The Ultimate Betrayal Read online

  Back of the Book

  Lara is a successful, beautiful, charming, financier. She is also a total control freak, so whatever Lara wants, Lara makes sure she gets. Lara has a secret and is playing a dangerous game that might end up costing her everything she values…money and love.

  Rachel is Lara’s fun loving, charming, irresistible wife. Her charisma is equal to her beauty, warmth, and compassion.

  Sophia’s surprise visit to see Lara sets in motion a number of life changing events for them all. But just who is Sophia?

  Add Joy, Sophia’s opinionated best friend, and you have the recipe for a fast paced romance complete with satisfying twists and turns.

  Hell has no fury like a woman scorned.

  The Ultimate Betrayal

  © 2016 by Annette Mori

  Affinity E-Book Press NZ LTD.

  Canterbury, New Zealand

  1st Edition

  ISBN: 978-0-908351-82-4

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any form without the express permission of the author and publisher. Please note that piracy of copyrighted materials violate the author’s rights and is illegal.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, character, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Editor: Nat Burns

  Proof Editor: Alexis Smith

  Cover Design: Irish Dragon Designs

  Acknowledgments

  A huge thank you to JM Dragon who helped tighten the first draft with her insightful feedback on how to improve the manuscript. Of course, I once again have to acknowledge Erin O’Reilly who helped me with the re-writes based on JM’s advice. Often a writer is so close to the work that a needed friend can help them see the light. Erin gives of her time freely, without the expectation of anything in return. I am honored to call her a friend and loved having a chance to meet her in person at GCLS.

  I would also like to express my gratitude to Affinity Press and the wonderful trio (JM Dragon, Erin O'Reilly and Nancy Kaufman) who continue to support this new and somewhat unconventional writer. I am eternally grateful for the opportunities they give me to let my stories see the light of day.

  On my journey, I elicited advice from my older sister, Val, who gave me valuable feedback that helped shape the final version of the story. She continues to be an incredible encouragement to me. My other beta readers include, Sharlie and favorite fan, Gail. Gail especially gave me feedback about my need to spruce up my sex scenes and with this novel, she noted that I’ve come a long way. My other family members who were also very supportive, include my nephew, Aaron and his wife, Chelsea, and my little sister, Kim. I always enjoy working with the beta editor and Kay Carney helped to improve my story.

  Thanks to Nat Burns for her magic again as the final editor to tighten the story even further. Inevitably, there are those pesky final errors that slip through and I am thankful that the final proof editor, Alexis Smith, caught those before the book went to print.

  Nancy Kaufman is a rock star with her covers. Nancy is also a promoter extraordinaire.

  A huge thanks to all the other readers and fellow writers who have sent personal e-mails, written reviews, and posted nice things on Facebook (you know who you are). The Affinity authors are an especially supportive group and often share posts or send words of encouragement. Finally, my wife, Jody, continues her support even when it interferes with our weekend time.

  Dedication

  To all the fans, especially Gail, who continue to support my books. To my wife who I love dearly for her patience when I get in a groove and ignore her during "our" weekend time.

  Also by Annette Mori

  Locked Inside

  Out of This World

  Asset Management

  The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Elves in Love

  (Affinity 2014 Christmas Collection)

  Love Forever, Live Forever

  The True Story of Valentine’s Day

  Vampire Pussy…Cat

  Nicky’s Christmas Miracle X3

  (It’s in Her Kiss Affinity’s Charity Anthology)

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty- one

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Chapter Twenty-three

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  About the Author

  Other Books by Affinity eBooks

  Chapter One

  Summer 2013

  Lara Beck smiled as she watched Rachel Mathis walk along the rose petal strewn path leading to the intricate gardens where they’d decided to get married.

  A flowing white dress clung to Rachel’s athletic body and there was no argument that Rachel made a stunning bride. Her hair fell in soft waves across her shoulders and shimmered in the sunshine as the highlights reflected the rays of the sun.

  As Lara took Rachel’s hands in her own, she looked into sapphire eyes that reflected nothing but love. Lara felt like the luckiest woman in the world. Rachel had been difficult to ensnare, but she’d won her heart.

  The only other time Lara had felt the same way toward a woman was eight years ago when she’d watched her first love walk down the aisle in New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Her emotions had been so intense then that she’d almost convinced herself she would be able to remain faithful. Lara couldn’t help thinking about her first marriage, today of all days.

  Lara shook her head to bring herself back to the present and the beautiful woman in front of her, who was ready to say her vows. They both had written their own words and Lara was excited to hear what Rachel would say.

