And there was no denying that she was hungry for more of what he had offered.
She wasn’t sure who she was at the moment, except a sex-obsessed dupe who believed everything her sister told her. Tracy wanted her beefcake and to eat it, too, having her illicit lover while not suffering any loss in her divorce. Gina had fallen for her innocent act lock, stock and barrel. Not anymore.
Almost as soon as she thought it, her sister burst in the door, her face eager.
“Hey. How did it go? Did you get them?” Tracy said eagerly, throwing her designer summer coat—which cost more than Gina made on a month’s worth of reviews—over the back of a chair.
“No. You lied to me, Tracy—you said this was a one-night stand, but you’ve obviously been involved with this guy for a while. I can’t get in the middle of this—you have me committing felonies now to cover your indiscretions. You’ll just have to take your lumps this time.”
When Tracy looked up, her eyes were swimming with tears. Gina’s senses went on alert as she detected fear in her sister’s expression.
“Gina, you don’t understand. You have to listen—”
“I understand all too well. You wanted to get back at Rio by sticking this affair in his face, but then you realized he’d leave you high and dry in the divorce, so you trumped up a story to send me in to get the evidence.”
Tracy’s expression was miserable, and she didn’t deny what Gina said.
“I’m sorry, Gina, but it was the only way I knew you’d go to get them. I knew you’d be mad, but I thought I could explain when you came home. I made a terrible mistake. I met Peter at a restaurant one night about three months ago, and he seemed so nice. So understanding. But he’s not.”
“Not what? I assume Peter is the guy you are fooling around with?”
“Yes, and he’s not a nice guy at all. A few days ago, I was all upset, because Rio and I had a horrible fight about money—he took my name off of the checking account—and Rio said he had pictures, proof I had been unfaithful. I told Peter, because I was just so upset I had to tell someone, and he went nuts.”
“Well, I can’t really blame him. You’ve put him in the middle of this, too.”
Tracy paced back and forth. “No, you don’t get it. I’d never seen him like that. It was like he turned into some kind of monster. I—I thought he was going to hurt me, Gina. He even scared his little boy, Ricki, with his screaming at me. That poor kid—he’s so shy anyway. He never talks. Peter doesn’t let him out of his sight, though. He told me I had to get those pictures, or else.”
Gina was stunned by what she was hearing. Her sister had definitely jumped from the frying pan to the fire.
“Tracy, do you ever think? You’re in the middle of adivorce to one jerk, and you pick up another one who sounds even worse? What is this guy hiding that he’s willing to threaten you for those pictures?”
Tracy wiped the tears from her face, her eyes stormy. “Oh, that’s so like you, all self-righteous and perfect, as always.”
“I’m sorry if you see it that way, but you landed yourself in this mess, and to make matters worse, you lied to me to manipulate me into doing something I could have been arrested for.”
“Would you have helped me if I told you the truth?”
Gina threw her hands up. “No, of course not. I would have told you to march in to see your lawyer or the police, tell them what you just told me and have this other guy arrested for threatening you!”
“I don’t know what it is, but Peter is into something, something big. I see shady guys around the boat, coming and going. He never tells me about any of his friends, doesn’t let me talk to Ricki much, or be alone with him. It’s like he works overtime to keep an eye on everything, keep everyone separate. He was serious about getting those pictures. He said if I didn’t get them, he’d go after Rio, too. I don’t want that, even if Rio has been