Beyond the Breaking Point (3 page)

Later that day, they drove through the security gate of the resort complex, laughing and triumphant. Cassidy had what her father affectionately termed “her shopper’s glow.” It was that intensely satisfied feeling she got whenever she managed to purchase a lot of really neat items for little or no money. The flea market had been a gold mine of treasures, but they hadn’t limited themselves to just the one. International Drive proved to be a conglomeration of malls, restaurants and everything else a vacationer could wish for.

“We’ve been gone all day. You think they’ll be mad?” Cassidy asked. The last time she’d checked in with Phillip he’d assured her he was fine and for her to have fun. She’d taken her husband at his word and thrown herself wholeheartedly into her shopping. That had been hours ago.

“Naw, besides, we brought Chinese, didn’t we? When I talked to Amber, she was lying out by the pool, working on her tan. I got the feeling she wasn’t missing me at all,” Max confessed with a rueful grin.

Cassidy chuckled. “I heard a game playing in the background so I doubt Phillip’s missing me all that much, either.” Her husband loved sports, all sports. Give him a game and a beer and he was a happy camper. Since there was a six-pack of tall cans in the fridge and a big forty-six- inch screen at the resort, Cassidy doubted her absence was noted either.

Max patted his pocket where a square-shaped lump protruded. “You’re sure she’ll like the ring?”

“She’d be an idiot not to,” Cassidy assured for what seemed like the hundredth time. “It’s gorgeous.” And expensive, she added mentally, which was all she thought Amber would really care about.

The ring featured a one-carat square solitaire diamond set in platinum with more diamonds lining the slim band. The engagement ring was designed to sit inside the wedding band, which had even more diamonds scattered as accents on the band. The whole thing set Max back a pretty penny, but as he’d explained, he only planned on doing this once so he might as well do it right.

“Cassidy,” Max said in a completely un-Max-like tone, “I really appreciate your assistance today.”

She waved his thanks away.

“I’m not finished,” he chided quietly as they wound their way down the lane to reach their unit. “You’re a classy lady. I’ve always thought so. Phillip’s a lucky bastard to have you.”

Cassidy shifted in her leather seat, both pleased and embarrassed by the compliment. “Thank you.”

“You know I make it a policy to stay out of your and Phillip’s business…”

That’s true
, she acknowledged.

“…but I want you to know I thought what he did was really shitty, and I told him so at the time. I’m glad for his sake that you two managed to work things out but if you’d divorced him, I wouldn’t have blamed you one bit. You deserved better.”

Cassidy blinked. That was the most personal thing Max had ever said to her in all the years she’d known him. As Phillip’s best friend, he and Amber spent a lot of time with them socializing, but he was her husband’s friend—not hers—and she and Amber had never clicked the way Max and Phillip had hoped they would. The way
she’d
hoped they would by nature of the sheer amount of time they spent together as couples.

Max and Phillip had met in undergraduate school when they’d been assigned the same dorm room. They’d clicked, becoming good friends. After being accepted to the same law school, they’d shared an apartment. Max had been Phillip’s best man when she and Phillip married. They’d interned and eventually were hired on with the same, A-list law firm upon passing the Bar.

Knowing she needed to say something, she settled on, “Thanks, Max. You saying so means a lot to me.”

“Yeah, well…” He seemed to flounder. “I wanted you to know.”

She laid a hand briefly on his arm. “Thank you.”

As an uncomfortable silence descended, Cassidy allowed her thoughts to drift back to the time when she and Phillip had come close to divorcing. It had taken over a year of intensive counseling to salvage their marriage, and had been another six months before Cassidy had allowed herself to believe that they just might make it “till death do us part.”

Now their marriage was much more stable. They still had issues—and really, what relationship didn’t?—but Cassidy felt confident in their willingness and ability to work through their problems. Or to seek outside help when communication channels broke down. According to her parents, that ability was the hallmark of any lasting marriage.

