Ignoring all the clothes brought in, Cosima paces back and forth. We’re in a private area of Neiman Marcus that has been marked off for only us. Which I was kind of happy about. I thought it might be awkward with Brian following us around and watching us change from one outfit to another. I’m sure he doesn’t want a runway show just as much as I don’t want to give him one.
“This plan was over before it began.” Cosima throws her hands up in frustration. “Has she texted you back?”
“No, but does it matter? She can’t get in here.” I’m on the fence about how to feel about it.
It sucks because I really wanted to meet Marks. Everything we have ever done is online. Of course, we’ve done video calls and such, but this is different. I have to admit that the guilt over not telling Warren the entire truth is slowly eating away at me. What worsens it—now that I’m really thinking about it—is that this is what Warren was worried about to begin with when it came to Marks. He thinks she’s sneaky. Not that he used that exact word when talking about her, but he didn’t have to. Now here we are, sneaking around with Marks.
“Now what?” Cosima plops down on the couch next to me.
“You can try on some of the clothes they set out for us.” I motion toward the racks. They had brought in separate ones for each of us. Warren had thought ahead. I’m used to roaming around racks of clothes. There aren’t even tags on any of these items.
“Hey!”
Cosima and I both let out a scream, jumping up. We snap our heads back, the sound having come from the ceiling. Marks is smirking down at us.
“What?” Brian rushes through the curtains hanging over the normally open doorway. He has his gun drawn. He raises it to where we were clearly staring. I glance back up and see the ceiling tile is back in place. “What was it?” Brian walks in farther, keeping his gun pointed at the ceiling.
“Spider,” I blurt out. “I thought I saw one.”
“Sorry.” Cosima gives him an apologetic smile.
Brian holsters his gun. “Do you need anything?”
“Nope, all good. I’m about to get all naked and try these clothes on.” Cosima wiggles her brows.
“That’s my cue.” Brian turns around, leaving us alone.
“Quick thinking, Tova. Glad to see you’re finally on board for this mission.”
“Mission?”
“Yeah, we named it Petty Badgers,” Marks says, the tile opening again. “Can I get a hand here? I’m in the ceiling, and now after the spider comment, I’m convinced there is something crawling on me.”
“How the heck are we gonna get you down from there?” Cosima asks.
I had no clue how Marks was going to slip by whatever security Warren sent, but I should’ve known better. Of course she’s in the ceiling. It’s actually pretty clever, and I’m sure it took a bit of planning.
“Help me. Let’s move the couch over a bit so it’s directly underneath. Marks, you want us to stand on it and help you down or you want to try to lower yourself?” Cosima moves into action.
Good thing because I’m in some sort of daze or something. I’m not sure if it’s nerves, excitement, or the thought of getting caught that has me feeling this way.
We both lift our hands for her to brace on; she jumps down, and we all almost fall over. “Whoa, we almost pulled a Tova,” Marks teases me.
“Roll out of two windows, and you’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Nope, that’s what friends are for,” Marks says, pulling me in for a tight hug.
“You’re taller than I realized.” This all feels so surreal. I can’t believe I’m finally meeting her in person.
“I know, I got these supermodel legs.” She turns to Cosima next. “It’s nice to meet you.” Marks holds her hand out.
“Hey, I get a hug too.” Cosima grabs her hand, yanking her into a hug.
“All right, all right, but it took me years to warm up to a hug with Tova.”
“And it only took days with me.” Cosima gives her the sweetest smile she can muster. “We’re moving quick, Marks.” Marks laughs.
“Give me your phone.” She holds her hand out again. Cosima gives it to her.
“Try on clothes, or you’re making me a liar,” I order Cosima.
“Twist my arm, why don’t you?” She beelines straight for one of the racks. Cosima has chilled out now that Marks is here to fix her phone, and by fixing I mean extracting Z from having access to it.
