Page 43

Chapter Thirty-Nine

CLAUDIA

I had it all planned out perfectly yesterday.

I had a two o’clock massage client. And as soon as I finished with her, I was going to head over to Quinn’s monstrosity of a house.

Except I wasn’t going there to see my sister.

Yes, it’s true. I’ve been sleeping with my sister’s husband for the last six months. I should probably use the past tense, since Derek will not be sleeping with me anymore—never again—given that he’s lying on a slab in the morgue. After she murdered him.

I can’t even think about it. The sight of his dead body lying on the kitchen floor will be burned in my eyes forever.

That bitch.

Derek is superb in bed. Quinn never even mentioned that to me—she didn’t even appreciate it. I started sleeping with him because… Well, long story short, I hate my sister.

Surprise, surprise.

I didn’t always hate my sister. When our parents were alive and life was easy, we were close enough. But then they died—not just that, but they died on their way to Quinn’s stupid play. And they left us with nothing .

I was at the end of my freshman year of college.

I had plans. Of course I did. And none of those plans involved babysitting my sister for the next four years.

I wanted to finish college and go on to law school.

That was my dream since I was a kid. But after our parents died, Quinn had nobody.

Our closest relative was a third cousin out in the Midwest. I figured she could go there and stay with her for a few years.

Then our cousin called me and started making me feel guilty.

She said she and her husband didn’t have enough money and why couldn’t I take care of her?

You are eighteen, after all. She’s your own sister, for goodness sake.

So I did it. I became Quinn’s guardian. Naturally, I had to drop out of college.

Get a minimum wage job and borrow money to keep from losing the house.

All the while, Quinn went to high school, and then she went on to college.

Meanwhile, I never found my way back to college.

After four years out of the game, it felt like another world.

So I got my degree in massage therapy instead. Married Rob.

It wasn’t what I dreamed of. But it was enough.

But then I saw Quinn living the good life.

She finished college and got a good job at the bank.

She met this obscenely gorgeous man, and he fell helplessly in love with her, because she’s always been prettier than me.

I used to be the smart one, but a fat lot of good it did me without an education to back it up.

Whenever I would see Quinn with Derek, I would think of the guy I got stuck with—the balding plumber—and feel a surge of jealousy. Why did her life have to work out so well and mine so badly?

Then she married Derek. They built this gigantic house and spent a fortune furnishing the place. And all she did was complain about him. Because Derek was mean to her. Well guess what? Rob is mean to me too, and I don’t get to live in a palace.

She just didn’t get it. She didn’t appreciate everything I gave up for her. She never even thanked me.

Last year, the roof of our house collapsed during a storm. Our attic filled with water, which then leaked down into our bedrooms. I remember standing outside the house with Quinn, showing her the damage.

“How awful!” she remarked.

“It’s eating right through all the wood,” I told her.

She frowned at me. “But you can fix it, right?”

“Yes, but it’ll cost a bundle.”

I stood there, waiting for her to offer to help. Derek was rolling in money, and even Quinn earned four or five times as much as I did from my massage clients. “Well, at least you can fix it,” she said.

That was it. No offer to help the sister that had sacrificed so much for her.

And it wasn’t the first time either. She always expected me to be there for her, but she was never there for me.

When Rob got laid off a few years back, she took some trip off to Bermuda with her boyfriend.

She never cared about me. It was always the Quinn Show.

Can you blame me for hating her? Wouldn’t anyone?

You might wonder how I ended up sleeping with Derek. Like I said, Quinn is the pretty one. Why would Derek want to be with me when he already had the prettier, younger sister?

It happened when Quinn was away on a business trip.

I had the key to her house, and she asked me to water her plants, because she knew Derek wouldn’t do it.

Of course, she could’ve hired somebody to water her goddamn plants instead of me making the trek all the way over and do it for her, but Quinn never thought about it like that.

What better thing did I have to do than take care of her stupid overpriced plants?

While I was at her house, I helped myself to her wardrobe closet.

Quinn had more clothes than she knew what to do with, and even though I was a couple of sizes bigger, some of her stuff still fit me, like her jackets.

And even if it didn’t fit me, I might get a good price for it on eBay. She would never even know it was gone.

