I gaped at that. “Excuse me?”
“What can I say? People love me,” Taube boasted.
My nostrils flared. “You’re lucky you still have your hands after that stunt you pulled with Kitty.”
“Stan?” Kitty asked warily.
I clenched my jaw when I took note of her pallor.
Glowering at Dmitri, whose expression was blanker than a recently cleaned whiteboard, I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Yes,duci.”
“Taube was the reason I heard… you know?”
“Yes.” I shot her a soft smile. “I won’t kill her. You don’t have to worry.”
“No, you won’t, seeing as she’s a guest inmyhouse,” Dmitri intoned, walking across the room to stand by Sofia’s side.
“And family,” Sofia further corrected.
When it registered that he didn’t tuck her into his arms or hug her, I asked myself if they were a couple. I genuinely couldn’t discern from their body language. And what the fuck was their reason for being in Poughkeepsie of all places anyway?
Her declaration caught up with me. “Family?”
“Well, not really. But sort of.” Sofia tutted. “What did you do, Cin?”
“Barely anything! You know me. I keep my nose out of things.”
“Uh-huh.” Sofia proved she wasn’t a fool by appearing less than convinced.
“She let me listen in to someone being hurt,” Kitty answered, her bottom lip sucked between her teeth.
“A woman should know what she’s getting into,” Taube grumbled, and for the first time, I heard something else beneath those words.
Something…sad?
God save me from being a dumbass, but I offered, “I assume your presence here is the reason Chad is moping?” Her only answer was to hum so I grouched, “What’s this about?”
“Nothing.”
“Why are you here?”
“I wanted a break from NYC.”
“You live there,” I pointed out, then I hesitated. “At least, I think you do.”
“I’m a woman of the world.” She pointed the delicate silver spoon at me. “If I want to move upstate, I will?—”
“Oh, will you?” Sofia exclaimed. “I’d love to see more of you!”
“See?” Taube smirked. “Not everyone hates me.”
“You irritate the ever-living fuck out of me, but I don’t hate you.”
“Then I’m doing something right.”
Kitty approached the table then jumped at the clearing of a throat. My head whipped to the side to locate the sound before I grabbed her and hauled her behind my back.
“Who the hell are you?”
