Page 64 of Darling Beasts

Chapter Forty-One

Ozzie

Ozzie sat in the middle of the meditation pavilion, on a yoga mat, legs tucked into a lotus position.

He tried not to think sister thoughts or about why he continued to shed followers like this was some kind of purge. One “fan” DMed him to ask when he’d become boring as fuck, and Ozzie didn’t have an answer because losers could only hide their loser stripes for so long. He knew he shouldn’t listen to the haters, but sometimes haters were right.

When Ozzie felt a sudden presence, he didn’t open his eyes. The hesitant footsteps were giving Gabby. She grabbed a mat and sat beside him.

“How’s your arm?” Ozzie mumbled, because he couldn’t help himself. Yeah, she’d known about his broken collarbone, but these injuries werehisfault.

“All good. I can’t wait to make everyone sign my cast.” She let out a puff of air. “Listen. I was thinking about what I said in the balloon—how I was only sixteen when you left.” Her voice was getting very high, and she cleared her throat to bring it back down. “But I was sixteen! And that was old enough. I shouldn’t have just watched you go.”

Ozzie exhaled, a sense of relief washing over him. Finally she’d acknowledged that, yes, it was a tad “off” to stand in the hallway while three fat-ass linebacker types kidnapped yourown brother out of his bed, shouting,We can do this the easy way or the hard way.Did she notice the zip ties? Maybe it didn’t matter anymore.

“Whatevs. Like you said, you were a kid. I get it.” He did get it, yet something still bothered him, something he couldn’t put his finger on.

He hardly had a chance to ponder this, because here was Gabby yapping away about how Talia was correct, Gabbyhadused Dad’s credit card to deal with a flare, and that’s why they were cut off. She felthorribleand hoped this wasn’t why he was here, too. Talia mentioned he was having cash flow problems? If there was any way she might help...

An idea pinged in Ozzie’s brain. A miracle, right? Who knew anything happened up there. Could Gabby be the answer? She turned twenty-five in six weeks, which was more than thirty days, but close enough. Hell, maybe she had $400K already, given she lived on a farm, and dressed the way she did. Right now, she was wearing a T-shirt from a turkey trot they’d run in 2019.

“Actually,” Ozzie said with a gulp. God, he hated to do this. He had a literal pain in his chest. It was one thing to ask Talia for money, what with her perpetual disappointment in him, but now Gabby would view him as a hopeless loser, too. Alas, he was out of options, and if Gabby wanted to hold herself out as the protective big sister—well, time to shine. “I do need your help.”

He turned toward Gabby, debating which persona to don. Not @DegenerateOz, but one step back. The man behind the mask, who had swagger but could laugh about how he created a whole life out of an act. Ozzie wasn’t used to going through personality math with Gabby, but things had changed. Or they were different than he thought. It was strange, how it made him sad and not angry now.

“I need money,” Ozzie said. “And if I don’t get it soon, I’m fucked.”

Eyes wide and unblinking, Gabby asked how much. When he confessed the amount, she legit shrieked.

“I know! It’s a lot!” Ozzie said, swearing it was temporary, only a loan. His assets weren’t very liquid, and the art market was slow these days, but liquidation was in process!

“Ozzie...” Gabby said, her eyes now welling. “I don’t have four hundred thousand dollars, or anything close to it. Why do you think I’m working on the campaign?”

Ozzie blinked. “Because you’re agreeable?” And sneaky, he did not add.

“Because I need the money, too.”

Ozzie was shocked, which was real rich (ha ha) since he didn’t have it either. Apparently Gabby bought her farm at the height of the getting-out-of-the-city panic and had dumped a lot of cash into the theater, including for a new roof a couple weeks ago. As for the undetermined twenty-five-year gift, Gabby told him sheepishly that it was already spent.

Ozzie pulled a face. “Onwhat?”

“I’m sorry. I can’t say.” Gabby squinted, furrowing her brow. “But listen. Let me noodle on your predicament a bit. Crunch some numbers.”

“You’regoing to crunch numbers.”

“Excuse you! I got a perfect score on the math portion of the SAT. Anyway...” She used her one good arm to push herself to her feet. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Chapter Forty-Two

Talia

“Heyyyyy, girl,” said a voice. Gabby stood in the doorway, looking more like an elementary school kid than usual with her arm in a cast. God, why hadn’t Talia vetted Ozzie’s plans even the slightest bit? It was obviously going to end in disaster.

“Where have you been?” Talia asked her sister, hands shaking as she gathered her things. Mayor Robert Quinonez was scheduled to arrive in twelve minutes, and her Xanax hadn’t kicked in. She was sure his endorsement was the key to pushing Dad past the “small, unexpected surge” in support, and Talia needed this meeting to go well.

“I’m supposed to take it easy,” Gabby said. “And not stare at a computer screen. Do you have a minute?”

“Literally only a minute.” If Talia shoved everything into her tote, she’d come across like a harried mom. Carrying her phone and notepad and lip gloss and mints seemed more laid-back but also potentially hazardous. She could easily drop any or all of these, probably into the pool. It’d be a whole scene.

---