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PART I
SPEAKING IN TONGUES

28

MARINA GAVE TREY a delighted smile as she sat between him and Mother in the front pew just before Sunday services. “Good morning, Trey.”

“Good morning to you too, Marina,” Trey said with an odd tone to his voice.

Marina felt Mother tense up, but Marina was determined to ignore it. Trey was going to marry her, so it didn’t matter why Mother wanted Marina to stay because she had no say. “I had a good time yesterday.”

“So did I,” he replied vaguely, studying her as if looking for something.

Marina turned to Mother. “Do I have something on my face or teeth?” she whispered.

Mother studied her too, then shook her head.

Marina turned back to Trey. “Why are you looking at me funny?”

Trey’s mouth twisted, his eyebrows rose, and then his pretty smile broke out. “No reason,” he drawled with amusement, his ice blue eyes twinkling.

“Oh, there is too,” Marina teased, nudging him.

“If you say so.”

The service began. Nothing about it was any different from any other Sunday. Trey mingled with Marina after services chatting and eating muffins, making it clear he was her beau. It thrilled her to death, although she was careful not to show it much. It was off-putting and heaven only knew what he would think if she got too excited. Father invited him to Sunday dinner and he accepted, even though he knew Mother was cooking. He and Father went out to the front porch to discuss baseball until evening services while Marina cleaned the kitchen.

“Marina,” Mother asked archly as she entered the kitchen. “What did you do yesterday?”

“Well,” Marina began brightly, “we went to Kresge’s first—”

“Why do you go to Kresge’s when you’re going to be eating in an hour?” she asked in exasperation.

Marina shrugged. “It’s just what we do. We begin every outing at Kresge’s for sodas.”

She clucked her tongue. “Go on.”

“Then,” she continued, “Trey took us to Elmwood Cemetery for our picnic.”

Mother’s mouth twisted. “The cemetery,” she said flatly.

Marina nodded and repeated what she’d told Dot about it being a park and mourning death and celebrating life.

That seemed to genuinely confound Mother. “Oh. Mr. Dunham said that?”

“Sort of. That’s what I got from it. And, oh, Mother!” she gushed. She never gushed to Mother, but she couldn’t help it. “The chapel there is the most wonderful thing— I want to get married there.”

Mother’s mouth tightened. “You would dishonor your father that way?”

Marina’s smile faded and her brow wrinkled. “Dishonor him?”

“We have our own church, young lady, and it is quite fine.”

That was when Marina realized what she’d said. “Oh, oh of course. That’ll be lovely, all dressed up in … Well. I suppose there’s time for that yet.”

“Yes,” Mother drawled with some irritation. “What else?”

“The men took naps after eating and Dot and I picked flowers and toured the chapel. Then we played hide-and-go-seek. There were other people there who played with us too. And then Trey brought me home,” she finished with satisfaction.

“Mm hmm. Has Trey … ” She trailed off. “Has Trey been untoward with you?”

“Untoward?” Marina asked, confused.

“Yes, perhaps, a kiss? Or two?”

Marina felt her face flame. “No,” she said firmly. “Unless you mean on the back of my hand like a proper gentleman or on my forehead when he’s being silly. It’s not proper until after you’re engaged and I’m not.” Yet.

Mother nodded slowly, her head down while she thought. “Dorothy was with you the entire time?”

“Oh, yes. Mother, why all these questions?”

“Trey seems to be behaving differently with you today.”

“I noticed. He said it’s because of work.”

“Oh. That … I suppose that’s understandable.” But Mother seemed to remain confused.

Sunday evening services were the same. Trey seemed back to normal and he gave her a sly smile as he got in his car. Marina returned it and waved as he puttered away.

• • •

“Well?” Gio demanded when Trey walked into the speak and dropped into his chair.

He gave him a cocky grin. “A bare wink and a nod, but otherwise back to normal. Blushing at a little tease. Shy about compliments on her food. Nothing anybody said cracked her act.”

“Are you sure she was a virgin yesterday?”

Trey rolled his eyes. “No blood, if that’s what you’re asking. She was too tight and it hurt too much for her not to be.”

“When’s the next picnic?”

“I’mma have to play that by ear,” Trey mused. “I wasn’t expecting yesterday, but you know me. No moss.”

 

29

THE NEXT OPPORTUNITY came a week later and again, Trey was taken by surprise.

“Trey, do you still live in your office?” Marina asked on the way from Kresge’s to Correggio’s for an early supper, after which Trey would take her to another jazz music concert.

“No,” he replied, suspicious. “Why?”

“Would you take me to see it?”

He slid her a glance. Tendrils of her dark brown hair were fluttering in the wind as they zipped around downtown and she was smiling sweetly at him. Nothing about that was different from any other day.

“I’m not sure that’s proper, Sugar,” he finally said.

