Provocation SAMPLE (Book 3 of The Conquest Series)

Chapter Three

"Mom?"

"In here, dear."

Leila walked into the kitchen to see her mother stirring some sort of sauce in a pan. It was white and fragrant and made her mouth water. But it looked too thin, and Leila knew it would be a while until the sauce was thick enough for the noodles.

"Dad home yet?" Leila asked, almost wincing at the question. Her mother sighed, shaking her head slightly.

"No, he had to work late," her mother told her, an edge to her voice.

Leila knew what that meant. The only "work" he stayed late for was getting under one of the females in the secretary pool's skirts. Most likely his latest conquest, Veronica Plant, his latest in a long line of PA's.

Her mouth set, Leila gave her mother a kiss on the cheek before sitting down at the table and placing her purse on top of it. "Did he say when he'd be here?" Leila's voice was tight with frustration. Why wouldn't her mother just leave the philandering fucker already? Leila would have in a heartbeat if she was in her position.

"He said he'd be here when he'd be here," Mrs. Winters told her daughter and took a moment to stir the thick, flat noodles in the larger pot on the stove.

Though the Winters had enough money to hire help around the house, her mother always insisted she needed no help cleaning house or cooking. Most other wives in their social circle had housekeepers to do these chores, but Leila had a feeling that her mother's need to do these things herself stemmed from a deeper issue.

Her husband. Who wanted to add another female to the household that her father could possibly find attractive and fuck? He had his other dalliances at work, and her mother was not one to add fuel to a fire.

Angelica Latham had married Stephen Winters at the age of 23, and by the time she was 24, she was pregnant with their only child, Leila. After giving birth, Stephen seemed to find less time for his wife, and Angelica had always wondered if the once flat tummy, now saggy and riddles with stretch-marks, had something to do with his disinterest in her after giving birth. Mrs. Winters had wanted at least two children, but Stephen had gotten snipped on the sly a couple of years after Leila was born. They had almost divorced over that. In hindsight, Leila thought, it probably would have been for the best.

Leila didn't mind being an only child. For a while she had envied Violet for having an older sibling. That was until the aforementioned older sibling had turned into a downright pain in the ass.

"Well, maybe it'll be just you and me then tonight," Leila said, feigning a chipper tone. "It'll be like a girls night in. We can watch crap reality TV and gossip like teenagers."

"Or like two old biddies at Bingo Night," her mother said as she smiled slightly. She was forever making jokes about feeling old and being past her prime. Leila blamed her father for her mother's downtrodden and self-deprecating demeanor. If the man gave his wife half the attention he gave his secretaries, Angelica wouldn't have been the quiet, almost submissive creature she was.

Though Leila got her spunk from her father, she did not carry too many of his other traits. In fact, the only other trait was probably their healthy sexual appetites. Whereas Leila's could be seen as normal, her father's was nothing short of two-timing and vile.

Ironically enough, her father was the one that always bothered her about settling down. Or at least dating one man for longer than a week or two. Her mother knew her better, though, and realized deep down why Leila didn't settle down. With a father like Stephen, who would trust any man?

"Did you pick out a dress for the wedding yet?" Leila established a safe topic for discussion.

"Yes, I did," her mother told her, a true smile curving her lips finally. "I'll show you after dinner and maybe we can catch up over a couple glasses of wine."