Page 16 of Mastered By Lust

“Nice to meet you.” I reach across the counter to shake Isabelle’s hand.

“You too.” She grins.

I’m surprised at how young she is. She can’t be much older than Danica and me, yet she owns a small business. I have all kinds of nosy questions, but I won’t ask them.

Danica gives me a scrutinizing look. “Is anything going on?”

“Well.” I take a deep breath. “Do you have a break coming up, so we could talk?”

“Go for it,” Isabelle says before Danica can ask her. “It’s slow right now, anyway.”

I order a single scoop. Partly to be polite, but mostly because the orange sherbet is heaven in my mouth.

Danica and I step out front to claim a pink metal table with matching chairs.

Danica leans forward, hands clasped like she means business. “You’re wearing a metric ton of make-up again, Leah. I love the glam look, but I know you hate that shit. Tell me what’s going on.”

Deep breath. I take a bite of my ice cream to stall. Danica side-eyes me—she knows all my tactics.

“First,” I say, “I’m safe now.”

“Shit,” she breathes. Her eyes widen and she shakes her head in disbelief. “What happened?”

“Well, the guys who killed Mick…they were loan sharks. Mick said I was good for the money. One of them got obsessed with me.”

“Because of Mick.”

“Yeah.”

“Fuck, Leah.” Her gaze sweeps over my face. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m sure. It was scary, but everything’s resolved now.”

“No thanks to Mick.” She leans back in her chair, her expression warring between concern and fury. “Do you know any necromancers? I want to bring him back and kill him again.”

“Danica.”

“Sorry, sorry, it’s a quote from AoG.” She sighs. “Too soon, though.”

“Yes, too soon.” I don’t mind the levity, but I want to get through this conversation. Her break can only last so long.

“And your bruises are from the loan sharks roughing you up?”

“Yeah.”

“My God, Leah. I’m so sorry.” She lays a comforting hand on my wrist. “What happened? Tell me everything.”

“It sounds so dramatic when I say it out loud.”

“And? You can be as dramatic as you want.” Her gray eyes are full of empathy. “Just tell me, I’m freaking out over here.”

“They kidnapped me. They would’ve hurt me a lot more, but Gage and your brother figured out I was missing.”

She leans back. “Dmitri?”

I laugh awkwardly. “Do you have any other brothers?”

“Shut up. Seriously. I want the whole story, start to finish.” She taps her long fingernails thoughtfully on the table. “And feel free to spend lots of time describing Gage naked.”

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