Page 40 of Severed Rivalry
I lift my mug in a toast to him.
“Seamus, on the other hand…” His words trail off as the clicking gets louder.
I can’t argue that. I’m not hoping for my dad’s downfall, but since he’s crashing out and using his family as a soft place to land, I don’t mind sidestepping the fall out.
“What are you two talking about?” Ayla’s groggy voice comes from the doorway as does the swish of a tail on the floor.
“Accounting,” I say the same time Christian says, “Seamus.”
She scrunches her face and flinches as if she got hit. “Not before coffee. You know better. Both of you. Rude.” With that, she turns and walks away, Eleanor prancing behind her as if she were no longer mine.
“My dog acts like I’m a spare human.”
Christian laughs before standing to follow his wife. “Not for long.”
13
creative and dastardly
Cian
“Who’s Angel?” My sister asks, apropos of nothing.
“Long story.”
“Long story about a woman? Though I guess it could be a Hispanic man—Angel,” she says in rich Spanish. “I have time.”
She leans against the island in her kitchen, both hands wrapped around a huge coffee mug while I sit on the stool across from her.
How do I begin? “Remember Renée from college?”
Ayla’s mouth falls open and her head tilts. “Yes?”
“I saw her the other night at Queen City?—”
“I knew something was going on.” She says excitedly. “Wait. I was with you on Saturday, and you didn’t say anything.”
“You weren’t snooping in my phone then.”
“You were saying…” she hurries on.
A small smile reaches my face.Thisis my sister. This is us. I love that we have this. “I always called her Angel. I don’t know why. And it’s good I did, because her name isn’t Renée, it’s Sariah.”
“That’s a beautiful name. Very… traditional. What happened with you two?”
I give her the sanitized version, watering down some places. “She’s back. And I want to make a second chance with her, but—” I circle a finger around my face.
“You don’t think the Hunchback would do it for her?”
I open my lips showing metal everywhere, attempting to bare my teeth.
“And kissing is certainly out.”
“Not. Helping,” I grit.
“Ci, aside from the fact that our family is a train wreck, now’s as good a time as any.”
“Our family is a circus train wreck where the elephants are running amuck, the lions have gotten loose and are eating the carnies, and the bearded lady is drunk with the zebras.”
