“I have a proposition for you, Grace Hamel.”
“You worked for Brooke Winstanley for how long?” asks Katarina.
The question comes without warning. We’ve only just sat down in a private booth. I didn’t know the local coffee shop had private booths, but I’m not sure the store manager did either until Katarina demanded privacy. I can’t imagine how much she offered him, but it took less than two minutes to clear the surrounding tables and section off a corner just for us.
Katarina has two new bodyguards today who look just as intimidated as the rest of us. She ordered them to the front of the coffee shop and away from us. It makes me feel a little less tense, but not by much.
I clear my throat. I haven’t spoken a word since Katarina informed Noah she was taking me out for coffee. I still don’t know what proposition she intends to offer. I’m not sure I want to know as I rest my hands in my lap to stop my legs from shaking.
“Brooke gave me my first job straight from college. I was there right up until I left a month ago. That makes five years, give or take.”
“You like the work?”
“I do.”
“And you’re still paying off your student debt?”
I get a short reprieve when the server arrives with our coffee and the water I so desperately need. I reach for the glass and take a sip. I can’t just let Katarina interrogate me like this. She’s a twenty-year-old girl, I try telling myself, but the woman staring back at me is as deadly as she is beautiful. She slit a man’s throat for fuck’s sake. And she’s got Duke in a chokehold.
I surprise myself by keeping my voice steady. “Why do I think you already know the answer to that?” I ask. Shesimply shrugs. “This is starting to feel like a job interview. Was there something in particular you need an interior designer for?”
There’s a flicker of amusement in her eyes, like she’d been waiting to see how long it would take me to push back. The reward for my bravery, however, is for her to make me even more uncomfortable.
“Are you asking if I’m planning a family home to raise little Moncriefs?” she asks as fingers tipped with blood-red talons wrap around her coffee cup. “Do you want children, Grace?”
It’s a deeply personal question I have no intention of answering. Duke was right to warn me about her voracious appetite for information. I try to sound bored when I reply, “Katarina, it might help if you told me exactly what position you think I might fill.”
“I’m afraid that would only skew your answers,” she says without a hint of apology. “You were married for four years, yes?”
“And what else do you know about me?” I ask before seriously thinking it through. I’m practically inviting her to humiliate me.
“I know your husband cheated on you,” Katarina says. “And if all his bitching on Reddit is to be believed, you hired two scary men to intimidate him into leaving the family home, then had them beat him up for good measure.”
I pluck nervously at my thick, opaque tights. I thought the only thing I might have to defend myself against today was Duke making another move on me. My clothing was supposed to be my armor, but I feel completely exposed. Katarina’s a skilled interrogator, I’ll give her that.
“My ex has a vivid imagination,” I try, sending up alittle prayer. Do not connect the dots. Please, do not connect the dots.
“I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that Duke and Max were in Philadelphia at the exact same time. Some might describe them as big and scary.”
Fuck my life.
“There were a lot of people in Philly that week… end…” My voice trails off. I’ve just confirmed something did happen to Cameron, haven’t I?
Blood drains from my flushed cheeks. Duke said Katarina had recognized me as the woman Max chased, and she’d gone digging.
“I’m only interested because,coincidentally, Duke hooked up with someone that weekend, and whoever she was, she made a big impression. His family have been calling her a legend.”
Since Katarina hasn’t asked a question, I don’t answer. I don’t like this game. And I don’t like how Katarina doesn’t seem capable of showing even the slightest hint of compassion for the man who’s made sacrifice after sacrifice to help her.
“Duke has a very close-knit family,” Katarina continues. “I don’t think he knows how lucky he is. Your father wasn’t around much, was he?” Her mouth pulls down in feigned sympathy. “It sounds like you didn’t have any good male role models in your life.”
“I had some,” I counter, but I don’t feel it necessary to expand. I was fortunate to have my grandma’s network of friends and neighbors who looked out for me. Good men and women. “And at least none of them were crime lords.”
Katarina’s crimson lips form into scowl. “You don’t like me.”
“Andyoudon’t like anyone.”
She keeps her surly expression, but her tone is playful. Cat and mouse come to mind. “Not true. There are people I tolerate, and I’ve been known to do a good deed for them now and again. Just ask the Griffins.” The tension twisting her features disappears in an instant. She sits back against the cushioned bench seat “And if you stop being so defensive, I could tolerate you too.”
