Every Woman Needs a Wife Read Free Page B

Brandi said, “Tanya, if you’re going to sleep with him, you need to earn it just like Ido.” Then she rose, covering the distance between Tanya and her. A new, shocking idea forming with each step. “And you know what? Since I pay most of the bills, and I’m part of the reason he looks good enough to make you want to spread your legs,” she said, swallowing her revulsion as she reached out to cup Tanya’s buttocks strictly for effect, “then I’d like some ass, too.”

C HAPTER
Two
     
    T anya’s face froze. Surely she hadn’t heard right. Emphasizing the point, Brandi stroked Tanya’s buttocks with one hand, relishing the woman’s wide eyes and tense body with every move. Violated, Tanya’s cheeks went from a bright red to white and back.
    Brandi leaned in, whispering, “You should know that I’m the real source of the money. So I’m not above you doing me, either.”
    Tanya trembled, face darkening with anger as she jerked back. She glanced at Vernon and just as suddenly her expression changed. The startled look in her eyes slowly fading, Tanya tilted her head back and roared with laughter.
    Interesting
, Brandi thought,
and I was only joking
. The request was pure boldness, a way to shock them and frighten the hell out of Vernon. Judging from the third serving of cognac sloshing into his glass, she had managed—but then again, she had more up her sleeve.
If
she could make it home before he did.
    Vernon stormed across the living room until the two of them stood eye to eye. “I think you’re taking a little too much credit here.” He took another long swig of cognac, nearly emptying the glass. “
I’m
the reason we’re so successful. It was
my
money that started things. I’m the real reason we made it, so get off it,
Mrs. High and Mighty.”
    Brandi glowered at him. “You mean the money you got from your
daddy?
That was barely lunch money, just enough to buy a refrigerator and stove. And it may have helped to get things off the ground, but the ideas and driveto pull everything together came from me.” Her gaze traveled the length of his well-toned body—one that hadn’t been draped in anything less than designer suits for years. “The business, the Armani suits, the six-figure income were all a
joint
effort,” she said, feeling a sudden rush of anger that he would belittle her efforts. “If I’d left things up to you, we’d still be stuck in that tiny storefront on Michigan Avenue, barely making ends meet. Seems like you forgot all that.”
    “Wait a minute—”
    “Oh, shut up, Vernon!” Brandi dropped back down on the sofa, resting a hand on the arm. Tanya offered her a glass of vodka. Brandi gazed into the woman’s eyes for a moment before accepting and taking a sip.
    “Either we share Tanya and she helps me around the house, or we divorce right now. You’ll keep the mistress,” she said, holding up a single finger. “And I’ll keep the house, the cars, and get alimony and child support. We’ll split any profits from The Perfect Fit down the middle. I’m sure she,”—Brandi nodded in Tanya’s direction—“won’t be happy with what you’ll have left. And that will be…” Brandi rubbed her chin, gazing toward the ceiling as though checking an imaginary calculator. “Oh, let me see—about one-fourth of what you make now.” She shrugged, grinning at Tanya. “Unless one-fourth will be all right with you?”
    Scanning the woman’s body, taking in the expensive La Perla dressing gown, remembering the burgundy Lexus sitting in the driveway, the Oriental artwork and Lalique figurines decorating the house, Brandi felt her anger springing forth like molten lava from a volcano. Hell, Brandi didn’t drive a damn Lexus! And she’d never purchased anything from Lalique.
    As her eyes continued their travel, the engagement ring made her pause—again. The damned thing was twice the size of the one he’d given her for their tenth anniversary, and four times the size of the