Hooked

one brought the kids home early.
    * * * * *
    T he children had already eaten and were in the screening room with some friends, watching a video that hadn’t yet been publicly released. Benny’s friend in L.A. sent them as extra payment for those nights of bliss whenever he was in New York .
    For Eileen, being a Princess was a no-brainer. She hired someone else to do everything. A Princess couldn’t ruin her nails or get her hands all wrinkly doing dishes. Tonight, Eileen had the cook prepare Benny’s favorite―brisket with potatoes and carrots, like his mother used to make. In spite of his wealth, he was still a hamisha Jewish boy from Brooklyn, Kobe beef aside. Som e things never changed. Bagels with nova or whitefish and cream cheese, corned beef and pastrami sandwiches, kosher pickles, and Mother’s brisket.
    She watched Benny cut into the tender slice of beef, stab a carrot onto the fork, and shovel it into his mouth. “What was the good thing that happened today, sweetheart? We got so carried away in the Bentley you didn’t finish telling me.”
    “Oh, right.” Benny chewed, wiped his mouth on the starched linen napkin. “Ever hear of a call girl by the name of Tawny Dell?”
    Eileen stopped eating. She hated brisket. Too much greasy gravy. Anything that kept her from eating it was okay with her. And she hated Tawny Dell. “No, I don’t think so,” she said calmly. “Should I?”
    “No, I thought you might have crossed paths.”
    “Hmm, what about her?”
    “I’ve convinced her to work for me. She set a high price, but there are a couple of clients who’ll be happy to pay it, in addition to my fee for setting them up, of course. She’s that special.”
    Eileen got up from the table, almost tipping over her chair. “How much did she ask?”
    Benny’s chewing slowed, and his glare was as sharp as any cutting words. He never talked money. Never. She figured he didn’t want her to know in case he ever decided to dump her and take his fortune with him. And of course, there was that goddamn pre-nup. But she knew everything. Benny had a good chunk of money stashed outside the country. She knew where and she knew the account number. Crooked accountants work both sides. Eileen wasn’t the best call girl in New York for nothing. Better than that skinny whore from some podunk town in Massachusetts .
    “I asked if you knew her. That’s all.” He cut another piece of meat, focusing his squinty eyes on her the whole time. “Is it the high price I’m paying her, or is there something you’re not telling me?”
    Eileen mentally scolded herself for losing her cool. It wasn’t like her. Bad enough she had to deal with younger women yanking Benny’s pecker on a weekly basis, but a sleazy hustler threatening Benny’s business, an underworld don, and Tawny Dell rearing her beautiful head into her life once more, triggering multiple spasms of insecurity, was more than she could handle in one day. Especially after giving Benny the contortionist blowjob of his life in the back seat of the Bentley.
    She parked herself and sipped the 2001 estate California Cabernet she paid a hundred and fifty dollars for at the wine shop. Calm down, Eileen . She forced a smile. “I guess I’m a little jealous. I take it she’s getting more than I did before you took me away from all that and now get it for free.”
    “It’s been years, darling, and there’s this little thing called…inflation. Locked away in your two beautiful homes, away from the hard, cold facts of the economy, you might not have heard about it. No need to worry, though. I always come home to you because no one makes me happier. Why do you think I chose you out of all the women shopping for the golden ring? Note, I didn’t say ‘brass.’” He picked up his wine and drained the glass. “Lovely wine.” He filled both goblets. “Besides, her condition is no freebies for the boss. Look at it this way, you won’t have to give her lessons on how to be the perfect courtesan. She comes with a built-in reputation and the class to go with it.”
    Why was she so hot? The hair on the back of her neck was drenched. And the goddamn brisket had turned into a hardened lump of burnt coal in her stomach. “How often will she be there?”
    “Mondays and Thursdays. One hour a night. She’d retired, but I convinced her to join our little group.”
    In spite of Benny’s efforts to make her feel better, Eileen’s confidence fizzled like flat champagne.