“If she’s upset then someone made her upset and that has to be dealt with.”
“Um yeah, she’s not giving us a name.” He shoots me a dirty look.
There’s a long silence, then Jenny says, “Oh I see the confusion. You think we’re only going to kill him—and I’m assuming it's a man for obvious reasons.”
“What obvious reasons are there?” Dimitri throws his hands in the air. Then he pauses, sighs, lowers his hands, and starts sulking in the corner. I guess it’s been a while since he’s let his violent side out. This is an opportunity squandered.
Joey clears his throat. “I’m not talking about killing someone. Do you have access to the corgi breeder? Because I was thinking Alana and the rest of the girls might like a puppy party.” Joey is the heir to the Four Families legacy. He’s a mafia boss in training, and his list of crimes is longer than some Knights of the Night fanfiction. And he just uttered the words, ‘puppy party.’ I really need to get them out of the criminal lifestyle.
And yes, I would very much like to go to a puppy party.
“Oh, I can do that. I’ll text her the details. Love ya, bye.” Jenny hangs up and leaves Joey confused. He frowns and looks at his phone before sighing and slipping it into his pocket.
“I kinda wanted to go to a puppy party.”
The boys mill around, trying to figure out what to do with themselves. About ten minutes later Uri arrives, kisses me on top of my head and then realizes there’s nothing to do. Dimitri takes out the trash, Joey loads my dishwasher, Uri starts dusting my bookshelves. Shit, if I had known they clean instead of providing emotional support, I would’ve broken down a lot sooner.
There’s a knock at my broken door and two men in suits and sunglasses walk in with a square box. One of them lifts it and says, “I’m special Agent Horne, from the FBI. Message went out saying you’re having a bad day. On behalf of the bureau, we wanted to present you with this cake and thank you for all the work you’ve done for us that no one is supposed to know about.”
Weird. They place the cake on the kitchen counter. The one not holding the cake, pats my shoulder and walks out. As they are leaving, a younger man with slicked back hair like an 80’s villain walks in with a bottle of wine.
“Dragon Crypto sends their regards and a thank you.”
A member of the Triad I’ve met before—but I don’t remember where—brings me a fuzzy blanket. The representative of the Yakuza enters with a stuffed animal of a frog eating a cupcake to which he says, “It’s so silly, frogs don’t have teeth.”
At this point I look over at Hadeon, “What exactly is DEFCON Delilah?’
He shimmies his shoulders and says with a proud expression, “A message went out to all your allies that you could use emotional support, so they’re bringing you gifts.”
I wrap the blanket around my shoulders and hang my head, far too emotionally drained to be angry. “So you broke my door, and gave out my personal address to known criminals and easily manipulated powerful men?”
“Oh, yeah.” Hadeon smacks his forehead, “I see the issue now.” Then points at the counter with all the food. “But hey, free food.”
I look over at Joey and Dimitri. “Make sure no one else gets inside.” But no sooner do I say that when there are four women standing in my doorway. “...They’re allowed in.”
Penny is dressed in a formal business suit made of silk and money, so she’s very out of place next to the others. Amanda has a hoodie and leggings on, looking as casual as a pop star can. Her bodyguard and my friend Katya is wearing a black leather jacket, with the ‘don’t fuck with me’ energy, and Lena is in pajama pants and a ten-thousand-dollar sweater. I guess they changed after the intervention, honestly, I have no concept of time right now.
The boys mill around then and ultimately decide to wait out in the hallway. Lena curls on the couch next to me, putting her head in my lap. Penny takes the other side while Amanda hangs by the door.
“You can come in. I’ve got wine and cake and all sorts of stuff, help yourself.” I wave vaguely to the kitchen.
With the men gone, Midge comes out of her hiding spot. She enters the living room, meows once, walks over, rubs her head on my leg and hops on her cat tower to watch the birds. Amanda’s eyes grow wide and she whispers, “I got the colors right.”
“Sorry.” Penny whispers and rests her head on my shoulder. She should be, and I should be livid towards her. She robbed me of my friends and love with controlling manipulation. But in her world, that’s how she shows love. Honestly, it would be more hurtful if she’d stepped back and let Amanda and Grae back into my life. I knock my head against hers.
“You should be.”
“The timing is shitty and I swear I’m not trying to buy your forgiveness,” she says. “But we talked about this three years ago when we discovered the hythanatia flower as a possible energy source. We’re going public in six months, and we want you to be the CEO.” She squeezes my hand. “I don’t need an answer right now.”
Could I run another company? Do I even have the mental bandwidth? My brain says turn it down, but my gut is screaming something else.
“I’m going to a puppy party, wanna come?” I look at Amanda.
Her lower lip quivers. “Really? Do you want me there?”
“It was never that I didn’t want to be near you. I just thought it was best for Grae if I stayed away. You did a much better job than I did.”
Amanda grabs a pillow and pulls it to her chest. “He was never as happy with me as he was with you.”
