month. I figured we’d get just a few made up, then set up some test beds in our boutiques along the strip.” Bermin Beauty had three stores devoted to their collections, but many of their clothes were sold in high-end boutiques in the southern states, where beachwear and high style were sought after.
They owned their own sewing contractor business, complete with a small collection of expert sewers, to do the actual labor of creating their clothing. Stacey, Amy and Melissa typically fashioned the patterns. Joy would nail down the materials, on Stacey’s say-so. Once everyone was satisfied with the overall product, depending upon its popularity, Miles might make the decision to hire a few other contractors. But the key to their success, thus far, had been that one couldn’t purchase a Bermin item from just anywhere. Not in a Target or Macy’s or Nordstrom’s. Only independently run businesses that could afford a bigger price tag met Miles’s and Stacey’s standards.
“Okay, do it.” Miles lifted his hand from her book and glanced around at the small space they had leased in North Miami to complement their main store in the Miami Design District—a primo spot they paid through the nose for, but which advertised their wares to the clientele that kept them in the black.
“I could get it done sooner if I wasn’t the pride’s new FL,” she said, pushing her luck.
“The what?” He frowned.
“Female Liaison. My job is to make sure we females aren’t getting screwed over, like when Lex was in power.”
He nodded slowly. “That’s not a bad idea.”
“It was Quince’s.”
At his name, her brother scowled. “Let’s talk about him, since you brought him up.”
“Oh, let’s.” Time to stop dancing around her big brother’s distaste. Joy liked Quince. Hell, her cat loved him, and to her anxiety, she thought she might be falling in love with him too. And so what if she was? Did she have to have Miles’s permission to date the guy? Hell no. But it bothered her that he didn’t like Quince. Though Miles acted like he disdained Dean, Stacey’s mate, he’d secretly confided that he thought Dean was the best mate Stacey could have chosen. That he didn’t mind her sisters living so far away from them, protected by another pride, spoke to his trust for the Chastells and the Catamount Pride in general.
“You can’t trust Quince.” He stepped closer to her and took her hand in his. “Honey, I love you. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
She didn’t understand his insistence Quince would harm her. “He’s a good man, Miles.”
“He’s a backstabbing traitor.”
“He didn’t side with Lex.” She knew that for a fact. “Michael was his idol. You know that.”
“Which is why I had such a hard time believing Quince might have harmed him. Or that he’d raped then killed Alissa’s cousin.”
“Yeah.” His lips thinned and he let Joy go. “I held Belinda in my arms, watched the light fade from her eyes. She told me what had happened, what Quince had done. Hell, I saw him flee the scene.”
“No. No way.” Joy knew to her bones Miles was wrong about this. “Quince might be a lot of things, but he’d never resort to rape. Geez, Miles. He’s hot. He doesn’t have to.”
“You’re a woman. You know a man don’t rape because he can’t get the girl. It’s a power trip. A violent, evil rush he gets from abusing others. And you know Quince bullied Maya and Norton Jeffries. He broke the old man’s wrist, for Christ’s sake.”
“I know. He had to hurt them so Lex would leave them alone. But no way he hurt Belinda.” Yet Quince had never mentioned her to Joy. Why not? Even as doubt plagued her, she forced it away. One thing she knew to her soul—Quince had been raised to respect women. His mother, sister, Michael…they’d all had a hand in grooming him to be a fine man. He made mistakes. Who didn’t? But rape a woman? No way in hell.
Miles grimaced. “I admit I’m on the fence about him raping Belinda. That just seems so out of character… But then, I never would have imagined he’d side with Lex either. What do I really know?”
“Apparently, not much.” Hell, he didn’t even trust her to know her own mind.
“And what about your sister?”
“What about her?”
“Quince wanted Stacey. When she wouldn’t have him, he pushed the idea at Lex to claim her. That’s why Lex was so fixated.”
“Who the hell told you that?”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It sure the hell does.” She gripped him by the sleeve of his designer polo. “Who?”
“Alissa told me, okay? She might not be your favorite person, but it was her cousin who died. And Lex almost killed her too.”
“Really? When? Because from everything I’ve heard about the bitch, she was nearly Mrs. Lex Gates until Lex caught sight of Stacey and blew her off.”
“She…no. Alissa’s self-centered and yeah, at times petty. I know that. But she wouldn’t lie about something like that.”
“Wouldn’t she?” Joy snorted, pissed off at her close-minded brother. “You just can’t admit you’re wrong about Quince, can you? Because maybe Belinda lied. Maybe she was in with her best buddy, Alissa, the woman who was nearly a sister to her. Remember them? Thick as thieves lording how beautiful and wonderful they were over the rest of us poor slobs.”
“They did?”
“Oh please. Don’t look surprised.” She shouldn’t be talking bad about the dead, but Belinda had been nearly as bad as Alissa with her vanity. “Neither you nor Quince would give those women the time of day. Then all of a sudden, Lex is here with his bullies, and the Roberto women happen to be drawn to power. My bet is Belinda tried tangling with the wrong cat and unfortunately paid for it. Then to screw with you and Quince, she lied about what happened.
“Honestly, until Lex arrived, had you ever had reason to suspect Quince of anything that heinous?”
“Well, no.” He frowned. “But I saw Belinda… She was so hurt, Joy.” Miles looked pained.
“I hate to say it, but you’re a bigger sucker than I’d thought.”
“I know there are issues among the females. Women in groups tend to go for the jugular.”
She rolled her eyes. “Please. Most of the women in the pride actually get along. We’re not all horny teenagers and desperate singles trying to catch a man. A solid ten percent are bitchy shrews. And guess what ten percent Alissa and her dead cousin belong to?” She felt badly for what had happened to Belinda, but that was no excuse for dragging Quince down with her.
Miles looked undecided, a first for her brother. “No. I’m sorry. I can’t believe a woman would lie about something like that.”
“Idiot. Women lie about shit all the time. About being pregnant, about their ages, weights, finances. We’re human—well, kind of. You know what I mean. The felines around here might be prettier and stronger than human women, but we have the same flaws. God, get your head out of your ass and think about it. Quince was your best friend nearly your entire life. So you got busy with business, and he started doing more for the pride the last few years. You know Quince. Would you really take Alissa’s word over his on something like this?”
Miles seemed troubled. He looked away from her and glanced back at her portfolio. “I want you to add the cover up and the matching skirts to the order as well.”
She gripped her hair and pulled on it so she wouldn’t wrap her fingers around Miles’s thick neck. “Did you hear anything I said?”
“I don’t doubt all of Miami Beach heard you,” he snapped. “I don’t have time to dwell on the past. Just on the now. I have business matters to straighten out here. Since Lex is no longer a concern, I can take the time to reestablish our presence in the boutiques. I have people to see, things to do—”
“
“Joy.” His disapproval made her want to smack him.
“Stop avoiding the fact that you’re wrong about him.
“If this is so you can keep seeing him with my permission, I—”
“Fuck your permission. This is about making the pride strong again. Lex’s followers aren’t exactly gone, you