In fact, she was so sure they’d make it that after much debate and discussion, earlier this year she’d finally agreed with Phillip that it was time to start their family. From the very beginning, on the same night he’d proposed, Phillip had made no secret of his desire for a large family. Coming from a single-parent home where he was an only child, he’d always lamented the fact that he’d grown up without siblings. Cassidy, also an only child, had been raised in an upper-middle class, two-income home where she’d always had the love and support of her parents and been content with her status as the sole focus of her parents’ attention.

She had been amenable to the idea as long as the money was there to support them. Fortunately, lack of money had never been one of their marital issues. They both had demanding, time-consuming, lucrative careers. Phillip was a trial lawyer specializing in workman’s compensation cases and she a doctor specializing in obstetrics. Their combined incomes afforded them a nice home, expensive vehicles, and growing savings accounts.

She touched her abdomen. Maybe this week, during what Phillip called their “second honeymoon,” it would happen.

The slowing of the vehicle brought Cassidy out of her musings. Max turned into the lot in front of their unit and parked the car in the closest spot he could find to the entrance. They both exited the car and stood looking at their purchases. They glanced at each other and the three flights of stairs they’d have to climb to reach their unit, before glancing back at the mountain of shopping bags covering the rear.

Cassidy smirked. “Guess we kind of overdid the shopping thing, huh?”

Max wagged a finger at her. “No, ma’am. There’s no we involved. The majority of these bags are yours.”

“Uh-huh, but the golf clubs aren’t,” she pointed out.

He winced. “Yeah, those are mine, but I can leave them in the trunk.” He glanced at their purchases again. “We might need reinforcements.”

Cassidy dug her cell phone out of her purse and sent her husband a text.
Need help. Come down.
“I’ll grab the food and take it up. Phillip should be down any second, that is, if he’s not asleep on the couch. If so, the smell of it should get him up and moving. You think Amber’s still by the pool?”

Max cast a glance at the sky where the mid-summer sun still shined bright. “Most likely.”

“You’d better call and let her know we brought dinner. She should be getting hungry by now,” Cassidy advised. She looped her purse over one arm and then hefted the two brown paper bags full of little Chinese boxes. The heavenly aroma that wafted up from the contents made her mouth water. “You know, on second thought, this food smells so good, maybe we should eat first and worry about the stuff later.”

Max looked at her and grinned. “Hungry?”

“Starved.” She used her hip to close the passenger side door and headed for the stairs, more than ready to eat.

“Will anything break if I consolidate some of these?” he called after her.

She paused and thought of the contents. “No, I don’t think so. The breakables are wrapped pretty tight.” In addition to clothes and shoes, Cassidy had done some souvenir shopping for family and friends back home.

“In that case, I may be able to get most, if not all, of these. Hold up a minute.”

She waited patiently while he scrounged around in the backseat. A lot of the vendors used plastic grocery bags that looped easily over the forearm. Some used paper, but those were for smaller items that should easily fit into larger ones. Mindful that she’d have to pack all of her purchases for the plane home, other than the two pairs of shoes she simply couldn’t pass up, she’d limited herself to clothes, jewelry, hair accessories and the like.

“I know your arms are full, but if you can get a few of these lighter ones, I think we can manage.”

Cassidy crossed over to him, set the paper bags holding the food on the hood, and held out an arm. “Hook ’em here.” As he complied, she asked, “What about your clubs? I thought you were putting those in the trunk?”

“I think they’ll be safe. This isn’t the type of place where you have to worry about break-ins.”

She glanced once more at their luxurious surroundings. “True.”

“Ready?” Max asked as he locked the door and slipped the keys in his shorts’ pocket.

“Yes.” She scooped the food bags into her arms and led the way.

They could have used the elevator, but the three-sectioned, U-shaped building only had one, which was in the middle. They’d parked on the far end, near their unit. The stairs weren’t fun, but she managed. It helped that they were the kind that wrapped around with a short landing every twelve or so steps. Less stress on the thigh muscles. Still, by the time they reached their front door, she was breathing heavy. 

“I need to hit the gym while we’re here,” she panted musingly.

Max laughed. “You’re in great shape and you know it. Don’t you jog?”

“On the treadmill, at the gym, when I get the chance. That, a bit of free weights and yoga, but maybe I need to add the stair climber to my routine. Can you reach your key? Mine’s in my purse.”