Marks drops down onto the couch, pulling things out of her backpack. She’s dressed in all black from head to toe, making her blondish-pink hair stand out. Marks’ hair is an almost white-blond that she is always adding colors to. She never does anything drastic, just a light tint to give it some color. It really works for her.
“I like the hair.”
“I did pink just for you.” I sit down next to her.
‘How sweet.’ I bump my shoulder with hers. “This is nice, being together in person.”
“It is,” Marks agrees but almost appears sad about it.
“You okay?” She shrugs. “Come on.” I bump her again.
“It’s really nice seeing you in person. Too nice.” Ah, there it is. Marks never stays in one place for too long. In her line of work, it’s dangerous. It has to get old, not having roots anywhere.
I wish there was a way for her to feel safe so she’d be okay with settling down. She’s convinced she has to stay moving or things will catch up to her.
“Can I get you ladies…” Brenda, the woman who showed us in here, stops speaking when she sees Marks. “Who are you?”
“She’s with me.” I stand. Shit, how are we going to handle this? Is she going to say something to Brian? Does she have my husband on speed dial and is going to alert him?
“Yeah, that’s Marks; just ignore her. We have to drag her shopping with us.” Cosima’s tone is sugary sweet. “I’ll take everything on this rack, so I’ll need a new one. Do you have other items I can try on?”
“Of course, give us a little time, and we’ll bring in some more.” Brenda beams before quickly going to find Cosima more clothing. We collectively breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that it was a close call.
“You’re good at this.” I shake my head.
“I think you forget that I’m still a Marino at the end of the day.” This is true.
“That should buy us enough time for me to finish with your phone.” Now that Marks is here, I hate that our visit is going to be rushed.
“Ladies,” Brenda calls as she comes back through the curtains. “This is an issue.” There is a cop right behind her. “This officer needs to speak with you.”
“Thank you, Brenda,” Cosima says dismissively to her, almost rudely. Brenda nods, turning to leave us alone with the cop.
“Is there a problem?” I ask, standing up. Cosima holds out her hand to me.
“Who are you?” Cosima asks him.
“I’m Officer Woods.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Who the fuck are you, and where is Brian?” Cosima steps over and in front of us. What the hell is going on? I see out of the corner of my eye Marks slide the phone down to her side.
‘I just have a few questions is all.’ He gives us a smile. I think he means for it to put us at ease, but it does the opposite.
‘Do you have a death wish?’ Cosima takes another step toward Officer Woods.
‘Don’t move.’ Woods pulls out his gun, aiming it at her.
‘So you do have a death wish.’ Cosima lets out a sigh. Marks gives me a what-the-fuck look. Not over the cop either; it’s over Cosima. Does she have a death wish?! I mean, there’s a difference between mouthing off to Z and someone who is pointing a gun at you.
“You shut the fuck up!” he barks at her, losing his façade.
“What do you want?” Cosima asks, not shutting the fuck up. Not really that shocking.
“The wife, which of you is her?” He points the gun at Marks and me, motioning between us.
“War’s wife?” Cosima takes another step toward him. He swings the gun back toward her. Has she lost her fucking mind?
“I told you to shut the fuck up!” he shouts at her.
“He looks like he smells: like two-day-old McDonald’s fries left in the car,” Marks mutters to me, which only makes Woods swing his gun back to us. “You’ve got the ring. You’re coming with me.” That gun trains solely on me. I run my thumb against the underside of my ring.
“That’s not happening.” Marks steps in front of me.
“Oh my God.” I push past her. “Yes, I’m Warren’s wife.”
“She’s not going with you,” Cosima informs him like she’s in charge here.
“How about I put a bullet in you and see if that holds true?”
“That would be awfully loud. Draw attention. You don’t want that, do you?”
“She’s coming with me.” He steps closer, putting the gun under Cosima’s chin. “You know what?” Woods licks his lips. “I think I’ll take you too.” My stomach sinks. “In fact, I think I’ll take all of you.”
