Chapter 71

Author’s Note: This is the shortest chapter in quite a while, but it has major plot implications. I hope you enjoy it. There are always twists and turns to come.

The drive home went faster than the trip to the St. Regis. I was floating. A world of ridiculous possibilities dashed through my head. But when I got home, I walked in on an unexpected, erotic scene.

“I’m going to squirt again!” Kat cried out.

Rita was between her legs, licking her pussy and pushing a toy in and out of her ass. Kat came hard and, true to her word, squirted vigorously all over Rita. It was beautiful to watch, and I loved seeing the glowing adoration in their faces as they kissed a final time as the coupling ended.

“That was so fucking hot,” I said, announcing my presence after a few minutes.

“Hi daddy!” Kat said, smiling.

“You’re back sooner than I expected,” Rita said. “I wouldn’t have thought Juliet could wear you out so quickly.”

“I have a feeling you both already know why I’m back this soon,” I said.

“To talk to us and make sure we’re okay with the fact that Juliet wants to hang out with you more often?” Kat said.

“We talked to Jess already,” Rita said.

“And it’s totally fine,” Kat said. “Of course it’s fine! We love Juliet!”

“But we do have one condition,” Rita said playfully.

“Yeah,” Kat agreed.

“And what is that?” I asked.

“We want to play with Juliet, too!” Rita said. “She’s so much fun!”

I laughed. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t have been so nervous about talking to you about this,” I said.

“One serious thing, though,” Kat said. “I know how attracted you are to Juliet. But don’t get too close, okay? You can’t get in too deep. If you get hurt? We all get hurt.”

“Understood, Kitty Kat,” I said.

Shit, I thought to myself, could it really be this easy? That wasn’t bad at all. It turned out, however, that the wild card came from a different direction. Out of the blue, Jess burst through the door. She was hysterical and in tears. She fanned her face, trying to calm down and regain any grasp on her composure.

“Sweetie,” Rita said, approaching her, “what’s wrong?”

Jess collapsed into Rita, who was still naked. They embraced. Kat stood up, a look of concern straining her face.

“What is it?” Kat said.

We all stood around Jess now, partly to hold her up and partly to console her. It took a little time, but she finally stopped hyperventilating and calmed down enough to speak. Her voice was still breathless and soft.

“Peter,” she said. “He’s dead. Kelly is at the hospital. They think it was an aneurysm.”

“Peter?” I said, my jaw dropping.

“Oh my god, that’s awful,” Kat said.

“He was so young!” Rita said.

“Can you call Kelly, John?” Jess said. “I told her you’d call her right away.”

I did as instructed. Kelly had been with Peter when it happened. They were headed to dinner with friends to celebrate his return from the grueling months of filming.

“And he just looked at me one minute and froze,” Kelly said between sobs. “Just absolutely froze solid, and that was it. He was gone.”

“I’m so sorry, Kelly,” I said. “Are you okay? Under the circumstances.”

“I’m okay,” she said with poise. “But I don’t know what to do, John. I need help.”

“Jess and I can take a redeye tonight,” I offered.

“Will you bring Juliet back with you?” she asked. “I think there are going to be a lot of questions, especially about the movie. And there’s always a power vacuum that comes with these kinds of events in this savage fucking town.”

“I’m packing right now,” I said. “I’ll call you when we land.”

Jess, Juliet, and I touched down in LA before dawn, just about the same time Kat and Rita were waking up for work back home in Houston. Juliet sat a row in front of us, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and hat that had successfully kept her from being identified during the flight.

“I love you, too,” I said into my phone. Jess squeezed my thigh. “Jess sends her love, too. We’ll let you know as soon as we find out what’s going on.”

I turned to Jess, and she looked at me with eyes as tired as my own. “Okay,” I said. “Let’s go figure out what we can do to help.”

The first order of business was Kelly. She was a mess. She and Peter had been close for many years, and she owed a great deal of her success and client base at the agency to him. It was a blow, which also came in close proximity to having lost her husband. Jess took point with Kelly, trying to distract her and also steer discussions toward Infinity.

Juliet might have been a bigger mess. After having held herself together on the flight, she broke down at Kelly’s house. She was borderline incoherent, mumbling over and over that she had to talk to Stephen. But Stephen wasn’t picking up her calls. I felt helpless. She waved me away when I tried to console her. She just kept calling Stephen over and over. Finally, after about thirty minutes, he picked up. She blubbered into the phone, but Stephen was able to calm her down. A degree of ease came over her.

“Okay,” Juliet said when she hung up. “I just need to breathe and relax. Stephen says the movie is going to be okay. Everything will be okay. Petey is going to take over. I didn’t realize that while Peter was so focused on filming, Petey had basically been running the company. Stephen says he won’t miss a beat.”