decked out in eucalyptus-scented candles and rose petals. For Jessica it was the perfect way to spend yet another lazy afternoon; for Elisabeth it was giving her more time to think–something she didn’t need.
‘I’m fine,’ she replied, trying to focus on letting her muscles go.
‘Trouble with Robert?’ asked Jessica, in that way she had of fishing for scandal.
‘No, everything’s fine.’
‘Liar.’
Elisabeth closed her eyes as the masseuse worked around her shoulders. They felt knotted and tense. Memories of that fateful night with Alberto Bellini played constantly in her mind in vivid, breathtaking detail, like the reel of a blue movie. She had to get herself together–she and Robert were due at the MGM Grand later for the big fight.
The thought of Robert made her heart ache. She loved him. What the hell was she doing?
‘And you’ve been having hot sex,’ continued Jessica. ‘I can tell.’
‘What?’ Elisabeth snapped.
‘You’ve got that … thing. I don’t know how to describe it, like you keep thinking about all the sexy fucking you’ve been doing and then getting embarrassed about it.’
Elisabeth was appalled. ‘Jessica!‘ she scolded, indicating the masseuse, who was sure to be taking everything in. On top of that, she was shocked by the accuracy of her sister’s diagnosis.
‘So? Is it true?’
‘I’m not talking about this.’
‘It is, then.’
Elisabeth refused to speak any further until they had some privacy–one word in a Vegas hotel about what had happened with Alberto and it would spread like wildfire. Yet strangely she did feel compelled to talk to Jessica about it. Jessica was the only one who understood Bellini’s attachment to their family and who knew what a Lothario he really was. Besides, keeping it to herself was driving her crazy. In her way of cutting brutally to the point, her sister might even be able to dispense some useful advice.
Twenty minutes later the women pulled on their towelling robes and slippers and padded towards the meditation room. Fortunately it was empty.
‘Spill,’ said Jessica as soon as they were inside. ‘I want to know everything.’
As Elisabeth grappled for a place to begin, Jessica got bored waiting and steamrollered in. ‘It’s not Robert, is it? It’s someone else.’
‘Shh! For God’s sake, Jessica.’
‘Oh. My. God. Really?‘
An assistant came in and offered them drinks. Elisabeth ordered a jasmine tea while Jessica opted for fresh mint, adjusting her white-flannel headband with pearlescent fingernails. As soon as she left Elisabeth clarified the situation.
‘It’s not what you think,’ she said.
‘I never said what I thought.’ Jessica put her head back, inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. ‘Tell me what happened.’
Elisabeth thought how to word it. Eventually she settled on, ‘Alberto Bellini … well, he seduced me.’
There was a moment’s pause before Jessica said, ‘Oh. That’s it?’
Elisabeth was surprised. ‘What do you mean, “That’s it?"?’
Jessica opened her eyes a crack. ‘I thought it’d be something way more juicy. Bellini’s an old dog–he’s done it to me before.’
Elisabeth was outraged. ‘What?‘
‘Oh, you know, nothing really. Just trying it on when he’s had too much to drink, managed to get his hands up my skirt once. I tried to tell you in France.’
The tea arrived but Elisabeth felt too sick to stomach it.
‘It’s not like he’s serious,’ Jessica went on, taking a sip with an accompanying ‘Ow!’
‘Did you go to bed with him?’ asked Elisabeth, taking care to inject the question with a good dose of disgust.
Jessica hooted with laughter, which made it even worse. ‘Ha! No, of course not! He’s, like, way old. On the contrary–I told him exactly where he could put it, and let’s just say it wasn’t anywhere near me.’
Elisabeth endeavoured to hide her cringe in the steaming drink.
‘You know what I think?’ Jessica went on. ‘I think if it ever came down to it he wouldn’t even be able to get it up. His dick’s been left cold for so long, it’s probably haunted!’
It certainly isn’t, thought Elisabeth, dismayed at the idea that her sister–who was scarcely discerning about who she jumped into bed with–had turned down Alberto’s advances. It was too mortifying for words.
‘So what did you do?’ asked Jessica, sitting up. ‘Did you tell him where to go?’
Oh, he didn’t need to be told that. He knew precisely where he was going.
‘Well, of course I did,’ Elisabeth said, quickly backtracking. ‘I mean, it’s insulting. It’s not as if I’m not having fabulous sex with Robert.’
Jessica was disappointed. ‘So it is only Robert. How fucking boring. Honestly, Elisabeth, just when I think you’re about to surprise me and do something exciting.’
If you only knew.
Shaken, Elisabeth put down her tea carefully and looked at her sister. It wasn’t just the insult of Alberto trying to get lucky with Jessica, it was more a feeling of … God, she hated to admit it … jealousy. Much as it pained her, and much as his advances had likely been born out of alcohol–Jessica was hardly the kind of sophisticated woman he was attracted to-she acknowledged that fatal stab. How much had Alberto wanted her? Had he told her how beautiful she was, that she was the most exquisite woman in the world, the very things he’d told Elisabeth? It was too dreadful to contemplate.
‘It’s so unfair,’ whined Jessica, tying her fine hair in a knot.
‘What is?’ Elisabeth was still thinking about Alberto and wondered if Jessica might be about to confess to actually finding him devastatingly attractive, and how she wished, just between the two of them, that she’d accepted his advances and then Elisabeth could explain that, in fact, she herself had—
‘I wish I could get an invite to the fight tonight. I bet I could if Daddy were here.’ Bernstein was away on business.
Elisabeth forced herself to focus on the evening ahead. She would be on Robert’s arm, his fiancée, the two of them showcasing Vegas together. He could never find out–it simply was not an option.
‘I’ve got things to do,’ said Elisabeth, gathering her stuff. Tempting as it had been, she was glad Jessica was none the wiser: her sister was a leaky bucket when it came to gossip–what
