Madge had changed into something skimpy and revealing. She pushed open the master bedroom door, there to seduce Everard.
He panicked instantly, glancing back at me asleep in bed before scrambling up to shove her out into the hallway.
His voice came next, deliberately kept low.
"Madge, why are you here now?"
"Iris is back. What if she sees us? How would we explain this?"
Madge shot a contemptuous look in my direction.
"So what if she sees?"
"Everard, you promised me tonight. You said tonight you were mine."
"Wasn't she supposed to stay at the beach house for another two months? What the hell is she doing back here, ruining our plans..."
Everard's expression darkened. He reached out and clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Keep your voice down. She's emotionally unstable right now. If she makes a scene, none of us walk away clean."
Madge pried his hand away, her eyes burning with resentment.
"She's just being dramatic."
"It's a little bit of depressive hormones. She throws herself off ledges and slits her wrists every other day, and she still hasn't managed to die."
"If she wasn't squatting in the seat of Mrs. Delgado, would we even need to sneak around like this?"
Inside the room, I opened my eyes slowly. My fingers twisted into the sheets.
Outside the door, Madge nestled into Everard's arms, her voice dripping with honeyed petulance.
"Everard, I don't care. I want you with me right now. Knowing she's lying in there makes me sick."
He was quiet for a moment. Then his tone softened, caving.
"Fine. But you have to promise to keep it down. Tonight, I'm all yours..."
The two of them fell onto the couch in a tangle of lips and limbs.
It didn't take long.
Madge's moans spilled out, rising and falling in shameless rhythm.
Everard kept craning his neck toward the bedroom door, freeing one hand to cover her mouth.
"You little temptress. You're going to be the death of me."
"Not a sound."
Madge's eyes were glazed, her face smug.
"What are you so worried about? That glass of juice you handed Iris yourself? I slipped sleeping pills into it."
Everard exhaled in relief. He gripped the back of her head and kissed her.
"Clever girl."
The two of them wrapped around each other, lost in their tender little affair.
The next morning, Everard came back to the bedroom. When he saw I was already awake, he immediately put on a gentle smile and reached out to stroke my hair.