Max slid the card in the slot and waited for the light to switch to green before pushing down the handle. The door opened with a quiet snick. He stood to the side for Cassidy to enter first.

The layout of the condo was simple. It opened into a small foyer, off which was the entrance to the two bedrooms—master suite on the left and guest on the right. Then came a short hallway containing the second bathroom on the right, a small closet containing the washer and dryer and a fairly large pantry shielded by sliding doors on the left. The rest of the floor plan was open. The kitchen sat on the right with a bar opening up to the dining room that flowed into the living room. The living room opened up onto a balcony, overlooking the manmade lake. It was all done in shades of coral and slate blue, with a seashell motif on the wallpaper trim. Cassidy loved the upscale casual feel to the place.

She detoured into the guest bedroom to drop her purchases on the bed with Max right behind her. She could hear a football game playing on the television in the living room, so loud it was a wonder the neighbors weren’t banging on the wall. Phillip’s cell with the charger plugged in sitting on the bedside table answered the question why her husband hadn’t come down or answered her text.

“Here, give me the food. I’ll take it into the kitchen,” Max instructed.

As she passed him the bags, she said, “Save me some Moo Shu.”

“Yeah, right. You’d better hurry. I’m not making any promises,” he teased.

Deciding organizing her purchases could wait, Cassidy was a few steps behind Max when he exited the bedroom. She detoured to the bathroom to wash her hands and was within hand’s reach of the sink when from the kitchen there came a loud crash that sounded like furniture being overturned.

“Max!” Amber screeched, sounding horrified.

Almost on top of Amber she heard Max bellow, “
You god-damned cheating whore
!”

Chapter Two

Heart in her throat, Cassidy dashed out of the restroom only to come jerking to a halt. Feet frozen to the tile floor, she stared at the tableau before her.

Amber stood in the middle of the living room, lips swollen, bikini bottoms riding so low the smooth skin of her hairless mound was revealed. She clutched a scrap of fabric the same color as her bottoms to her abundant, heaving bare breasts. Her long blonde hair was mussed, as though fingers had recently played in it.
Or like she’d just finished having sex
, Cassidy’s dark side whispered. Amber’s weight shifted nervously from one foot to the other as she stared beseechingly at Max.

Phillip stood near the couch, dressed in the same blue muscle T-shirt and basketball shorts he’d had on when she left, but now said shorts and underwear pooled around his ankles, his shiny cock standing at attention. His handsome, dark-complexioned face had a scowl on it, his eyes were narrowed in a ferocious glare, and his meaty fists were clenched by his sides.

The crash must have been the sound of the coffee table, which lay on its side. Surrounding it were a couple of empty beer cans, a large bag of chips with a good portion of its contents scattered around, the remotes, a small plant holder and the remains of what must have been the table decoration.

Max stood, feet braced apart, fists in a white-knuckled grip on the kitchen countertop as though he were physically restraining himself from launching his lean muscular body at Amber. He leaned forward like a tightly wound spring, almost vibrating with fury.

And her, standing slightly behind and to the side of Max in the hallway, hand covering her mouth to keep from crying out, still as a marble statue and body just as cold. Everything seemed suspended, like she was encased underwater in a soundproof bubble.

Then Phillip spoke and everything came roaring to life. “Man, it’s not what you think. Well, it is, but I didn’t initiate this. You know I wouldn’t do that to you. I was sleep on the couch, minding my own damn business when she came at me—”

“That’s a lie!” Amber yelled. “Don’t you dare stand there and play the innocent role. You don’t think I saw the way you watched me when I came out of the room in my suit?”

Phillip scowled. “Hell yeah I looked. I’m a man, not a eunuch, and you obviously wanted me to notice you. You came out here, tits bouncing, ass on display and thought I’d turn my head? But I didn’t ask you to stick your hands down my pants while I was sleeping.”

Hands now planted on her hips, Amber leaned forward aggressively. Cassidy couldn’t stop her gaze from dropping to Amber’s abundant, perky, pink-nippled breasts. Unconsciously, she hunched her shoulders and crossed her arms over her much-smaller chest.