Page 153 of Naughty Nelle

The color on Ari’s face drained, and I’m sure mine was as white as a ghost. Standing before us was a tall, stunning, whippet-thin woman dressed to the nines. The scent of her Chanel No. 5 perfume wafted up my nose and made me dizzy. The scathing look she sent my way made me shake.

“Why don’t you introduce me to your friend?” she hissed.

Should I answer or should he?

Ari’s fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white. In a voice as frigid as dry ice, he introduced us.

“Sarah, this is my ex-wife, Cassandra O’Toole.”

My stomach churned, and bile rushed to the back of my throat. I thought I was going to throw up.

“You’re nothing,” she hissed directly at me.

The expression on Ari’s face went from shock to rage. There was fire in his eyes.

“Come on, Saarah, let’s get out of here.”

He threw two one hundred-dollar bills onto the table and grabbed my hand. My legs were like Jell-O, but I managed to stand up and follow him out of the booth. His ex’s eyes stayed fixed on mine, sending daggers my way. Ari strode to the front door like a bolt of lightning with me dragging behind him, numbed. He couldn’t wait to get out of the bistro. And the truth is, I couldn’t either.

Ari had Andre take me to my apartment. The only thing more intense than the throbbing between my legs was the silence between us. And the waves of nausea I was staving off.

I clutched my stomach.

Breaking the silence, an alarmed Ari asked, “Are you okay?”

He immediately pulled me close to him, wrapping his arm around me.

“I feel sick.”

Ari put the palm of his hand to my forehead, the good father he was. “You don’t have a fever.”

Little did he know the fever was raging inside me. Consuming every ounce of me.

“It’s her, right?”

“No, I think I ate a bad mussel,” I lied.

Ari gently twisted my shoulders so that I faced him. “Sarah, she’s nothing to me.”

I was too distraught to say another word. As the limo pulled up to my brownstone, I was so close to throwing up I could taste it. Oh God, don’t let me barf in front of him! Not waiting for Andre to open the passenger door, I sprung it open myself and scurried up the steps to the landing.

“Sarah, wait!” I heard Ari shout out behind me.

“Please, Ari, go away,” I replied hoarsely, without looking back.

My hand jittering, I reached for my keys and jammed the one for the front door into the lock. For once, it opened the warped door in one try. As it slammed shut behind me, I sprinted up the stairs, taking them two steps at a time. My heart was racing as I battled tears and nausea. At last, I reached my apartment and was grateful one more time that my key worked on the first try.

Once inside, I ran past a meowing Jo-Jo, straight to the bathroom. Falling to my knees, I yanked out the vibrating egg, tossed it into the toilet, and puked out my guts.

I had just met Ari’s evil ex-wife…Cassandra O’Toole.

My evil boss…Catherine Sinclair.

END OF BOOK 1

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