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example.” Then Alexis walked away to greet the other women as they filed into the living room.

Chapter 2
    Casey found her way into the circular parlor and requested a cup of espresso from one of the women dressed in black and white. How was she going to make it through the breakfast? Alexis had just told her, basically, that Brent had violated his promise to her: he’d seen Nikki and her mother, Shauna — Casey’s nemesis.
    Casey stared at the large round mahogany table with lace placemats. The table was decorated with a silver candelabra and settings for a nine-course meal. Freshly squeezed orange juice had already been poured into each glass at the table, and a fruit bowl was sitting in the center of each setting.
    A buffet of delicacies was spread across a marble server: salmon, tuna, poached eggs, bagels, muffins, and croissants circled an ice sculpture shaped like a giant basketball. Casey was not sure how many women were coming, but she was certain that even if they stayed for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, they could not put a dent into this spread of food.
    At the entrance to the parlor, Casey watched the familiar faces file in. All of the women were wearing Rolex watches and tennis bracelets, with Gucci or Chanel purses draped across their shoulders. Most of the women also wore some sort of massive diamond ring. This included Casey, to her sudden embarrassment. A couple of them were tiptoeing around as if they were afraid they might break something.
    All of the mates were decked out in the latest designer fashions, ranging from Prada dresses to Armani pantsuits. All except Trina Belleville. Of course, she was the wife most out of place. She obviously could care less about the tags inside her clothes or the style atop her head. Trina’s slightly graying hair looked like she had just removed the sponge rollers moments before and had forgotten to comb through the clumps. Casey could only imagine what Alexis was thinking about Trina’s appearance. It was only a matter of time before she commented on it.
    Casey felt sick. She was not in a particularly sociable mood as she sorted out her feelings about Brent and his daughter, Nikki, and Nikki’s mother, Shauna. Casey watched as Alexis worked the room. She knew when to pat a hand and when to nod, albeit condescendingly, as she feigned interest in some conversation or another. The coach’s wife had a plastic smile glued on her face as she sauntered around the parlor, directing her staff and entertaining her guests. Casey wondered if the other women noticed. They all seemed to stiffen when Alexis neared them, fearful of making one wrong move. Casey knew how they felt. And yet, against her better judgment, she was about to follow Alexis’s plan for these unsuspecting victims. She really had no choice. Not as long as Brent was a Flyer and under the thumb of Alexis’s husband, known simply as Coach.
    She thought again about Brent and his affair. When he had confessed to having had a one-night stand with some anonymous groupie weeks after the fact, Brent had seemed genuinely remorseful. And after a few months, Casey had finally gotten to the point that she was willing to forgive him. Then suddenly he’d been hit with a paternity suit. Brent tried to convince Casey that this kind of thing happened all the time to professional athletes; there were women out there who purposefully got pregnant in order to go after an athlete’s money. Casey knew this was true, but it wasn’t a compelling defense for his major screwup. Though Shauna might have targeted him, his actions were unjustifiable.
    The blood tests had proved with 99 percent certainty that Brent was the father of the little girl. Fearful that the woman would go public, Brent had settled to keep her quiet. Throughout the entire debacle Casey stuck with Brent despite feeling as if her heart were being ripped to shreds. Out of respect for Casey and their marriage, he had promised not to have any contact with the