I was in the middle of trying on one of her Bottega Veneta jackets and admiring myself in the mirror, when I saw a reflection that made me nearly jump out of my skin. Derek was standing in the doorway, watching me.

“Oh, hi!” I quickly shrugged off the jacket and reached for a hanger. “I was just… you know…”

But there was no judgment on Derek’s face. He smiled at me, and he looked so handsome at that moment, it made my knees weak. “It looks better on you.”

I blushed like a teenager. I didn’t think it was true, but his face looked sincere. “Thanks.”

He came across the room, and my heart sped up.

He reached out and straightened the collar of my shirt.

His fingers lingered there, making a tingle go down my entire body.

I held my breath, not sure what to make of this turn of events.

Sometimes when I was visiting, Derek would flirt with me a bit or maybe wink suggestively.

Truth be told, I had a crush on him. It was hard not to.

“You’re a masseuse, right?” he said.

“Yes,” I managed. Men rarely left me breathless, but there was something about Derek.

He rubbed at his shoulder. “You know, I have this terrible crick in my neck. I was wondering if you might take a look.”

“I could do that.” My body tingled at the thought of getting Derek on my massage table. “When do you have in mind?”

“How about right now?”

“I don’t have my massage table.”

His lips quirk up. “Couldn’t we use the bed?”

I felt suddenly breathless, but I managed to nod. “Yes. We could.”

I watched Derek strip down in front of me to his underwear. I’ve never seen my sister’s husband naked before, and I have to say, he was spectacular. Like a sculpture. He lay down on the bed, face down. Waiting for me.

I rubbed my hands together to warm them. I didn’t have any of my oils or lotions, so I ran my bare fingers along his broad shoulders. I started working the palms of my hands into his trapezius, kneading his taut muscles. He moaned at my touch.

“You’re good at this,” he commented.

“It’s my special skill.”

“Do you have any other special skills?”

Before I could answer, he rolled over. His eyes met mine, and my body melted. He sat up and pressed his lips against mine. I have never been kissed like that. Rob wasn’t capable of it. Neither were any of the other men I had kissed in my life. Derek was different. I knew it right away.

That was the first time we ever had sex. In my sister’s master bedroom, while she was away on a business trip.

At first, I was sleeping with Derek because I was wildly attracted to him, and also to get back at my sister for all the sacrifices she never appreciated.

But I got to really like him. After a session together, I didn’t just throw my clothes back on and run out.

We would lie together in bed, talking, for as long as we dared.

He would run his fingers through my hair, staring into my eyes.

“I think I chose the wrong sister,” he told me last week.

I whispered back, “It isn’t too late, you know.”

“If I left Quinn, would you leave Rob?”

I answered without hesitation: “I would.”

I don’t know if he meant it. I guess I’ll never know. But at the time, I believed he did.

All afternoon yesterday, I was tingling with anticipation at the thought of seeing him, but then right after I sent my two o’clock packing, my boss came out and told me Heather had to go home sick. Any chance I could take Heather’s three o’clock client?

As much as I wanted to see Derek, I couldn’t say no. I needed the money too badly. It wasn’t like my sister would lend me money if I needed it.

I sent Derek a regretful text message from the burner phone I bought so the two of us could communicate, letting him know I would be an hour late, maybe longer. Of course, if I came over there too late, I risked running into Quinn.

Although part of me wanted her to walk in on us.

He told me he would leave her for me—well, that would force the issue.

And I wanted to see the look on her face.

She always thought she was better than me.

How would she feel when she discovered that her wonderful, perfect husband preferred me to her?

When I finished up with Heather’s client, I grabbed my burner phone. There were no messages from Derek, but I took no news as good news. Derek wasn’t the kind of guy who felt the need to respond to every message. He wasn’t needy.

But Quinn was an issue. I didn’t want her walking in on us, considering it was getting late. So as I got into my car, I called her. The phone rang several times before she picked up.

“Hi, Claudia!” She sounded in a good mood. For a change. Quinn had been such a sad sack lately. I was so sick of hearing her complain incessantly about her perfect life.

“Quinn,” I said, trying to sound casual. “Where are you? Are you free?”