she get that dress? That jewelry? How could she look so fucking happy standing next to a guy she said creeped her out?

But how could I be mad? I mean really, how? I was no innocent bystander in this game. It had been my obsession that had kicked it off. I never even considered that Katie would take it where she did, but I was ultimately the master of my own demise.

Nadia found me more than a little tipsy by mid-afternoon. Sampling cocktails—even when after limiting myself to a couple sips—had my head spinning. I needed it, though. It was that or go crazy with jealousy and anger.

“You need to go home and crash, Max. And sober up. You need to be your sharpest when I throw you to the wolves.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine,” I said. At least I wasn’t slurring.

“You’ll be fine after a nap. Now go. I’ll take care of the rest here.”

“You’ve always been good to me. Why didn’t I notice that?”

Nadia snorted a laugh. “You were too busy looking at my ass. Now go!”

****

Nadia was right. Two hours of rest really did do wonders. It also required me to run around like crazy preparing for tonight. I had just enough time to shower, shave, and dress. No time to think. No time to worry. All that was behind me. Or ahead. Right now, I needed to be
on.

I was at the door when they opened for the first time to customers—not the public, not quite yet, but in many ways, tonight’s test was harder than tomorrow’s. I opted not to go with a gangster outfit. That felt too much like a costume to me, and while many of the guys in attendance favored the black suit, tie, and fedora look, I wasn’t here to perform but to reinforce a mood.