His Betrayal Her Lies by Angel de'Amor Page A

later, tooting
her horn.
    Taylor was standing next to the AAA tow
truck, evening gown in hand, talking with Sonny through his
driver’s side window. Ari had found a nearby Safelite that could
take her car in right away and have it ready for her tomorrow. She
was giving Sonny directions to their shop. Moments later, a few
shards of broken glass hit the ground as her car, hooked to the tow
truck, trailed past her.
    Too mad to make eye contact, Taylor glanced
at Libby’s white Range Rover. She couldn’t understand why it took
Libby a whole hour to get to the cleaners when she only lived
fifteen minutes away. A lung-clearing exhale was her attempt to let
go of some of her anger. She laid her garment across the spacious
back seat, then climbed into the vehicle.
    Libby turned up her mix tape jam and started
singing along. Taylor looked out the window, still wondering who
and why someone attacked her car.
    Libby’s bad singing stopped at once when
Taylor reached over and turned down the music.
    “Hey, hey, what are you doing? That’s my
jam.” The song exploded through the SUV again after Libby thumbed a
volume button on her steering wheel.
    Taylor punched the off button on the
radio.
    Libby took her eyes off the road, starred her
down as she hissed, “What the hell is wrong with you, Taylor? Why
the fuck did you punch my damn button like that? This is a Rover.
This shit is expensive if you break it.”
    Taylor looked over at Libby, tears rolling
down her face.
    “Oh my God, girl, why are you crying?” Libby
asked pulling up and parking in front of Taylor’s home.
    A look of disgust was the answer Libby got,
followed by harsh words. “You know what? You are a very insensitive
bitch.” Taylor kind of regretted saying that but she was so mad she
just kept talking. “My car window just got busted out and you don’t
even ask me what happened. On top of that, it took you an hour to
get to me when you only live fifteen minutes away from Mr. Chow’s
cleaners. I’ve had a long day and all I needed was my friend to be
concerned about me.”
    “Look here, friend . Did you just call
me bitch?” Libby scooted around in her seat to look Taylor squarely
in the eye. “In the fifteen years we have been friends, we never
called each other names.” She rolled her window down and spit out
her gum before continuing. “Okay, Tay, I can see you are really
upset about something and I’m not the person you really want to
lash out at. So I’m going to act like I didn’t hear you call me a
bitch. Get out of my car, go into the house, and calm down. Your
head needs to be clear for tonight’s event.”
    Taylor jumped out of the SUV without saying
goodbye and started storming toward her house. She did an
about-face when Libby let the passenger window down and yelled,
“Come get this stupid dress before I drive off with it.”
    Fuming, Taylor ran back, reached in the back
seat, and snatched her gown.
    It took three tries before she punched in the
right code to get inside the gates. She stormed up her driveway and
entered the house.
     
    * * *
     
    Smelling good, looking good, and feeling
somewhat calmer in the back of the limo, Taylor pulled her compact
mirror out of her Chanel clutch to check her lipstick and eye
shadow. She rotated the compact to get a better view of her hair.
One of the bobby pins that held her locks in a tight bun was
sticking out. With her pinky, she nudged it back into place. Her
red nails raked through her Chinese bangs. She looked around,
taking in the beauty of the Stan Mansion coming into view.
    The limo driver, a young man who looked like
he was next in line to be on Newsweek’s sexiest man alive cover,
left the engine running while he came around to open her door. His
eyes flashed his approval at her appearance.
    She gave him a somewhat flirty leer and
joined three other women who were walking toward the mansion.
Taylor admired the grand façade and the illuminating candles that
lined the stairs leading to