Page 7 of Unleashed

Betsy slithers to his side. “Brandon’s here! Let’s get our party on!” Her mouth is an insult to humanity. Springy gold earrings twist as she laughs, sounding like a drowning horse. Betsy is an active Taco Tuesday blow-out at the nursing home, wearing a billow brown skirt but a tight yellow blouse.

She paws Brandon’s arm, using his long-sleeve Armani dress shirt as her litter box. Zero class. There’s no chance she’d reject a request for a hand job with an audience.

Seething at her faux-bestie flirting with Brandon, Shasta glares at them before looking my way, no doubt blaming me for this shit-uation. Nope. Nothing changes.

Hadley whispers, “I hear you murdering them.”

“Wholesome fun for the family.” I glance down at Hadley. “How’s the kid?”

Hadley’s face lights up with her pretty smile. “Finley’s doing well. Getting big too fast. You should stop by to see her.”

I shrug. “I don’t think being at your house is a good idea.”

“You don’t have to worry about her being there.”

I cock an eyebrow. “But I have to worry about him. I’ll never be at your house again.”

Hadley sighs as she pulls out a chair. “Finn is...concerned...like we all are. We wonder what happened.” She looks up at me, waiting for an explanation, but she won’t get the truth today. Or maybe ever.

“Yeah. Concerned that I’m still breathing unassisted.”

“He’s not that upset.”

I adjust my green paisley tie with a laugh. “That’s hilarious.”

“He doesn’t blame just you. We both know she’s...” While Hadley searches for a word, I grit my teeth, stuck between not wanting to talk about Simone and wanting to defend the fuck out of her, even to Hadley. She shrugs. “Impulsive.” Hadley then looks away from me before sitting at the table. Glancing over at Knob One and Knob Two, standing next to Brandon at the front of the room, I receive expected dirty looks. I roll my eyes and pull out the chair next to Hadley. Let’s just get this over with. I don’t want those hags to get the impression that I give two shits what they think of me.

Voices fill the doorway as Patrice and Rhonda enter the room. Patrice stops, with Rhonda bumping into her. “Look at you, Mr. Rhodes. All tanned from your vacation. I thought you’d never return.”

Brandon twists his polite smile. “The last vacation I took was two months ago, Patrice. I’ve been here.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m certain.”

“Well, maybe you’ve been standing too close to the microwave?”

Hadley whispers, “Good God. She’s unreal.”

I laugh as Shasta yanks out the chair beside me and plops down. “How was North Carolina? I heard you were a bartender for a while.”

I notice her shadow, Betsy, sitting beside her, emboldening Shasta to antagonize me more to show off. Awesome. I reach for a bottle of water in the middle of the table so I don’t grab her throat. “So?”

“Is it true our friend Simone chased you down there?”

I swallow before even taking a drink. “No.”

“Well, I know she did an internship there.”

I turn toward Shasta, ready to throw down as Sugar Daddy Brandon watches. “And how do you know this?”

Shasta nods past me. “Your girl over there mentioned it.” Son of a fuck.

Hadley waves her hands like windshield wipers on warp speed. “Brandon asked, and I mentioned Simone also being there for an internship. That’s all I said.”

Betsy laughs. “I bet they hung out.” She uses stupid air quotes, making her look like she’s signaling the mother ship. I wish they’d get here already.

I scoff. “So what if we did? She helped at the bar.”

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