Page 35 of Hell Hath No Fury

Agatha laughs loudly, immediately turning and heading out of the room. “Thank fucking God. Me, too.”

17

Conspiracy Thy Name is Brunch

Antonio

I’mrelativelycertainthisis the only group of people who could go from complete and utter chaos to brunch without blinking an eye.

Having always been an outsider, I’m not privy to the inner workings of their found family dynamic. But so far, all the rumors I’ve heard about them appear to be true.

Upon first entering the kitchen, I note that the earlier mess has been cleaned. And by mess, I mean the blood as well as whatever it was Antoinette was attempting to cook.

I’m immediately introduced to Clementina, Declan’s right-hand woman in all things domestic. She welcomes everyone in with open arms, and then, much to my surprise, Tony bellies up to the stove beside her, and before too long, we’re all seated in the dining room, consuming a feast fit for kings and queens.

Which I suppose is fitting, given their status within the criminal underworld.

Of course, sitting here, surrounded by all of them, makes me question the future. Antoinette is correct in her notion that the deepest betrayal is usually the one to yourself. Is her second occurrence of memory loss a coincidence? Just bad luck? Or is she now predisposed to such reactions to trauma going forward?

Lilith had updated me on Darius’s plans to continue helping those who can’t help themselves. The initial attempts to put it on the map as a legitimate business have been slow going, but they’ve definitely made good progress. Lilith and Agatha have taken point on the more clandestine aspects of the operation, and knowing those two, they will likely continue to do so until they either get too old or get dead.

I look around the room at a group of people who still have so much life to live. But how much life is left when you live every day walking a tightrope with no safety net?

Tapping on my shoulder turns my attention to my right, where I find Agatha now seated beside me. She’s giving me one of her best self-satisfied smiles, and I roll my eyes, knowing her appearance beside me can’t be good. “Don’t you even start.”

She scoots in close, leaning in and whispering, “Are we still on for later?”

Carolina, who’s seated on my lefthand side, also scoots in close to me, and I sit back in my chair to make room for the two women who are practically leaning over the top of me. “What’s going on?”

Agatha glances around the room, likely making sure no one is paying any attention to us, before responding, “He’s got a hot date tonight.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” I mutter. “I have no such thing.”

Agatha frowns at me and then waves her hand, completely dismissing what I’ve said, as she turns back to Carolina and retorts, “We have it all planned out. It’s going to be amazing.”

“A date with whom?”

Agatha gapes at Carolina. “What do you mean, whom? You know whom.”

Carolina laughs, and Agatha’s hand shoots out, pressing over her mouth to shush her. “Stop drawing attention over here.”

Agatha drops her hand, and Carolina gives her an apologetic smile then leans in closer. “How are you going to manage that?”

“Totally going to lure her in. She’ll be none the wiser until it’s too late.”

“Seriously, Aggie. Do youreallythink this is a good idea?”

She looks at me like I’m a huge fucking moron. “It’s the best goddamn idea.”

“But is now really the time? I’m pretty sure we have business in the basement that needs tending to.”

Agatha squints at me and immediately faces toward the table, pulling her chair in as she asks, “Antoinette?” Antoinette looks over, giving her a questioning look, and then Agatha says, “What’s the plan? Are we gonna tend to the basement bullshit straight away or what?”

Antoinette grimaces and then shakes her head. “I think I’m gonna need a bit of time to sort myself first.” She turns to Matt and adds, “Is it okay to let him cool his jets down there for a little while?”

Matt nods, crosses his arms over his chest. “That works for me. I don’t know if he’s capable of sweating, but I’d like to find out.”

Antoinette turns back to Agatha and says, “Give it a day, maybe two.”

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