  “Lara, I never thought someone would capture my heart until I met you. Your relentless pursuit and never-ending passion takes my breath away every time we come together. I cannot imagine ever growing tired of you. I’m afraid our combustible desire for one another will burn so brightly that it will leave nothing behind but blissful ashes, but I’m willing to take the chance at a love that I suspect I’ll never find again. Thank you for never giving up your pursuit. I love you. Now let’s do this,” Rachel said.

  Lara laughed and started reciting her own vows. “The moment I met you, I knew I had to make you mine. You were worth every bit of energy I put into wooing you. I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman who sparked my interest quite like you. When we come together it is like poetry in motion—fiery poetry. I couldn’t resist circling your orbit because the gravitational pull was just too great. I love you, too, and will always celebrate the day I met you at that cheesy fundraiser.”

  “Hey, I planned that event. There was nothing cheesy about it,” Rachel argued.

  Lara chuckled. “Just teasing, hon. Can we get to the I do’s now, please?”

  †

  On the eve of her second marriage, Lara pondered what love, sex, and marriage meant to her. Of course, those thoughts didn’t make it into her vows.

  Lara didn’t think there was anything wrong with using sex to further her
business interests. In her opinion, too many people had hang-ups about sex. She’d been told that she was a lot like a man in her perspective, but to her, love and sex were not the same thing. She could have sex with someone and not love them. She was a healthy, sexually active woman who could appreciate that sometimes sex was just a means to an end or a physical release without the added complication of love. Of course, it was a bonus if you loved the person you were having sex with. She would concede to that point.

  If there was one thing she despised, it was a double standard. It was 2015 and men no longer cornered the market on sex, power, and control.

  Marriage, in her estimation, tended to suck the excitement out of sex, which is why men and women took mistresses. It was practically a requirement for ambitious, successful executives. Lara reasoned that, to maintain a healthy marriage, it might be necessary to venture outside the boundaries of matrimony and that had nothing to do with whether or not she loved her wife.

  Deep down Lara adored her wife but humans were not designed to be monogamous. She’d listened to an anthropology professor lecture that only seventeen percent of human cultures were monogamous. That lecture stuck with her and helped justify her behavior.

  She believed that if she had the stamina and the resources to keep multiple lovers satisfied, what would it hurt? Perhaps some might judge her and believe she had impulse control issues. Fuck them. She had the world at her feet and nothing would stop her from taking every bite out of life.

  Chapter Two

  Summer 2005

  Sophia Torre squinted into the bright sunshine as she looked up at the familiar brick building. The City University of New York campus felt like home. She’d spent four glorious years here before attending Rutgers University for her doctorate. She was grateful to be back in New York but anxious about her interview with Dr. Francine Forester. She didn’t have anything against New Jersey, but it wasn’t New York.

  Dr. Forester was her favorite professor when she’d attended CUNY, earning her undergraduate degree from the innovative LGBT studies program. She’d wanted to absorb every bit of information from the course and had managed to get a choice internship with the warm-hearted professor. Dr. Forester was instrumental in Sophia’s decision to pursue her doctorate. Now, Sophia was back, after the professor had tracked her down to ask her to consider a position in that same life changing program.

  Joy, her best friend, was delighted to have Sophia back in New York. During their conversation last week, she’d told Sophia that New York was where she belonged.

  Sophia retrieved her cell phone from her purse when she heard the muffled ring.

  “Hello,” Sophia answered.

  “Hey, gorgeous. I just wanted to call and wish you luck. Not that you will need it. Call me as soon as the interview is finished and we can celebrate—just like old times. You, me, a bar full of hot women to choose from, and an intimate party back at my place afterwards. You’ve become a huge disappointment since starting grad school. Who knew Jersey would be so bad for you. They must have beautiful women in New Jersey, so what’s the deal?” Joy asked.

  “Don’t start with me. Graduate school was not a walk in the park and I wanted to do well so I could return to New York. No celebration plans until I know whether I’ve got the job or not.”

  “Oh ple-eze, she called you. Remember? You are going to rake in the little baby dykes. Their program will grow to epic proportions with a hot professor like you. That Dr. Forester is a shrewd one. She knows that you will draw in more students,” Joy insisted.

  “Gotta go. I promise to call after the interview. Don’t buy the champagne just yet. Okay?”

  “Righteo, but I got a good feeling and it’s about time you came back. I missed hanging out with my best bud. Talk to you soon. Love ya.”

