I nearly choke on my coffee. “Soul mate? For real?”
Lareina nods. “Yeah.”
“That’s unbelievable. He’s literally the least romantic guy I’ve evermet.” Josh was a player even back in Harvard, broken female hearts littered everywhere he went.
“That’s what he claims.” She shrugs. “Apparently he can tell by having sex.”
“Uh-huh. Well, I hope whoever sleeps with him doesn’t think she actually has a chance.”
“At least he’s open about it. Much better than the assholes who lie to you about being ‘the only one,’ and then turn around and screw other women.”
“True enough.”
We finish our drinks and head for the bakery Lareina can’t stop gushing about. I smile, imagining Bryce’s reaction when he sees me in his office with a sweet treat he wasn’t expecting.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Bryce
Josh walks into my office. “You’re in too good of a mood these days. It’s creepy.” He hands me a coffee.
“And you’re being suspiciously nice to me. What do you want?” I accept the coffee. I’m not stupid enough to reject free caffeine that I don’t even have to lift my ass off the chair for.
“I’m thinking about hosting a family dinner,” he says, taking the seat on the other side of the desk.
I almost spit out the coffee. “You?”
“Yeah,me. Why?”
“Who are you? What have you done with my twin brother?”
“Shut up.”
Uh-oh. He isn’t even trying to come up with a better comeback. This isn’t good. “Are you going to prepare the food? Because—no offense—you’re really only good at eating it.”
“I don’t have to cook something to host a get-together. There are plenty of takeout options.” He spreads his hands. “Manny’s Tacos. I’ll even ask for extra jalapeños.”
I narrow my eyes. Maybe Josh has a fever. Although we’re identical twins, we differ in one thing—jalapeños. I love them; he hates them. Says they taste like spicy vinegar. Besides, when did he start hostingfamily dinners? Those are usually Akiko’s thing. “What do youreallywant?”
His mouth twists. “I just want to make sure you aren’t going to get fucked again. That shit-eating grin of yours? I know Fiona put it there, and I don’t trust her.”
“Josh—”
“You really need to watch your six.”
“I know what I’m doing. The only one I’m really worried about is Mom. Maybe Harvey.” I don’t like it that he still hasn’t cashed that check.Asshole. “Anyway, none of your worries matter.”
“You sure?”
“We’ll be fine as long as she doesn’t get pregnant.” Mom wants a baby badly. She was pissed that the girl I chose wasn’t one of hers, enough that she hit me. That’sneverhappened before. Even when she tried to kidnap me, she was crying about love.
She might get ideas if she sees Fiona’s belly growing. She’ll want to my take my wife to Vincent and project a pretty, loving family.Look what I brought, Daddy! Your great-grandchild to come. Isn’t it amazing?To create the right picture, she’ll do anything to get Fiona to cooperate. Kidnapping, drugging, torture—emotional or otherwise… Nothing’s off the table. I’d rather die than have anyone harm Fiona.
There’s a knock at the door, and it simultaneously starts to swing open. Fiona walks in, carrying a small Bobbi’s Sweet Things box. I get up and go around the desk to run my hand along her arm. “Hi. What are you doing here?”
“Maybe she needs to sue somebody,” Josh jokes, an almost imperceptible edge beneath his words.
She ignores him and plants a kiss on my cheek. “I was out with Lareina for coffee, then we decided to get some cupcakes to bring over. Except…” She gives Josh a sidelong glance. “Maybe he doesn’t want any?”
