Page 61 of Wes

“You as well, sir.”

At the door, I stoop to be able to make out the tiny keys on the pad of the electronic lock to punch in the code. The red light blinking on the panel and the dissonant beep buzzing indicate I’ve messed up. The yellowish light of the lamp in the porch doesn’t help much. The haze in my mind also doesn’t make it easier to recall the right sequence. So, my second and third attempts yield the same result.

Someone unlocks the door from the inside and swings it wide open. Leni, my housekeeper stands in the hallway, wrapped in a thick terrycloth robe, and waves us in.

“Get out of that freezing night air, you two,” she scolds, in that motherly tone she always uses to talk to me and my band mates.

She’s been keeping my household from turning into a freaking mess since Muse of Darkness got our first fat paycheck. She’s entitled to my gratitude and leniency.

Leni follows us into the living room where a pile of logs creak under the flames in the fireplace. “Good thing you called on your way in, Nick. I had time to start the fire and set the tea brewing.” She points her chin toward a tray on the coffee table. It holds a white tea pot with golden accents and two matching mugs.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

She cups my cheek, patting it lightly. “Whatever problem came up between Ms. Augusto and you won’t last. You’ll find a way to fix it.”

I ask, “How do you know?”

Nick echoes me, “How can you tell?”

She chuckles. “It’s not rocket science. You leave the house with her, happy as a clam. Then, return with Nick, looking like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders.” She throws her hands in the air, dipping her shoulders. “For all it’s worth, I’ve never seen you as grounded and as relaxed as when Ms. Augusto is around. That’s why I know you’ll find a way to set things right.”

On that happy note, she leaves us.

“I wish I had her trust in me,” I confess, dropping my ass on the couch, then tumble to lie down on the cushions. I lift my legs, stretch them on the seats. I slide a beaded pillow under my head and cross my fingers behind it. “I don’t have the first clue as how to get out of this fucking mess.”

Nick sits on the remaining cushion and stares down at me. “That’s why I’m here. Back at the restaurant, I heard you mumbling something about Maria having been deceived. You also wondered about what to do to straighten things up. I want to help you do that, but you’ve got to tell me what the hell happened.”

My mind is still all over the place, my thoughts scattered about every which way. So, the thing that grabs my attention has nothing to do with Nick’s question.

Blinking to clear my foggy vision, I blurt out, “When did you call Leni? Inside the car? I didn’t hear you.”

He guffaws. “That’s because you were too busy wallowing. Now spill it.”

“Remember I told you about her husband’s murder?”

“Even though you didn’t share gory details, what Maria went through was fucking horrible.” A shiver rakes Nick’s body.

“It guts me every time I think about it, which I’ve been trying not to do. But guess what? I can’t.” Anger at my own ineptitude spikes my heart rate and I pause. With a huff, I go on, “Anyway, my head has been a fucking mess and I have, shall we say, underperformed in the sack.”

He spins theories faster than a ball launcher, so I can’t get a word in as he goes. “You couldn’t have an erection? Is that what you mean? Because of the sexual assault she’s suffered? You aren’t disgusted or anything like that, are you? I can’t believe you’d do such a thing. You might be a Casanova, but you’re not an asshole.”

I raise a hand to stop him and reply with a dry laugh. “Maria wholeheartedly disagrees with you on that. She told me so tonight multiple times. My libido and my dick are performing quite well. My head is the problem, but not as you’re implying. I’m afraid I might hurt her, physically and psychologically, if I give in to my darker urges. You know?”

“Oh, I see. That sucks, but I get it.”

Before he starts babbling again, I add, “I mention this, so you understand we’ve been treading a rocky path these past weeks. Yesterday, Maria went ahead and called for time apart.”

Nick hisses. “That’s never good.”

“But I agreed we needed to do that, and I believed we’d get over the issues soon. Then tonight some woman approached Maria, showed her pictures of me with said woman, claiming they were taken last week.”

Shaking his head, Nick scoffs, “You wouldn’t do that to any woman in the past. No way you did it to Maria now.”

I bolt upright, slapping my thighs. “Thank you. That’s what’s hurting me most. That she believed I betrayed her trust. This idea short-circuited my brain. It’s been spinning in my head like a merry-go-round from hell.”

“Although–” Nick slants his head and elongates the word but doesn’t elaborate his thoughts.

“What? Although, what?”

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