19

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“Did you hear the news?” Tabitha stuck her head into Piper’s office. “About all the crazy sex stuff?”

“What crazy sex stuff?” Piper had been focused on a campaign all day and hadn’t left her desk even for lunch.

“The whole underwear thing, which turned into the huge sex-scandal thing, with the masked woman—that stuff. You’re never going to guess who it is!” Before Piper could play the guessing game, Tabitha blurted, “Rory from Web development! He’s apparently a pimp, and he had his girls coming up here to drop off money. They had access to the building and everything. To protect their identities, he made them wear masks! That’s so cool.”

“I’m not sure cool is the right word. Where did you hear this?” Piper stood. “I would think Larry would use discretion and call in certain folks to share the news with them first.”

Tabitha leaned her back against the doorway, crossing her arms. “Cat was out of the bag when the cops came by an hour ago asking about Rory. Apparently, Rory had no idea they were watching the offices these past few weeks. I mean, any shithead here could’ve figured that out! Gossip in this place is free for the taking. But it makes Rory hot in a weird way, don’t you think? A nerdy hipster who codes all day is actually an undercover pimp. It doesn’t get much edgier than that.”

“Um”—Piper cleared her throat as she came around her desk—“pimps are never hot. They’re misogynistic assholes who take advantage of women for money.”

Tabitha shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. These girls were likely turning tricks before Rory came around and will likely keep doing it. I’d like to believe he did it as a business venture and treated them well. He must’ve been making hundreds of thousands of dollars! The guy had like a hundred girls working for him.”

“A hundred?”

Tabitha shifted her position, unclasping her arms. “Well, probably more like fifty. Gossip is at an all-time high, so it’s not really that reliable. But still, that’s marketing genius, if you ask me.”

“What he’s done is going to land him behind bars. So that kind of negates the genius part right there.”

“Yeah, they’re all set to arrest him, so he definitely fucked up.”

“Did he come to work today?”

“Nope. He must’ve known something was going down, or maybe someone tipped him off,” she said. “It would’ve been epic to see him walked out in cuffs. Man, that crap would’ve gone viral in two seconds.”

“Well, thanks for letting me know, Tabitha,” Piper said as she came to a stop in front of the youngster. “I’m going to go talk to Larry about it now. I’m sure they’ll announce some kind of office meeting soon.”

“Or maybe they won’t.” She grinned. “Word on the floor is they just want this to go away. If our clients find out, it could hurt business in a big way.” She turned and strode out the door. “I hope that doesn’t happen, because this job is a sweet deal.”

Before Piper headed down to Larry’s office, she pulled out her phone to text Caroline.

DUDE, I KNOW IT’S ONLY MON., BUT I NEED AN STD HAPPY HOUR. U FREE?

She hit send, hoping Caroline was home.

Almost immediately, Caroline texted back.

I’D LOVE TO! WHERE DO YOU WANT TO MEET?

Piper thought about it for a second.

HOW ABOUT ELISE’S? THEY HAVE A GREAT 2FER HAPPY HOUR.

Caroline replied.

GREAT. WHAT TIME?

Piper typed.

6:30. I’LL INVITE EMMA & GILLIAN. OKAY WITH U?

Caroline hit her back.

FINE WITH ME.

Piper then texted both Emma and Gillian.

She waited a few minutes for their responses, thinking about the crazy news that nerdy Rory Nelson was the mastermind of a prostitute ring right under their noses. And how fucking lucky she was that she hadn’t been dragged into the mess by her night of hot office sex.

Gillian responded first.

HELL YEAHS. I’M FREE. SEE U THEN.

Followed by Emma.

WOULDN’T MISS IT!

It was all set, and Piper was relieved. She and Michael had finished a truly wonderful dinner at Le Repas on Friday night. Their meal had followed their desserts, along with another bottle of champagne.

They’d left feeling fantastic. In a cab.

Michael had awoken the next day and prodded Piper about finishing their discussion about the top ten, but Piper had avoided it. Instead, she’d derailed his inquires with kisses and a very thorough blow job, finished off in the car as to not break their no-coming rule in the house.

Now Piper needed some more STD advice before she had a full heart-to-heart with Michael. She knew she couldn’t avoid talking to her husband much longer. In fact, he’d told her in no uncertain terms that they were going to “solve the sex debate” once and for all. For some reason, she felt panicked every time she thought about talking to him. She was unreasonably fearful of ruining the good thing they had going by stopping the momentum. She knew it was crazy to feel like that, but something was definitely unresolved for her. She almost called Marianne to schedule an appointment this morning, but she decided to give the impromptu happy hour a shot first.

Piper texted Michael to let him know she wouldn’t be home right after work, and then headed to Larry’s office to get the scoop on Rory’s illicit sex ring.

* * *

Michael’s phone pinged with a text from Piper.

I’M MEETING THE GALS FOR HAPPY HOUR. B HOME LATER.

He couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

Ever since their sexy elevator date—one of the best nights he’d ever had—he’d been trying to get his wife to open up about the issues that had surfaced during dinner. To no avail.

In the process, he’d realized some important things. His wife did not want to discuss this topic, and she was a master at deflecting. He’d never noticed before how good she was at it, since he’d always fallen for her charms immediately.

Michael wasn’t sure about how to proceed with her—if he should drop the topic or if he should force the issue.

He was feeling anxious about his planned trip to the Sexual Underground this coming weekend. He wanted it to be a surprise, but he didn’t want to get it wrong, especially when Piper didn’t want to do the top ten anymore.

He typed back.

OKAY. I’LL SEE YOU LATER TONIGHT.

She answered.

ALSO, THE MASKED WOMAN WAS UNCOVERED. RORY, TECH GUY, U DON’T KNOW HIM, IS A PIMP! HEADING IN TO TALK TO LARRY NOW. WILL HAVE DEETS WHEN I GET HOME.

He replied.

A PIMP?? IS RORY THE ONE WITH THE RED HAIR?

She typed.

YEAH. HOW DID U KNOW?

He thought about it for a minute, trying to figure out why he remembered the skinny ginger guy with the glasses.

HE WAS AT ONE OF THE OFFICE PARTIES. HIS DATE WAS SMOKIN’. LOOKED LIKE A WEIRD MATCH. WE LAUGHED ABOUT IT.

She started typing instantly.

THAT’S RIGHT! TOTALLY FORGOT. NOW IT ALL FITS. WALKING INTO LARRY’S OFFICE NOW. MORE LATER. XO

Michael set his phone down. If Piper was going out with the girls, that meant Jace was likely going to be home alone, too. Jace had gone through a lot with his wife in the past few months. Michael was betting Jace could help him figure out what to do. He picked up his phone again, scrolled through his contacts, and texted Jace.

GIRLS ARE GOING OUT TONIGHT. YOU AROUND?

Jace didn’t get back to him right away. The guy was probably at work, actually working, like Michael was supposed to be doing.

Instead of not doing his job and dwelling on Piper and their sex life, he decided to go up to the library and go over some files with Brandi. He opened a desk drawer to stash his phone so he wouldn’t be tempted to use it.

Before he could close the drawer, a text came in from Jace.