Always Turns Up Ch. 03

Justified fear. Because of course she told my husband. It was two days after the party, just as I had begun to relax and think I was safe. But she had arranged to meet him, ostensibly for business, and I didn't know about the appointment. I am not sure exactly what she said, but she told him enough. I think she invited us to an orgy, pretending to assume that Angelo must know all about my past, and that I was his slave, rather than his wife. I do know that she made some remark about being able to arrange for some well hung black men to fuck me, since she knew I liked that sort of thing. Angelo flung that at me quite early in the furious tirade that eventually brought the manager to our suite.

Penny paused for a moment, and sipped her drink, and looked away, and said briskly "I never saw the children again."

I was shocked. Groping for words in my head took half a second too long, and she broke the silence with a rapid flow of words "He walked out of the room, telling me not to follow. Not to return to Italy. Never to call him or try to speak to him again. His lawyers would be in touch. The last thing he said was 'You live because I think it would be bad for the children to think their father a murderer. But consider how much less disgrace their would be in being a widower than being divorced. Do not give me any reason to lessen my disgrace. Do not try to take my children. They are no longer yours, and I will get them back at your funeral."

I managed to say "Charming."

She shrugged. "Italian. Nobility. He was full of old pride and honour. Not quite as bad as his father, who would undoubtedly have killed me, or have me killed. You must take luck where you find it. And of course he did me a great favour. He restored my joy in sex. It wasn't that he was such a brilliant lover, although he was ardent and attentive. But he was just normal, undemanding in a way. Sex was fun. It wasn't a transaction. That changed things for me, deeply, and I am grateful.

I could see she was sincere about that. It almost shocked me. A moment of self reflection showed me that I had been more than just concerned about the way her husband treated her, as any friend would be. I was jealous. Jealous that she had enjoyed sex with him. That shocked me even more. Of course I had always carried deep affection for her, and had often thought about her in the years when I had not known where she was. Indeed worried about her. But to be jealous... that suggests more commitment, more emotional ties, than I had previously admitted to myself. Penny didn't seem to notice the long pause in which I had said nothing. She was thinking deeply herself, and after a moment sighed. Sipped her drink, and looked up at me with a smile.

"So I had to start again, and new adventures called. But now, I am hungry. Shall we dine?"