Page 5 of Hextreme Measures

“She won’t say it again, Mother,” Ofelia promised. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

Marie didn’t look convinced. “This is your party, Ofelia. Why are you hiding over here in the corner like a spinster at a high school dance?”

“Why would a spinster be at a high school dance?” Angelique asked before Ofelia could respond. “Is this a Mary Kay Letourneau situation or something else I’m not aware of?”

“You’ve been funny enough for one night, Angelique.” Marie gave her a severe look. “It’s time to put on your adulting hat.”

“It’s at the cleaners,” Angelique replied, not missing a beat. She was just getting started, Ofelia knew, and it was too late to rein in her best friend. She wasn’t even certain she wanted to make the attempt. “Where’s the carving station, while we’re exchanging pleasantries?”

Marie looked baffled. “Excuse me?” She acted as if Angelique was speaking a foreign language.

“Ofelia was promised a carving station,” Angelique pressed. “She was promised stuffed mushrooms and a DJ. She was promised cupcakes, not … whatever that is.” She offered up a vague gesture of what looked to Ofelia like chocolate mousse in a crystal cup.

“That is the finest Mousseline au Chocolat in the world,” Marie shot back.

“Speaking of things that look like poop,” Ofelia muttered under her breath.

Angelique snorted, which only served to set Marie off.

“Don’t you start,” she warned her only daughter, extending a finger. “This party is for you, and you’re acting like a petulant child.”

Was that true? Ofelia was ashamed to say it was. She should have been grateful even if things hadn’t gone her way. She wasn’t paying for the party. This was something Madeline was doing for her. Before she could respond, however, Angelique took control.

“Oh, don’t gaslight her,” Angelique snapped. “She doesn’t know half the people here. You and Madeline set this up for yourselves, not for her. This is all about the two of you flexing. It should be about Ofelia and Zach, but it’s not. It’s about you.”

“I don’t think I like your attitude, Angelique,” Marie said snippily.

Angelique shrugged. “Weird, because I’m just getting started.”

ACROSS THE PARTY, ZACHARIAS “Zach” Sully kept shooting his fiancée, his almost wife, worried looks. It hadn’t escaped his attention that Ofelia had immediately retreated when she got a gander at the party. He’d been mostly okay with it despite how overblown it was when he thought Ofelia had signed off on all of the details. He’d realized relatively quickly that not only was none of this Ofelia’s idea, but she’d been promised something completely different.

“I’m mad,” he snapped at his mother, who he’d dragged off to a corner of the park to whisper-yell at her without anybody overhearing. Of course, a contingent of panther shifters from Baton Rouge was in attendance, and they would hear — they had that shifter super hearing going for them — but that couldn’t be helped.

Madeline managed to keep a stiff smile on her face despite her son’s tone. “We’ll talk about it later,” she said, refusing to meet his furious gaze.

“No, we’ll talk about it now.” Sully was dressed in black slacks, a white button-down, and a tie. It was not his preferred outfit. He was a jeans and T-shirt guy when he was off duty. Heck, sometimes when he was on duty, he wore the same outfit. The clothes weren’t helping his mood.

“I know that you promised Ofelia a bunch of different things for this party and didn’t come through on any of them,” he growled.

“Are you suggesting I lied to your fiancée?” Madeline had the gall to look offended. “How dare you?”

Sully had been in the game long enough to know his mother was playing him. “Don’t even,” he said, making a face. “I’m not falling for it.”

“You mean you’re taking Ofelia’s side over your own mother.” Madeline made a sniffing noise. “Really, Zacharias, how can you not love your own mother?”

Sully was officially at the end of his rope. “Where is her carving station? She spent all day telling me about how great it was going to be. She was really looking forward to it.”

For a moment, just a split-second really, something akin to guilt flashed over Madeline’s face. She shuttered it quickly. “The carving station wasn’t practical. Carved meat, however delicious, is messy.”

“So what?” Sully snapped. “You promised it to her. That’s how you sold her on this party in the first place.”

“If you ask me, she’s being ungrateful. Your father and I spent a fortune on this party.”

Sully didn’t care about the money. He’d never cared about the money. “You promised her. She was so happy thinking she would have a party for the people she cares about most. A small, intimate party with a carving station and a DJ. Heck, you promised her cupcakes, and there’s some sort of weird glass thing being passed around. It looks as if there’s whipped turds in it.”

Madeline’s eyebrows practically flew off her forehead. “Lower your voice,” she warned.

Sully was familiar with his mother’s tone, but he’d long ago stopped caring. Back when he was a teenager expected to take over the family business, he’d figured out that the only thing he knew for certain was that he didn’t want his parents’ lives. He’d gone a different route. He’d eschewed the money and pomp and made his way to detective in the New Orleans Police Department completely on his own merits.