Sinful by Victor McGlothin Page B

shot to make a sales pitch. As far as he was concerned, it was worse than that, much worse.

6
Damned If You Do
    â€œH ey, Marvin,” Dior said as quietly as a church mouse. She wanted to barge in like she’d always done, but Marvin was purposely blocking the door with his body. “Can I come in?” she whined.
    Reluctantly, Marvin pulled the door open wider so Dior could enter. “What’s with the bag?” he asked, flicking a quick glance toward the taupe-colored duffel.
    â€œI saw Chandelle’s car out front so I knew y’all was back from church service. I hope I didn’t interrupt nothing,” she said, scanning his legs and anything else she could see pushing against the thin navy-hued silk robe.
    â€œNothing that won’t keep,” he answered, casting another suspicious eye at her luggage. He didn’t know what was happening, but he was sure he wouldn’t like the outcome. “I’ll go tell Chandelle you stopped by. You may as well go on and have a seat,” Marvin offered finally.
    Oh, I plan to. “Thank you so much, Marvin. I’m sorry for showing up without calling first. I know how you hate that.”
    Marvin grumbled as he headed down the short hallway to the master bedroom at the end of it. He closed the door behind him, and then sat on the edge of the bed. He’d been gone so long that Chandelle had dozed off. “Your girl came by,” Marvin informed her, smirking his displeasure. “And she brought some clothes with her too.”
    Squirming beneath the warm sheets, Chandelle sighed seductively. “So that’s what took you so long? Hmmm, I’ll call her later. Get back in the bed, baby,” she said in a noticeably faint tone.
    After looking at his beautiful wife over his shoulder, he realized that she hadn’t comprehended what he said. “Chandelle…she’s still out there. Said she needs to talk to you.”
    â€œDior’s still out there?” she asked, raising her sleepy head. “You left her out in the cold?”
    â€œNah, she’s in the living room, probably cooking up a scheme to get in your pockets. You know, the usual,” he added, as if Chandelle wasn’t already well aware of Dior’s long-term bouts of mischievous behavior and her lack of funds. As she climbed out of bed, Marvin watched her nude body glide across the room. His expression conveyed how he’d rather she stayed to perform some of the intimate pleasures of life, but after Chandelle had cloaked herself in the woman’s version of his stylish robe, his hopes up and fluttered away.
    â€œDior? Are you all right?” Chandelle whispered, with remnants of pleasure deferred in her voice.
    Dior, possessing the inexhaustible ability to drum up nifty lies at a moment’s notice, reached deep down inside her soul and came off with a world-class doozy. “Ohhh, Chandelle,” she moaned. “I didn’t want to bother y’all, but I need some money.”
    â€œDior, you’ve got to be kidding me. I have some business of my own to sort out, too, and it was about to click so…Can’t this wait? And anyway, what happened between you and Kevlin? Did he get rough with you?”
    â€œChandelle, I wouldn’t even be here but I ain’t got nowhere else to turn. I’m late on my rent, again, and now they done went and locked me out.” She had been summoned with a pending eviction and her locks had been changed, so that much was true. “Please, don’t be that way. You don’t know what I’ve been through. Kevlin kicked me curbside last night just like you said he would. He had some freak coming over and cussed me until I felt so bad I ran out of there. After my key didn’t work at the apartment, I used my fist to bust the bedroom window to climb in and get some necessary stuff. When the mean old lady who lives upstairs heard me, she said she was calling the