Chapter Seven

Mario knocked on Emily's hotel room door.

"Who's there?" she called.

"It's me," Mario said.

Emily cracked open the door and peeked outside. When she saw that it was Mario, she unlatched the lock and opened the door. "Thank God," she said. "I was so worried. Sonja said that you went looking for Kenton."

Mario sighed. "She shouldn't have told you that."

Emily closed and locked the door. "You shouldn't have done that, Mario. He's crazy. He could have killed you."

"He may be crazy, but he'd have had to use a gun to kill me." He sat down at the small table in the corner of the room and motioned for Emily to sit next to him. "Why didn't you stay with your parents?"

"I was afraid Kenton would show up over there," Emily said. "With as crazy as he has been behaving, I was afraid he would hurt one of them."

Mario took Emily's hands in his. "I have to tell you something about Kenton, and you are not going to believe me."

Emily's phone buzzed. She looked at the display. "It's Carol. I texted her earlier to let her know what was going on."

Mario's face tightened, and he nodded. He wondered if Carol knew that Damon had gone to a gay bar to meet Kenton.

"Hello," Emily said into the phone. She paused when she heard Carol sob, and then said, "Carol what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"This is my fault," Carol cried.

"What do you mean it's your fault?" Emily asked. She gave Mario a surprised look, but he looked away.

"Oh my God, Emily, I'm so sorry. Kenton…Kenton and I were having an affair."

"What!" Emily shouted into the phone, bringing Mario's eyes back to her.

"I had told him that I wanted to end the affair that morning, and he went ballistic. I guess that's why he didn't go to Louisville like he normally does," Carol said and sniffed.

Emily stood and started to pace. "Let me get this right," she said between gritted teeth. "You have been whining to me because you thought your husband was cheating on you, when you were, in fact, cheating with my husband."

"Yes, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Carol cried.

Emily pursed her lips, fury building up inside her. "So you think?" she asked tightly, "that Kenton abused me because he was mad at you?"

"Yes," Carol said, sniffing again. "He said that he was going to come to town to deal with me but when he got to the house Damon was home, and that seemed to make him even angrier." She blew her nose. "I told Damon everything, but he already knew."

"Damon knew about your affair with Kenton?"

"Yes, I don't know how but he did. We had a horrible fight. He said he was going to tell you. I wanted to tell you the night of the party after everyone else had left, but Kenton showed up. And then, and then," she started crying again. "He hurt you. I'm so sorry."

"Yes, you are!" Emily shouted. "You are a sorry little whore!" She threw the phone on the ground and stomped on it.

Mario jumped up and grabbed her. He wrapped his arms around her to make her stop stomping on the phone. Emily crumpled in his arms and began crying hysterically. Mario held her while she cried. She calmed somewhat after a few minutes, put her arms around Mario's waist and laid her head on his shoulder. "Why is this happening?"

"I don't know," he said. "But we need to talk."

Emily held onto him for a few minutes longer. She felt safe in his arms. She knew that she had grown too fond of him over the past few weeks working together, but she never considered stepping beyond the boundaries of friendship. She was married and took her vows seriously, even though she had questioned Kenton's fidelity, and now she knew he had been cheating, with Carol. She squeezed Mario harder and then let him go. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," he said quietly. "I have more to add to Carol's story."

Emily closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. "I could use one of your aunt's margaritas about now."

"I'd go get you some tequila, but I don't think you should have it with the pain medicine your taking."

"Oh, why not," she said bitterly. "Death might be a good thing right now."

He gripped her shoulders and made her look at him. "No, death is not a good thing right now." He took a deep breath. "I like you very much, and I know this is not the best time to tell you that. But you mean a lot to me, and I won't let you do anything foolish like kill yourself."

Emily let out another sigh. "I wouldn't really do that, and I like you very much too."

Mario smiled slightly. "We'll talk about that later, but now I have to give you some more troubling information.” He took Emily by the hand and led her to the table. He pulled out one of the chairs. "Sit."

Emily sat down wearily. Mario went to the bathroom and got them both a glass of water. He sat down across from her.

"Okay, let me have it," Emily said.

"After we left the hospital, I went with Aunt Sonja and Uncle Fernando to their house so they could get some clothes. Aunt Sonja was going to go to the big house and get some more stuff for you, but Kenton's car was there. I wanted to go to the house and kick his ass, but Aunt Sonja said no." Mario shifted in his seat and looked away. "After we went back to my cousin's house, where they are staying, I got in the truck and went back to your house."

"Mario, he has guns in the house," Emily gasped.

Mario shrugged. "He passed me on the road, so I turned around and followed him." Mario shifted uncomfortably again. "I followed him to a gay bar."

"What?" Emily shook her head. "Oh my God, this just gets better and better."

"Oh yeah," Mario agreed. "Carol's husband, Damon was there. I went right up to Kenton and apparently interrupted an argument they were having because Damon asked Kenton if he was fucking me, too."

"What?" Emily hissed.

"Yeah," Mario looked at the floor. "It was like they had a lover's quarrel."

Emily got up and started pacing again. "I can't believe this." She stopped and scratched her head with both hands, messing up her hair. She came back to the table and sat down. "Okay, so Carol says that she and Kenton were having an affair, and you found Kenton at a gay bar arguing with Damon like they were lovers."

"Yes," Mario confirmed.

"This is totally fucked up."

"Yes," Mario agreed.

"Wow," Emily said, rubbing her face with her hands. "I don't even know what to say or think about all this. This is insane." She got up and paced some more. "Wow," she said again, shaking her head.

Mario just nodded his head and watched Emily pace.

“I need to get out of here. What's open now? Not a bar, maybe a coffee shop or something."

Mario grinned, "I'm sure we can find a restaurant somewhere that's open. Plus, I'm starving. I haven't eaten all day."

"Me either," Emily said. She got her purse off the bed and followed Mario to the door. She touched his arm when they reached the door. "Would you mind staying here with me tonight? I really don't want to be alone."

"Of course," he said and gave her a slight hug. "I'll be here for you; anytime you need me."

Emily smiled and hugged him back. "Let's go get some food."