Roman-2(Lane Brothers, Book 5)(210)

Nina mopped up the mess with help from Gertrude, then the next course was served.

Just then, Thomas dropped his spoon.

“Honestly,” Aunty Mabel said, “what is wrong with you today?”

“All thumbs and no fingers. Excuse me.”

Thomas ducked down under the table to retrieve it. But while down there, he pushed Sasha’s legs apart, moved her thong to the side, and licked her clit. She let out a shocked cry.

“Sorry,” Sasha said. “Thomas must have squashed my foot.”

Thomas came back up from the table. The spoon remained out of sight, and Sasha realized with mounting excitement that he was going to use it to pleasure her…

However, he didn’t get the chance because Olivia suddenly said, “Tommy, I think we need to talk.”

Sasha found it hard to think of the woman as Olivia rather than Crystal. She still had the same peroxide blond hair, but the ruby red fingernails were gone, along with the thick mascara. Instead of a push-up bra and a leopard-print dress, she was in gray jogging bottoms with a loose-fitting top. She’d pulled her hair into a messy bun. Her eyes sparkled with rejuvenation and health.

“Maxwell says I have to be honest if I want to heal,” she added.

Aunty Mabel tipped her head to the side. “Maxwell?”

“My spiritual guide,” Olivia explained.

“Oh, right,” the old woman replied with a chuckle before going back to her food.

Sasha got the distinct impression that Aunty Mabel wouldn’t be shocked by anything her niece and nephew threw at her.

Thomas looked up at Olivia with a guarded expression; the spoon he intended to pleasure Sasha with was pressed lightly to his lips as a reminder of what was yet to come.

“Must we talk right now?” he said. “We have guests.”

“It affects them, too,” she replied.

Thomas put his spoon down and cleared his throat. “Fine. What is it you have to say?”

“The tape,” Olivia said.

Out the corner of her eye, Sasha could see Thomas’s hands squeeze into fists. Julia, Aunty Mabel, and Gerald all focused intently on their food.

“I know you have no reason to believe me,” Olivia added, “since I’ve lied to you in the past, but I wasn’t the one who leaked it.”

Thomas and Sasha exchanged a glance.

“It couldn’t have been anyone else,” Thomas replied.

Olivia gave him a look as if to say, ‘Who else has access to all your properties?’

“You mean…?” Thomas began.

“...Pippa?” Sasha finished for him.

Thomas slammed his fist against the tabletop, making the cutlery and glasses jangle.

“Now, now,” Aunty Mabel chuckled. She was clearly more than used to Thomas’s passionate outbursts.

“Pippa was the mastermind behind everything,” Olivia said. “All I had to do was follow you around and give her the tapes every time you took a woman home. She paid me to keep tabs on you—just enough to support my habit. I got extra when I gave her a tape, which I didn’t for bloody ages, by the way, because you never took anyone home.”

Sasha felt a little swell of pride when she said that. She knew she’d been the first to see Thomas naked, but she didn’t realize she’d also been one of the few lucky women whom he took to his home.

Thomas didn’t look so pleased. “And tell me what you thought she was going to do with the tapes once you gave them to her?”

“I didn’t know, and I didn’t ask,” Olivia replied.

“It didn’t concern you that she was filming me in…”—he glanced at Aunty Mabel, who was doing her best to pretend not to be interested—“...intimate moments?”

“I didn’t care,” Olivia said. “I only cared about using the money for my next fix. I’m not proud of it, but it’s the truth.”

Thomas glanced at Sasha. “If Pippa was the one who leaked the tape, we could press charges.”

Sasha had thought it, too. “But what about the injunction? How do we press charges against her without accidentally breaking the gag order?”

“By getting a bloody good lawyer,” Aunty Mabel said.

Everyone looked at her.

“My husband had a firm,” she explained to the guests. “This was before he passed away in a terrible boating accident. Anyway, the company still exists, and they simply adore us Lloyds. I could give you the number of this feisty woman, Carla. I think she’s Italian.”

Sasha looked from Aunty Mabel to Thomas.

“It’s your call,” he said.

Sasha nodded. She wanted to see Pippa punished for what she’d done.

Aunty Mabel clapped her hands. “Oh wonderful! I do love a good court case.”