Page 85 of Devious Roses

“We were waiting things out in your obscenely huge gourmet kitchen,” Medjine says. “Though it’s been fun watching all the hot, sweaty mafia guys lifting heavy things. Ooh, the way some of them grunt when they do.”

Sasha and I laugh as Medjine fans herself. Today’s fashionable ensemble includes a flowy cream summer dress that flatters her dark skin and tall, slender shape. I’m in a similar loose dress that hangs off my frame and hides the extra few pounds I’ve put on lately.

As if reading my mind, Sasha points out my dress. “Very cute. New?”

“New home, new wardrobe,” I joke to more laughs.

Over the past year, and particularly since the situation with Polk, Sasha has become a part of my life as a friend. We both wound up in Northam General recovering from bullet wounds the same day. Both at the hands of Renzo. She survived by the skin of her teeth.

I made sure Salvatore had his men cover for her—the death of District Attorney Brenton Polk was ruled a homicide committed by Renzo Bonetti.

The newest DA, a man by the name of Xavier Kelly, has inherited such a mess with sky high crime rates in the city and the political fallout from the Neptune Society corruption, that he’s had his hands full.

No investigation was opened. The charges against Salvatore were dropped. Renzo took the fall for it all.

It’s helped not only us but Sasha start over. She’s spent many months in therapy for her mental and physical health. Slowly, she’s begun rebuilding her life in a post-Neptune Society world. We’ve given her a job at the law office; she works alongside Cirie as our secretary. The job pays enough that she’s been able to afford moving herself and Bryce out of the dingy apartment in Old Northam and into a safer neighborhood.

Occasionally, I have Salvatore send his men to patrol her block just to make sure no trouble is lurking.

Everything has worked out, resulting in the three of us—Medjine, Sasha, and I—spending a lot of time together, and becoming friends outside of work.

“Well, it’s a nice dress,” Sasha goes on with a sip from her iced tea. She shoots Medjine a look.

“What’s that look for?”

“Delphine, you’re really not going to tell us?”

“Have you told Salvatore yet?”

“I thought we were closer than that,” Medjine says, a hand on her hip.

My face heats up as I feign confusion. Both women stare at me with an increasing level of suspicion that makes it impossible to keep my charade going. They can just sense it.

“Ugh, fine!” I sigh. “If that’s what you’re asking, then you should know I haven’t told anyone… yet.”

Sasha gasps. “Not even Salvatore?”

“Especially not Salvatore. I haven’t decided how I want to tell him.”

“How did you find out?” Medjine asks. “You haven’t known long.”

I raise a brow at Medjine. “And how would you know?”

“Delphine, let’s be real. You’ve done a one-eighty. Up until recently, you were wearing those tight little pencil skirts of yours.”

“Then you switched to those loose shift dresses,” Sasha adds. “You stopped wearing heels. You’ve been wearing flats. You’re a heels girl.”

“Almost every morning you disappear to the bathroom for half an hour. Cirie said she heard a retching noise. You tried to disguise it with the toilet flushing.”

“Okay! Point taken. I haven’t been as discreet as I thought. Salvatore suspects nothing.”

“He’s a man. They rarely do.”

“I’ve gained seven pounds. Most of my clothes are fitting a little tight right now. But he can’t keep his hands off me.”

“Anything that makes that ass fatter, he’ll be in favor of.”

We indulge in more laughs as the ladies tease me about my news. As the only mom in the trio, Sasha starts offering up tips for the morning sickness and body aches I’ve been experiencing. Medjine marvels that I’ll be carrying another life for the next seven months of my pregnancy.

---