Page 63 of Her Patron
“Look at you,mi reina del castillo.” Miquela surprised June when she passed by, snatching her hand for a kiss. She had aglass of wine in her other hand. “You’re the most important-looking woman here, so you must be mine.”
Anyone looking chuckled, but not in front of June. Her arrangement with her patrons was the stuff of legend now. Not just how much money they were paying a month, but how beneath the finances and other business transactions was the aura of them actually being in love. June didn’t often talk about it. She had a business to run in Monique’s absence.
“Excuse me, Ms. Bolivar, but I need to make sure the other guests are well tended to.” She shirked her hands with a flirtatious grin. “If I may.”
All it took was walking a few steps forward and letting her fingers touch the tip of Sette’s chin. Both women sat in lounge chairs facing one another on the balcony, engaged in conversation until June sashayed her derriere by them. Ever since they signed their contracts, June’s patrons had engaged in a friendly rivalry to vie for her affection. She never paid more attention to one over the other, but if they weren’t goading each other until they cracked, they didn’t know how to function. Especially with that derriere on the line.
“I know the greatest designers and tailors in Europe. Come to Italy with me next week after Monique gets back,” Miquela had said earlier.
“I’m going to give you the greatest massage of your life. Bubble bath, the works.” Sette wasn’t about to be beaten. “After I’m done pleasuring you, I’ll paint how beautiful you are.” She left out the part where she would probably send it to Miquela as a trophy. She would keep it in her Monegasque apartment, so her sister could see it. Such a lovely woman, Dolores was!
“You two are freaks,” Zara said from her seat next to Sette’s. She had no problem also staring down June’s ass as she walked away. She could never contain her jealousy. “Lucky, lucky freaks.” After Sette drunkenly told her about the mind-blowingthreesomes, Zara had a change of heart regarding her best friend’s love life.Again, the jealousy.
“We need to get you a girlfriend.” Sette found her wine glass being filled by Chelsea – or was it Holly? – the moment it was empty again. “A serious one. No more Hot Girl Summer for you. Time to grow up.” She reached over and patted Zara on the knee. “If I can do polyamory, you can do monogamy.”
“Why don’t we focus on getting our new friend some other friends first?” Zara lifted her glass to Miquela, who in turn lifted hers as well. “Ever since she got here, she’s been hanging out with your girlfriend and us. Shouldn’t she be expanding her social circles?”
Miquela shrugged. There were other guests at the party, but she wasn’t in a hurry to introduce herself to the suits in slacks and the other women milling around. Sure, some of them were the girls’ friends from outside of the Manoir, but Miquela only had eyes for one woman these days. Now, if they were going to play matchmaker for Zara… “I socialize plenty back home. I see my time in America as an opportunity to kick back and relax, as you say.”
“Never lose that accent, Ms. Bolivar,” the girl with the bottle said. “It’s a treat to hear.”
“Sorry, dear, my money’s reserved for your boss.”
“Can’t blame a girl for trying…” She left, greeting a pair of guests in dress shirts and trousers. They settled on the far end of the balcony and laughed about their latest game of tennis at the racquet club.
“You hear that?” Miquela said. “She was trying to seduce me.”
“Don’t flatter yourself. Look at her. Always flattering herself.”
“It’s because you’re insecure, and I like to make you even more insecure.”
“I am not. I have nothing to be insecure…” Sette stopped. “Now that I sound insecure…”
“What in the world is going on here?”
Half the party stopped and turned to the hallway, where a confused Mrs. Warner stood with a party of servants carrying a baby and baby bags. The music continued to play on the speakers, but lips were sealed.
Both Sette and Miquela lifted their glasses. “Enjoying ourselves, Madame!”
“Very much so.”
Someone squealed and darted into the hallway, intercepting Minerva as she strolled by with an infant in her arms. Before Monique could say,“Someone explain this to me right now,”she had half a dozen estrogen-fueled ladies swarming her baby, cooing and making faces. June chose then to make her reappearance.
“I’m making us some money.”
“With your friends?”
“They’re all paying. You think there’s gonna be someone without at least two lovers in them before this party is over?”
“We’re not talking about you, June.”
“Sooooo what are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be back until Wednesday.”
“Decided to come early. Now I know why my gut told me to.”
“You seriously brought the baby?”
“Like I would leave her for almost a week? What kind of mother do you think I am?”
