“But you did.”
“Yes, or at least, I expected to see some remnants of him.” Her eyes dipped to the T-shirt draped across his chest, which was no longer swollen with muscle like it had been the last time she saw him. He’d cut down on that too. Less being more and all that.
He said as much.
“Very droll.”
“I’m just not as worried about things as I used to be.” Then he had to laugh at himself, considering how worked up he’d been when he saw her at the gallery. “Mostly, anyway.”
She nodded, finally taking a sip of water that had to be room temperature now. “Well, I hope the man you’ve become will consider my plea. It’s a favor that I’m asking, not a trade, not a bribe. This is just something you’re uniquely qualified to do. You’re the only man I trust to do what I ask without taking advantage of my sister.”
Lex hummed to let her know he was listening, but he had already made his decision. She wasn’t blackmailing him, so he could safely say no. Maybe after he refused her for the last time, Margot would get her sister some real help.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I can ask.”
Ask all you want, he thought. I’ll still say no. “Now that that’s out of the way, what have you been up to?”
“The same. A little bit of this and that.”
He almost laughed again. In Jamaica, he hadn’t known much about Margot. Not even her name. She came to the club four to six times a year, trusting the running of its operations to a pair of streetwise twins who made sure nothing illegal happened at the place. “So things haven’t changed for you that much, then,” Lex said.
“Well.” She drew out the word, obviously reluctant to share any information with him, despite just asking him to seduce her sister. “I sold the club and invested in some less controversial properties.”
From conversations he and Margot had toward the end of Lex’s time in Jamaica, he knew she’d inherited the club from her parents, who were long dead. She had transformed the slightly sleazy, uptown girly bar into an exclusive, membership strip club that catered to both men and women and had a dedicated ladies’ night when men were not allowed. Women paid for the privilege of ogling hard and oiled masculine bodies without men sitting among them. During the rest of the week, the club hosted mostly rich and powerful men in the audience while gorgeous girls of every shade danced on stage or made themselves available for lap dances.
“So you’re doing well for yourself here in Miami, then?” Lex asked. Margot’s designer suit and thousand-dollar stilettos said as much, but she wouldn’t be the first person to floss in haute couture when they were damn near homeless.
“I get by,” she murmured.
She was probably a millionaire several times over. Lex smiled and pushed away his drink. Time to do a little research, then. “I’m glad you’re satisfied,” he said, feeling far from that state himself. But that would change soon.
His phone vibrated in his front pocket. “Excuse me,” he said as he reached for it.
His twin’s big eyes flashed at him from the screen. He answered the phone, turning slightly away from Margot. “Hey.”
“What are you doing?” Adisa asked the question as if she knew he wasn’t doing anything special.
“Nothing much. What’s up?”
“You’re not getting ready for family dinner tonight?”
“What’s to get ready for? I’m dressed and showered. My car is working so I’ll be able to drive there.”
“You’re such an idiot. You do know it’s their anniversary, right?”
“I think you’re the one being an idiot. I know when their anniversary is and it’s not today.”
“It’s the anniversary of you know...” Her voice trailed off dramatically in typical Adisa fashion.
The you know was the unfortunate incident of their parents’ separation when their mother ran off to some island with another man. Their parents didn’t think they knew, but all the siblings were very aware of what had happened, although not why, and had created an unofficial celebration of their parents’ reunion by dropping by their house, even when it wasn’t a family dinner, and bringing presents.
With the meeting with Margot on his mind, Lex had actually forgotten. “Okay, fine.”
“So, what are you bringing?” Adisa pressed, sounding impatient.
Lex barely stopped himself from saying something mean. “Right now, nothing.”
“Let’s go shopping and then we can go to the house after. You can even buy me a drink.”
“Why am I buying you a drink when you make at least four times my salary?”
“Because you’re older and that’s what older brothers do.”
He was about to remind her that older by twelve minutes didn’t really count, but then he remembered where he was. Lex sighed heavily into the phone. “I’ll be at your place in fifteen.”
“Perfection. I’ll be waiting for you on the porch with fresh coffee.” They were both caffeine addicts and drank coffee any time of the day or night, especially when they were together.
“French vanilla, please,” Lex said.
“Like I don’t know who I’m talking to.” She hung up.
Lex slid the phone back into his pocket.
“You have to go?” Margot looked amused. She’d never seen him interact with any of his siblings before. Their entire relationship had been in the context of Lex’s isolation from his twin and the rest of his immediate family.
“I do have to go.” Lex took one last sip of his lukewarm beer. “But I’ll be in touch.”
She reached across the table to squeeze his hand, her eyes rising to meet his. “I’m looking forward to it.”
“Even if I say what you don’t want to hear?”
“I’m an optimist,” she said.
Lex got to his feet. “All right, Margot. We’ll talk soon.” Then he left the restaurant without any intention of ever seeing her again.
* * *
When he pulled up to Adisa’s front door, she was sitting on her front step reading her version of a trashy novel. On the cover was a pretty illustration of nuclear fission. Like him, she was a nerd from way back.
“Lexie!” She jumped up from the step, slipped her book under her arm and grabbed the two cups of coffee at her side, one with her lipstick stain on its rim. “I swear, you are the most punctual black man in the universe. What did you do, roll out of bed and push her out the door at the same time?”
He unlocked and opened the car door to let her in. “I didn’t push anybody anywhere.”
“Right. You were with a woman. I know it.” She passed him his coffee and climbed into the car butt-first, bringing the smell of vanilla-flavored coffee and her bergamot body lotion, a Diallo Corporation blend, with her. She wore her natural hair pulled back from her face and circled with a bright blue scarf. Jeans, a cropped white T-shirt and a gold body chain that flashed at the neckline of her shirt and across her flat belly completed her latest casual look.
“There was a woman, yeah.” He could never hide anything from Adisa, and he never wanted to. “But not that kind.”
“A butterface?” She plopped her coffee in the appropriate cup holder and slammed the door shut. “Understandable.