Page 40 of Hot Irish Halloween

“I love it. Zaddy for days,” she said, stroking it.

“I have no idea what that is, but I’ll take it as a compliment.” He groaned, squeezing her breast. “As much as I want to spend the rest of the day doing this, we should get dressed and get out of here. This place is feckin’ weird.”

They got cleaned up and dragged themselves downstairs to see if there would be any breakfast served. The dining hall had been set with a buffet offering a variety of breakfast meats, three styles of egg, fried potatoes, Belgian waffles, assorted pastries, and fresh fruit.

Jack and Penny took their meals and coffee to the table where Serena was having her breakfast of fruit and oatmeal. Some of the guests seemed pretty lively, considering the long night of debauchery, while others hid behind huge shades and could barely lift their coffee cups to their lips.

“Are we gonna see y’all again at the winter festivities?” Serena asked.

Before Penny could inquire about that, Jack raised his eyebrows and quickly answered, “You won’t.”

A voice rang out at the entrance of the dining hall. “Good morning, revelers.”

Clarissa swept into the room wearing an emerald floor-length morning gown, the kind Penny used to see actresses wear in her grandmother’s TV soap operas. The effect was very dramatic, like everything else the woman did. She hardly looked at them as she bent to kiss Serena on the lips.

Speaking in Serena’s ear, she purred, “You were fantastic last night, darling. Can’t wait to see you in Palm Springs next weekend.” Clarissa gave her a more thorough kiss and grinned when Serena blushed. She straightened up and said to the rest of the breakfast crowd, “All my darlings look exhausted. Drink up that o.j.”

When they were packed, their bags stowed in Jack’s car out front and their phones returned, Penny took her last long look at the scene, the castle, the grounds, the departing guests. It had been an experience to remember.

This was where her heart had finally opened to Jack, to anyone. That wasn’t a small thing. Giving herself to him, acknowledging these soft, new feelings for him was world-changing. This would always be sacred ground for that reason alone.

Jack looked around, too, then at her, taking her hand and intertwining their fingers. She knew he was thinking the same,and when he looked at her, the seriousness in his eyes confirmed it. His lips quirked into a grin, and he inclined his head toward the car.

Before they could get far, Clarissa called out from the doorway and approached them with a wide, false grin.

“Simon is still indisposed this morning. He sends his apologies that he couldn’t see you out. Penelope, would you give Jack and me a moment?”

Jack's eyes on Clarissa were sharp as knives. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of my wife.”

The dark-haired woman nodded and waved at another departing set of guests, then drew them both slightly to the side out of earshot. With her back to the others, the painted-on grin melted and disappeared.

“Since you won’t speak with me privately, here it is. Simon was less than happy with how things turned out last night. We always want to feel as though our guests are having a good time and that didn’t appear to be the case. So, to that end…we are willing to extend another invitation for you to join us over the winter holidays. See if we can give a littlequidfor yourquo.”

“What’s thequidand what’s thequo?” Jack asked, brows drawing together.

Clarissa paused as if reluctant to use her words. “Talking about money is so…well, it’s tacky, but here it is. I know you don’t care for our set, Jack. I know you make the rounds at all the parties despite that because your charity and your gym require a constant infusion of cash. Simon and I want to do whatever we can to help. I mean, we love children. Who doesn’t?”

She shrugged and grinned broadly, but Penny could read “fuck them kids” all over that smile.

Jack huffed a brisk sigh. “We really need to get on the road, so if that’s all you had to say —”

“Simon will provide your foundation with a very generous donation. All that’s needed from you is… your time.” Her emerald eyes were wide. As if she was attempting to mesmerize them, the same way she had last night.

This bitch…

“Okay, this is where I have to say a few words,” Penny interjected as Jack's face turned brick red. “There is no judgment from me on how you and your husband conduct your marriage. But you have to respect the fact that not everybody feels the same. Last night was…interesting. A night of firsts in a lot of ways. I appreciate that, I really do.” She paused to look at Jack again. “But now you’re about to cross the line into disrespectful. My husband is not coming back here to entertain you. Period. And it's bad form for you to keep asking when he’s already said no.”

Clarissa’s tinkling laugh, as though they were having a carefree conversation, was a touch too high. “Jack wouldn’t be coming alone. We want both of you to come. None of us really had the chance to get to know each other better. I want the four of us to be friends. Otherwise, should my husband be disappointed again, none of us will be happy. Believe me,” she said with a distant expression in her eyes, “he’s not an easy man to live with when he’s disappointed. He’s instructed me to make it very clear that the donations…your personal assets, your endorsement contracts…all of it disappears overnight if we don’t get our time with you. His words to me were, if this doesn’t happen, he will see to it that your accounts end up as dry as my pussy.”

Now there was a fault line in the seductive priestess mask that Clarissa had been wearing all night. The confidence, the sultry ease, was wearing thin, showing what had been hidden beneath. She was a sad bird in a diamond cage. And despite her growing disgust for both the FitzGeralds, Penny couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for her. But only a little.

“I don’t like threats,” Jack said, his voice tight like his body.

“Neither do I,” Penny chimed in. “Clarissa, you do realize that what you just did constitutes criminal behavior, don’t you? I mean, I’m just the daughter of a judge and not a lawyer myself, but that’s what it sounded like to me.”

The other woman shrugged with a sardonic grin. “You really think the great Simon FitzGerald is concerned with the law?”

Penny sighed. “No, I guess he wouldn’t be. Pimps usually aren’t, and that’s what he is. A pimp. Guess what that makes you?” Well, that wiped the smirk off the other woman’s face. “Listen. If Jack’s foundation loses even a cent of the donations already promised to him or there’s an unexplained hit to his endorsements, his assets, or anything else that he has earned, your husband is not going to like what comes next. I am warning you to leave us out of your games. I amnotplaying with you.”

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