Treacherous Secrets novel Chapter 16

"I was afraid Kenton would show up over there," Emily said. "With as crazy as he has been behaving, I was afraid he would hurt one of them."

Mario took Emily's hands in his. "I have to tell you something about Kenton, and you are not going to believe me."

Emily's phone buzzed. She looked at the display. "It's Carol. I texted her earlier to let her know what was going on."

Mario's face tightened and he nodded. He wondered if Carol knew that Damon had gone to a gay bar to meet Kenton.

"Hello," Emily said into the phone. She paused when she heard Carol sob, and then said, "Carol what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"This is my fault," Carol cried.

"What do you mean it's your fault?" Emily asked. She gave Mario a surprised look but he looked away.

"Oh my God, Emily, I'm so sorry. Kenton...Kenton and I were having an affair."

"What!" Emily shouted into the phone, bringing Mario's eyes back to her.

"I had told him that I wanted to end the affair that morning, and he went ballistic. I guess that's why he didn't go to Louisville like he normally does," Carol said and sniffed.

Emily stood and started to pace. "Let me get this right," she said between gritted teeth. "You have been whining to me because you thought your husband was cheating on you, when you were, in fact, cheating with my husband."

"Yes, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Carol cried.

Emily pursed her lips, fury building up inside her. "So you think?" she asked tightly, "that Kenton abused me because he was mad at you?"

"Yes," Carol said, sniffing again. "He said that he was going to come to town to deal with me but when he got to the house Damon was home, and that seemed to make him even angrier." She blew her nose. "I told Damon everything, but he already knew."

"Damon knew about your affair with Kenton?"

"Yes, I don't know how but he did. We had a horrible fight. He said he was going to tell you. I wanted to tell you the night of the party, after everyone else had left, but Kenton showed up. And then, and then," she started crying again. "He hurt you. I'm so sorry."

"Yes, you are!" Emily shouted. "You are a sorry little whore!" She threw the phone on the ground and stomped on it.

Mario jumped up and grabbed her. He wrapped his arms around her to make her stop stomping on the phone. Emily crumpled in his arms and began crying hysterically. Mario held her while she cried. She calmed somewhat after a few minutes, put her arms around Mario's waist and laid her head on his shoulder. "Why is this happening?"

"I don't know," he said. "But we need to talk."

Mario shrugged. "He passed me on the road, so I turned around and followed him." Mario shifted uncomfortably again. "I followed him to a gay bar."

"What?" Emily shook her head. "Oh my God, this just gets better and better."

"Oh yeah," Mario agreed. "Carol's husband, Damon was there. I went right up to Kenton and apparently interrupted an argument they were having because Damon asked Kenton if he was fucking me, too."

"What?" Emily hissed."Yeah," Mario looked at the floor. "It was like they were having a lover's quarrel."

Emily got up and started pacing again. "I can't believe this." She stopped and scratched her head with both hands, messing up her hair. She came back to the table and sat down. "Okay, so Carol says that she and Kenton were having an affair, and you found Kenton at a gay bar arguing with Damon like they were lovers."

"Yes," Mario confirmed.

"This is totally fucked up."

"Yes," Mario agreed.

"Wow," Emily said, rubbing her face with her hands. "I don't even know what to say or think about all this. This is insane." She got up and paced some more. "Wow," she said again, shaking her head.