Bitch always did demand priority over my schedule.
Grumbling beneath my breath, I caught up to her, falling in step at her side. Catching Jamie’s presence peeking around a corner, I gave a subtle shake of my head. No damn lunch today.?
“You’re insufferable, as always,” I griped.
“You’re a bastard, as always,” she retorted, voice dripping with false sweetness. Hell, it almost sounded fond for her.
At the end of the hall, she paused to look both directions thoughtfully. “Shall we dine out by the decaying garden, or will the dining roomsuffice today?”
My hands curled into fists inside my pockets, clenching them tightly several times before forcing myself to relax.
“Garden. You’ll be pleased to see that I kept the dried-out corpses of your favorite orchids.” Let her see that they were as dead as our marriage.
“Hm. Delightful,” she said, unfazed, before turning down the hall towards the back door.
Once we were outside, seated at the wooden patio table, I leaned back in my chair to brace myself for whatever had brought her here on a whim. Waving my hand, a cigar appeared in one hand and a lighter in the other.
I had just flipped the top of the lighter and was seconds away from lighting up when Pia chose that moment to reveal her intentions.
“I’m getting married.”
All movements ceased, not even daring to blink at this announcement that was dropped onto my lap with the finesse of a grenade with the pin pulled. I sat there frozen for what likely was only a second or two but felt like several minutes.
Forcing my body to move, I lit the cigar pinned between my teeth.
“Hmph.”
It was my only outward reaction to news of Pia’s engagement. Other than a curious glance at her left hand, bare.
Interesting.
“That’s all you have to say?Hmph? Most politecompany gives some congratulatory sentiment.” A mix of offense and amusement hung on her words.
I laughed as I exhaled a smooth stream of smoke. Maybe the scent of tobacco would drown out that gods-awful perfume she wore.
“We both know I’m not polite.” I grinned as I took pleasure in the scowl etched onto her face.
Sitting up straighter in my seat, I tossed the lighter onto the table and took another thoughtful draw on the cigar. Using the time to collect my words. Finally, I spoke around the smoke seeping out of my mouth. “You want best wishes, Pia? Here you go: may the gods have mercy on the poor fucker’s soul after you wring every ounce of pain you can from it.”
“Charming,” she deadpanned. “At least Zane knows how to treat a woman like a queen, not an afterthought.”
I almost choked on the air itself. Coughing on a few fits of laughter, I placed a hand to my chest to alleviate the spasms of my lungs.
“Zane?” I choked his name out in disbelief. “Fuck. Good luck with that, Pia. Seriously. Man treats anything with two legs like a queen.” That was being generous. The number of legs usually didn’t factor into his extracurricular activities.
The skies above us darkened threateningly, a pop-up thunderstorm or just one pissed off fiancé eavesdropping on our conversation.
“Respectfully, of course.” I grudgingly muttered.
Coincidentally, the clouds slowly shifted, but the greylingered above as a distinct reminder of the looming presence.
Ready for another pull from my smoke, I lifted it to my lips only to be interrupted by the sound of something hitting glass. Specifically, one of the windows above us on the second floor.
The Fates really must have been pissed at me today.
Pia’s thin brow twitched upwards, her eyes following the sound.
Any hope of dismissing the one-off interruption was destroyed when Charlee’s shouting began. The only saving grace was that the thick glass panes muffled the noise, making whatever colorful language she was using unintelligible.?