“I just want to see where you work,” she said without a hint of a pout or a whine. She had asked him to do that as passionately as she had asked him to help her with one word of a crossword puzzle.

Too bad he didn’t really have a room off his fake office. If he did, he could take another whack at making this baby.

“All right,” he said with a shrug. “We’ll do that before supper unless you’re hungry.”

“Since we went to Kresge’s, I’ll be fine for a while.”

He parked, handed her out of the car, went to the door and unlocked it, held it open for her to climb the long, steep flight of steps, made to follow her then stopped and turned around to stare at the building across the street.

“Sugar,” he called, “catch.” He threw his keys up at her. “Suite 280. Go on in. I forgot something in the car.”

“All right,” she chirped and went on up the stairs.

Trey didn’t have time to watch her ass swing. He darted across the street and into the Muehlebach Hotel. “Yeah, mac, I gotta have a room for the night.”

The clerk looked him up and down, deemed him acceptably wealthy, and Trey secured his key. He ran back to his “office” and up the stairs. She was looking around, clearly impressed, pointed at a room with a desk and said, “Is that yours?”

“Yep.”

“Where do you live now, then?”

He threw his thumb over his shoulder. “Across the street. At the Muehlebach.”

Marina gasped, her eyes wide. “You—”

Trey nodded. “I didn’t want to tell your father. It’s an extravagance and I didn’t want to sound prideful.”

“Oh. Yes. Of course.”

He grimaced. “I know it’s not proper, but do you want to see it? No kitchen. I eat in the restaurant.”

With some swift footwork and finagling, he got Marina up to the room he’d been given. It was Friday evening, a little after five o’clock, and the weekend crowd was coming in. It was controlled chaos and no one would be paying attention to a couple dressed for a night on the town. Trey was fortunate to have gotten a room at all.

He took it as a sign.

Marina was as excited as a kid in a candy store riding up the elevator, which Trey found adorable. Pretty soon she was going to be adorable and naked, and Correggio’s was out the window. He could fuck her twice, order room service, and have her home by ten.

“Here we go.”

She stopped short in the doorway before tiptoeing in on plush carpeting. The opulence of the room surprised Trey a little because he was used to upper middling, not upper echelon, but she was stunned.

“Oh, my goodness gracious,” she whispered, her fingertips to her mouth. “You live here?”

“Yes.” He sure as hell hoped she didn’t notice there was not one personal item in this room or scrap of clothing. He watched her walk around touching things here and there, running her fingertips along the desk, and wondered how to make the first move. “Marina,” he murmured.

Her eyelashes fluttered up to look at him and … that was when he knew it would be no trouble at all. She was looking at him the way she had at Elmwood.

“May I kiss you?”

“Yes.”

• • •

Trey sauntered on into the speak at ten-fifteen feeling very, very cocky. He bounded up the stairs and dropped himself in his chair right beside Gio.

“God, that girl’s good,” Trey breathed and slid downward until the back of his head was on the back of the chair, his gaze on the hammered copper ceiling, his fingers folded across his chest.

“No shit?” Gio asked, amazed.

“No shit.” He outlined the whole scheme.

“And you just came up with that on the spot.”

“Yeup. Napped a little. Second and third time, no problem. After that, she went out like a light and I let her sleep for a while. Got her home half hour before curfew, chatted up her daddy a little, and here I am.”

“Does Boss Tom know?”

“Turns out, Boss Tom has had a tail on me.” Trey didn’t like it, and he hated that he hadn’t caught it. But— “He already knew I’d done the deed before I went to tell him. Now help me out here. How’m I supposed to provide proof it got done before the deadline if I’m still fucking her after the deadline?”

“Stop fucking her for a couple of months. Nothin’ happens, you start up again.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Let’s just hope you’re not shooting blanks.”

Trey grimaced. “That is the question, innit?”

Gio’s brow wrinkled. “Doesn’t it seem odd,” he mused, “that a girl like her would ask you to show her your office on a Friday after business hours?”

“Yeah, but it was the way she said it, like she wasn’t interested, but wanted to make me feel good.”

“Oh.”

“It sounded like somethin’ her daddy’d put in her head.”

“But then she went to your room with you.”

That did nip the corners of his mind.

“And then she gave you the look.”

The come-on look. “Dot say anything else about the cemetery?”

“I told her she was imagining things, because Marina wasn’t acting any differently by the time we took her home. But what if Dot’s right? Are you sure Marina’s not running a con on you?”

“Even if she were, I’m running one too and mine’s got more oomph. What’d she be trying to do? Get pregnant to drag me to the altar? In that case, we have the same short-term goal, so I wouldn’t care if she is running one ’cuz Scarritt ain’t gonna be able to force me to an altar. We are on Easy Street now, pal.”

Gio grunted. “Too easy, if you ask me.”

28-29

If you don’t want to wait 2 years to get to the end, you can buy it here.

Speakeasy staff.