Page 42 of Hell Hath No Fury

“I think so. I mean, I’m not really sure.”

Lilith grimaces, then turns back in Agatha’s direction and shouts, “Not if you’re cooking.”

There’s a bit of a scuffle on the far side, which I assume is Agatha and Carolina having some words, but then Agatha is walking toward us, a tray in her hands. She’s glaring at her mother but then turns her focus to me and smiles. I smile in response, grateful for her interference, even if sometimes, I still want to kick her ass. Lilith releases my hand and then sits back in her chair, her eyes on Agatha. “Well, what’s on the menu?”

Agatha’s glare intensifies, but then she places a plate in front of Lilith and says, “We get what we get, and we don’t complain.”

Lilith stares down at the plate, her eyes wide with confusion. “Are you seriously serving the Italian man English muffin pizza?”

Agatha plunks a plate down in front of me unceremoniously, placing the tray under her arm and smacking Lilith on the shoulder. “And what is wrong with English muffin pizza?”

I stare down at the plate for a moment, and then I smile, looking over at Lilith as I reply, “Is this your roundabout way of calling me a snob?”

She stares at me wide-eyed. “Well, I haven’t had too many meals with you, but I don’t imagine you’ve been served English muffin pizzas in your day.”

Agatha points at my plate. “I even made his extra fancy.”

“It looks amazing, Aggie. Thank you.”

Lilith is staring at me like I’ve lost my mind, so I give her a pointed look, tilting my head toward Agatha and then waiting. After a moment, she sighs loudly and then says, “Yes, Aggie. Thank you.”

Agatha smiles, nodding shortly. “We’ve left dessert for you in the pool house. Extra drinks are in the fridge. And all the fixings for more pizza if you get hungry.”

“Are you going off-duty then?” Lilith asks.

“Yes. I wouldn’t want to get in the way.” She throws me a wink and then takes off in the direction of the main house.

Lilith watches after her, smiling fondly even as she shakes her head. I pick up my fork. “Shall we?”

She laughs, taking the fork from my hand and setting it down on the table.

Then she picks up a pizza, holding it up in the air. “Buon appetito.”

20

The Big Tease

Lilith

Oncewefinishedourglorious English muffin pizza, we stayed out on the patio for quite a while, mostly joking and laughing over frivolous things.

At one point, Antonio had given me his jacket, but with my legs bare and my shoes kicked off, it’s not long before I’m shivering. Being the type of man who notices everything, he quickly ushers me into the pool house, which ends up being a much smaller version of Declan’s mansion—opulent yet still homey.

Agatha and Carolina have the living room decked out romantically, with twinkling lights, flowers, and a bottle chilling in a bucket of ice. Antonio walks over to the table, removing the bottle from the bucket and eying the label curiously. Then he looks at me and says, “I never thought to ask if you enjoy wine?”

I smile as I walk to him, taking the bottle from his hand to see what required an ice bucket. Then I laugh and shake myhead at the fancy sparkling water. “I do, but I rarely bother with alcohol.”

“Oh?” he asks, taking the bottle from me and placing it back in the bucket of ice. “Due to past issues or?”

He lets the question hang out in the space between us, and I shrug, not entirely sure how to respond since it’s one of those decisions that was never a thing. After a few long moments, I explain, “It was never really a problem, but at one point, I could see how it could become one, so I made a choice not to allow it to be my problem. Then, as time went on, I just didn’t care about it.”

“That makes sense.”

I raise my brows at him, not at all accustomed to someone being so agreeable about a life choice that has no real bearing on other people, yet so many people take great offense to. “Really?”

He nods as he turns back to me. “After being told I was a monster with no recollection of said events, I decided alcohol would always be the enemy. And then, after watching so many powerful people become sloppy, well, I decided it would never be for me.”

“You’ve never been a monster,” I whisper, the reminder sending a jolt of pain through my chest. “But it’s true that any substance that changes behavior is dangerous in our world.” He nods but remains silent, and after a short pause, I add, “And don’t even get me started on the pain of hangovers at my age. I would die.”

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