Page 7 of Café Diablo

I narrow my eyes at her. “That’s not what I do.” She shrugs again, like the last thing she cares about is what I actually do. “What if I have to go to the bathroom?” I ask, and her eyes flare with excitement.

“Well then, I guess I’ll have to go in with you,” she shoots back.

“I’m right-handed,” I respond, jiggling my cuffed right hand at her.

“Well, if you want me to hold it for you, I can,” she offers, unfazed. “It’s not like I don’t know my way around a man’s cock.”

If I was the kind of guy who would stare slack-jawed at someone, this would be the moment. The mouth on this woman is completely … I don’t even have a word for it. And I’m the one who uses words as grenades. A wicked smile spreads over her face at my shock, as if she just won the evening.

“Handcuffsandhe’s blushing!” my brother Connor says, having crossed the room to join us. “Wow, it turns out Oliviawasthe secret weapon to get you to this party after all!”

Olivia’s brown eyes glitter at his approval, like he didn’t need to worry. One way or another she was going to get the job done.

I turn to my brother with a frown. “You realize this constitutes as kidnapping,” I say, nodding to the cuffs.

“Oh, that’s not the story I’ll tell,” Olivia jets in, that mock-sarcasm in her voice dripping like a hungry vampire. “You said earlier youwantedto kinky roll-play for your birthday, baby,” she says in a cooing voice. “I’m sorry I lost the key before we had to come to your surprise party.” She pouts her lip, and Connor is roaring back his head with laughter. Olivia twists her fingers back into mine and demurely snuggles her bare shoulder up to mine, laying it on thick.

It’s going to be a long night.

“And you didn’t change?” Connor says, trying to smooth out the wrinkles on the shoulders of my suit, which is a fruitless gesture. “You look like shit!”

Both Connor and Olivia smile, co-conspirators in their plan to humiliate me in front of everyone I work with. My eyes skim the room and I can already see the party is filled with acquaintances from the courthouse and my employees at the firm. Basically, I’m surrounded by people I’d never let see me with a rumpled suit, much less a stain on my cuff links. Let’s pray the moody shadows of Flambé will be dark enough to hide my less than pristine attire.

“Why don’t you ever listen to me?” Connor mocks, like he knew from the get-go I wouldn’t have. “Oh yeah,” Connor pats the side of my face condescendingly. “Big brother. Always right. Can’t listen to a single thing I say, even if I have his best interest in mind.”

“That’s because you constantly disappoint me,” I growl.

“Disappoint you?” Only, that’s not my brother’s voice. That’s the voice of his girlfriend Arie, who is also the owner of Flambé.Shecomes slinking up to us wearing something glittering and risqué, eager to butt into our conversation. “Clearly, you’ve never fucked your brother!” I grit my teeth and Arie smiles. She’s deliberately trying to be as blasphemous as possible, which is her normal modus operandi.

“That would be incest,” I chew out, even though I know better than to take her bait.

“Maybe,” Arie agrees. “But trust me, that’s one department in which the words ‘disappointment’ and ‘Connor’ will never be linked.”

I frown at her, doing my best not to react, and that big red smile of hers spreads across her face like dragon fire. Connor’s appropriately nicknamed her The Dragon and it’s well-suited, because Arie uses every interaction I have with her as an invitation to try and make me burst into flames. It’s a bit of a beef between us and I’mnotgoing to give her the satisfaction.

She stares at me, waiting to see if I’ll react, her flame-red hair tied on top of her head in an elaborate rockabilly monstrosity, with a big leafy flower holding it up. I don’t budge, staring her back down and judging.

This is a woman who’s compelled to make everything more complicated. Just take her hair as Exhibit A it’s unnatural, swooped, tufted, showing off her ridiculous need to add embellishments and flair toeverything. Or Exhibit B, the drinks: fire and flowers and fruit snacks and smoke baths. Arie Noel is a woman of distractions, and frankly, I’m not interested. Why bother, when I could have something sleek and simple and completely respectable. Give me a whiskey on the rocks and we’re done. Put your energy into making a perfect alcohol and forget all the trappings.

Olivia runs the edge of her thumb across the underside of my wrist. The soft stroke sends an immediate shiver up my spine and I have to trap her hand by pushing it against my thigh to get her to knock it off. I’m clearly getting attacked from all sides—Connor, Arie, and Olivia all working in tandem to make me look like a fool in front of my colleagues. Glitter and unicorns, my ass. This is a bloody ambush!

Arie quirks an eyebrow at me like she knows exactly what Olivia just did, but then she steps back and nods like she’s conceding—which is all for show.

“Come,” Arie says, hooking a finger at me and motioning to follow. “You’re the man of the hour, let’s have a toast!”

“If you say something inappropriate in front of everyone I work with,” I warn, “I’m going to sue you.”

“Oh come now, Ned!” Arie teases. “It’s only slander if it isn’t true!” She proceeds to grab my brother by his belt, stuffing half of her hand down his trousers before pulling him to the center of the room. I have a feeling that’s exactly how their relationship is arranged. She yanks him around like a dog on a leash and he rolls over for one of her treats. Though, cynical as that sounds, and despite the fact that Arie and I definitely don’t see eye to eye, she actually does make Connor happy. Of course, that doesn’t mean she isn’t about to roast me like a pig on a spit in front of everyone I work with.

“Relax,” Olivia says at my side, twisting in front of me and walking backwards to where Arie is clanging at the side of a glass of champagne. “She does it because sheknowsit bothers you.”

“Why did I come to this again?” I ask, doing my best not to trip over her as she leads me to the center of the room. “Unicorns and verbal assault, was it? Career defamation? What were your reasons?” Olivia’s eyes sparkle as she lets me list off several other reasons I could file a lawsuit against her and this restaurant, but she just keeps smiling softly and running that damn thumb across my wrist again.

“You need to trust people a little more,” Olivia says when I’m done pontificating. “Sure, they may break your balls sometimes—”

“All the time.”

“Shhhhhhh!” She pinches my side again, only softer this time. “Sometimes, that’s just how some people show they love you. Everyone in this room is on your side, Edwin.”

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