  “Love you too, goofball.”

  Sophia closed her cell phone, took a deep breath, and walked up the stairs to face what she hoped would be her future.

  †

  Sophia’s high heels sounded unusually loud as she walked down the hall. The echo reverberated in the empty corridor. Students were always sparse during the summer term. She smiled as she trod familiar territory.

  She knew her way around the building and like a homing pigeon she found herself in front of the door where she’d spent countless hours discussing everything from politics to religion, helping her favorite professor with whatever research project she was working on at the time. The small conference room was a short distance from Dr. Forester’s office.

  Sophia knocked on the door.

  The five foot tall prof, with curly brown hair that always looked disheveled, opened the door, and pulled her into a warm hug. “Sophia, you look wonderful. I am so delighted you are interested in our position. I can’t think of a better fit for our program.”

  Dr. Forester was a quirky middle-aged woman who seemed to love every part of her job but obviously reveled in the energy and enthusiasm of her students. Sophia knew that, as a gifted teacher, Dr. Forrester would never completely give up teaching for a job that required her to spend one hundred percent of her time on administrative tasks. Sophia admired that.

  “Thank you for thinking of me, Dr. Forester.”

  “Stop with the Dr. Forester. Call me Francine. After all, we are going to be colleagues shortly.”

  Sophia chuckled. “I thought this was an interview.”

  Francine waved her arm in the air. “Merely a formality. Come in, come in. Can I get you some coffee or tea?”

  “No, thanks.” Sophia took a seat at the conference table.

  Francine poured herself a cup of coffee and sat at the head of the table next to Sophia. “Let’s get right to it. We’d like you to start teaching some of the one hundred level classes in the LGBT studies program, but intersperse some of them with the upper level courses. I know the youngsters can tire a person out, so we’re not expecting you to take the entire entry-level curriculum. I don’t suspect it will take you very long to achieve tenure. The pay is horrific as an associate professor, but the hours are divine and eventually you’ll do okay when you become a full professor. We always have someone on sabbatical, so I can make sure you have a place to stay where you won’t have to pay an outrageous amount of rent. That should help with expenses for the first few years until you become a full professor. Any questions?”

  “Am I to understand that you are offering me an associate professor position?” Sophia asked.

  “Well, yes, of course. I didn’t track you down to have coffee. Although we will have to find some time to get together after all this is settled so we can catch up properly. I have a contract right here for you to sign.”

  “Um, okay.” Sophia laughed. “Why the heck not? The program meant so much to me as an undergrad, I guess I can’t really see myself teaching anywhere else but CUNY. Just how crummy is the salary?”

  “I pushed a little and got you sixty thousand to start, even though there is a collective bargaining agreement I was supposed to adhere to. Human Resources hates dealing with me because I pointed out that the union contract has a clause allowing the university to pay above scale. They spouted some crap about fairness and equity, but I went above them to the president.” Francine grinned and pushed the contract toward Sophia.

  Sophia glanced at the piece of paper in front of her and turned to the final page, noting the line for her signature.

  Francine handed her a pen and two minutes later, the deal was done.

  “Welcome to CUNY. Oh, by the way, we have a couple of big fundraisers each year and it would be a crime not to take advantage of your good looks and charm. Can I count on you to attend both of them? There are a lot of prominent women who attend and a few of them have very deep pockets.” Francine waved her arm in the air. “I know, don’t lecture me on feminism and all that crap. Do you really believe that Gloria Steinem would have been as popular as she was if she looked more like me? Welcome to the politics of academia.”

  Chapter Three

&
nbsp; Winter 2005

  Sophia hated attending the stuffy fundraisers for her college, but she didn’t want to let Francine down. The annual holiday black tie fundraiser that brought in money from affluent New Yorkers and alumni, was the first of many that she was expected to attend.

  Sophia hung toward the back of the room, practically plastered to the wall, sipping her glass of Riesling, when she noticed a stunning honey blonde prowling confidently into the room. In Sophia’s mind, prowl was the right word because the woman seemed to have a kind of animal magnetism about her. She reminded Sophia of a sleek lion or leopard. When the woman came closer, Sophia came face to face with brilliant green eyes. Sophia remembered seeing a friend’s pictures of her African safari where a leopard peered back at her with the same color eyes as this woman.

  The fundraiser no longer seemed boring to her as she locked eyes with the woman. A slow, sure, grin made its way across the woman’s face as she came closer. Sophia felt like she was this woman’s prey for the evening. Somehow, the thought of this woman hunting her was not at all unappealing.