Page 5 of The Tangle of Awful

“So,” he urges. “What’s Aubrey done now?”

His placating tone grates on my nerves. I know he and Gemma like Aubrey. Neither of them understands my grudge against her.

“She exists.”

A bark of laughter makes him miss his next shot. “Need help killing her?”

He’s teasing, but I bristle at the thought. I don’t want to kill her. What fun would that be? I’d much rather watch her squirm, suffer, and cry—all because of me.

“She keyed my car, Demps.”

His smile fades. “Are you fucking for real right now?”

“And she’s back, asking questions about Neena.”

Dempsey rebels against his father any chance he gets, but when it comes to protecting the Park family name, he always gets in line as he should. Aubrey, opening up the whole Neena fiasco, means pointing a light at my father.

Hugo Park, soon-to-be attorney general, doesn’t need a spotlight on the fact his wife is missing. It’ll kill his campaign and open up a bunch of fucking worm cans. All of which, I’m not about to deal with.

“Want me to talk to her?” His head cocks to the side as he studies me. “She likes me. I can find out what her agenda is.”

“We already know what her agenda is,” I grind out. “She wants to know where Neena is and, based on her fucking attitude problem that she took out on my car, I don’t think she’s going to stop until she gets what she wants.”

Dempsey’s phone rings, interrupting our conversation. I pinch the bridge of my nose and squeeze my eyes shut.

“Hey, nerd,” he says in greeting. “Buy me something pretty?”

Gemma snorts. “You wish.”

“What do you want?”

“I was thinking me, you, Spencer, and Willa could go see a movie. Callum didn’t take his claws out of her long enough to go shopping with me and Mom, but he has a meeting tonight with Jude. We can kidnap her.”

My uncle, Callum, is obsessed with his child bride. Technically she isn’t a child, nor his bride, but it’s fun watching the vein pop on his forehead anytime I call her that.

“Can’t,” Dempsey says with a grin. “Have plans to crush thy bones of a mortal enemy.”

“Ew. Who is Spencer trying to destroy now? Don’t you two morons get bored with these games?”

“Nope,” me and Dempsey say at once.

“Whatever,” Gemma grumbles. “Do I know him?”

“Her,” Dempsey says, chuckling. “And you totally do.”

I glower at him, hoping he’ll shut his mouth. Of course, he doesn’t have to say much more. His twin can probably read his goddamn mind for all I know because she always seems to figure out what he’s thinking anyway.

“Aubrey’s here?” Gemma shrieks. “Oh my God, that ho didn’t tell me she was coming!”

“Don’t get too excited,” Dempsey tells her. “She won’t stick around long.”

“We’ll see about that.”

She ends the call and Dempsey shrugs at me, a brow lifted in question. “So, what’s the plan, cuz?”

I meet Dempsey’s gaze, a menacing grin curling my lips up. “We break her down piece by piece until she runs away, yet again, like the weak little girl she is. We’ll make sure she doesn’t come back ever again.”

Gemma won’t be able to save her.

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