Society Wives by Renee Flagler Read Free Book Online Page B

romance, Nadalia had tossed the entire night. Her sleeplessness showed up in the deep crevices around her eyes. It had been years since she’d taken a day off, but today, she needed the break.
    â€œHey, Sweetie,” her mother, Mina, sang into the phone when she called.
    Mina had rid her tongue of her Armenian accent a long time ago when she started the company. Mina and her sister, Sona, wanted to be taken seriously when they launched their business rather than risk sounding like naïve immigrants.
    â€œHey, Mom! I’m exhausted I’m going to take a day off.”
    â€œDali! Are you sick?”
    â€œNo.” She thought about telling her mother more, but refrained. “Just tired. I’ve got a lot on my plate.”
    â€œYeah. It gets so busy around the holidays. Get your rest. We will be fine. You know, some famous reverend is bringing his wife in today to be fitted for a coat. He heard about us through Sanders. You know, Dayton, who used to play for the Cowboys?” She didn’t give Nadalia a chance to answer. “She loved the coat we did for Dayton’s wife last winter, and now she wants something designed for herself.”
    â€œThat’s cool! I have the girls working on a coat for one of the wives for Christmas.”
    â€œOh! Nice. Which one?”
    â€œRyan.”
    â€œThat’s the petite one, right? Her husband is that actor?”
    â€œYes. That’s the one.”
    â€œOh! He’s a real looker.”
    Nadalia laughed. “Mom. No one says that anymore.”
    â€œWell, I still do!”
    â€œOkay. I’ll see you next week for the monthly meetings. I still think you and Aunt Sona should come to Long Island more often. That big ole house is just sitting there and Manhattan life can be brutal. When I come out there, I can’t wait to get back to the Island.”
    â€œWe love it here. It’s convenient, close to the business and we have everything we need right around us. Don’t worry about us, honey. You should be the one to get a place out here. You’re all alone in that big house with no kids. With the long hours Sage works, it has to be lonely. You really should come to the city more.”
    â€œOkay. Okay! I need to call the office.” Nadalia didn’t want to hear anymore. She had to get off the phone before she revealed her true feelings. “Talk to you later, Mom.”
    Nadalia loved her big house. It was one of her trophies for the wealth and accomplishments she and Sage had garnered. One day she’d add a kid or two—maybe. Right now she needed to worry only about lighting a fire under her marriage.
    Since she wasn’t going into the office, she decided to take the time to come up with more ideas to usher the romance back into her bedroom.
    Nadalia thought about Mike and Vonnie and how into each other they always appeared to be. Mike looked at Vonnie as if his heart would cease to beat if he took his eyes off her. Vonnie sucked in every bit of the lavish love he doused on her. They held hands, pecked for no reason and openly doted on each other. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought they were newlyweds, yet, they had been married the longest out of the four couples. Nadalia had to find out their secret.
    Nadalia didn’t doubt that she was still desirable. As the product of an interracial union, her mixed ancestry blessed her with a full head of long, beautiful, jet black hair, supple olive skin and a slim, yet curvaceous body. Men confirmed that every day by the way they poured themselves all over her. The one man she desired most seemed oblivious to her beauty and charm. She wondered what it would take and questioned if children had anything to do with it. Did Mike appreciate Vonnie more because she was the mother of their child? Though she wasn’t ready to have children, she needed answers.
    Nadalia dialed Vonnie’s number and was grateful that she picked up after a