Page 67 of Darling Beasts

“I enjoyed checking it out,” Quinonez said unconvincingly.“But mayors don’t make a ton of money, and I’d never be able to afford anything like that.”

“Nobody’s selling anything!” I grabbed Ozzie’s arm, and his bicep flexed beneath my hold. Pretty impressive, actually. I’d have to give him some props later. “Sorry for any misunderstanding,” I said to the mayor. “You have a meeting with Talia, yes? She’s right over there.” I pointed to where my sister remained by the cheese, eyes wide in horror.

“Oscar,” I said, yanking on his arm. “You and I are supposed to be in our own meeting right now. Sheesh! The work never stops. Have a great afternoon, everyone! Ozzie and I will leave you to take care of business.”

***

“This must be some kind of record,” I hissed as I hauled Ozzie into the house. “In terms of getting into shit. Impressive, even for you.” I wanted to strangle him, I really did. Talia complained no one was ever on her side and,here you go, sis. Ozzie had dealt with some tough stuff in his life, but it was time to grow the hell up.

“I was schmoozing,” Ozzie said, squirming out of my hold. “You don’t appreciate the value of charisma, but it goes a long way.”

“Please.” I tried not to gag.

“Wow. Okay.” He rotated to face me. “I’m making things happen. I’m hustling, you feel?”

“First of all,” I said, shoving him into the tasting room. With its medieval bricks and wrought-iron gate, it was giving “elegant jail.” “Candidates are probably not allowed to enter into financial transactions with mayors. That could be seen as bribing.”

“He would be paying me,” Ozzie said and, honestly, a valid point.

“Or reverse bribing. Or something.” A friend’s dad got arrested for racketeering when we were in ninth grade. Maybe that’s what this was? “Either way. It must be illegal.”

“I told you about my situation. Maybe you think I’m full of shit, but this is serious, Bags.” He somehow forced his brown Bambi eyes to flood with tears. “I’m desperate, and I need to get the money however I can.”

“Not if it’s going to mess up other people’s lives.” I laughed dryly. “That’s the crux of everything, isn’t it? You’re never intentionally trying to hurt anyone, but you don’t consider how your actions affect other people.”

“You’re one to talk!”

“If you’re so desperate, how come you didn’t sell yourWinnie the Poohmap?”

Ozzie blanched, recoiling like I’d slapped him across the face. “How did you know about that?”

“Talia. It was Spencer’s friend or something—”

“Coworker.”

“You didn’t even like Grandma!”The nerve, I thought. The nerve to act like I’d made an unthinkable suggestion when all I wanted was for him to do the thing that would cure his problem.

“I can’t sell it,” he insisted.

“Of course you can’t. It’s like you’re determined to make life harder for yourself.” I shook my head, wondering whether Ozzie had ever pushed me this far. “I love you, Oz, but I’m done. If you really want to help yourself, go back to New York and figure shit out. Stop making things worse for everyone here.” I brushed past him, refusing to meet his eyes as I stomped out of the room.

Chapter Forty-Four

Talia

Standing on the edge of the putting green, Talia stayed quiet, waiting for Dad to sink his putt, which was taking way too long given how much time he invested in the sport.

“Yes!” he said when he finally did it. He retrieved the ball and whirled around, putter resting on his shoulder. “Hello, Talia. How can I help you?”

“Ustenya said you wanted to see me? I assume this is regarding Ozzie and the mayor?” Talia was speaking quickly, anxious to get this over with. “Again, I’msosorry about what happened, but it’s not as bad as it sounds. Gabby spirited Ozzie away immediately, and the meeting went quite well. I hoped to nail down the endorsement on the spot, but it’s still very much in play, and—”

“Did you tell your brother to leave?”

Talia jiggled her head. Had her dad listened to a single word she’d just said? “No. I don’t think so?” Talia racked her brain. She wanted him to leave of course but didn’t remember ever saying it out loud. “Why? Did he say that I did?”

Dad studied her through one squinty eye. Out here in the bright San Diego sun, the silver streaks in his hair were actually see-through, and Talia again wondered when he’d gotten so old. Politics really took it out of you, like people always said. “Ozzie’s exact words were, ‘My own sister told me to get the hell out of town,’” he said.

“What? Dad! There’s no way. I didn’t even see him after the meeting.”

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