Page 32 of Twisted Throne

That sounded lame even to me.

Lucy did what I could now recognize as her signature eye roll and turned back to study the coffee maker.

“Uh, I don’t think this is right.”

She picked up the cup and stared into it, frowning.

I walked over to her, smoothly sidestepping Paul, and looked in the cup. It was filled with a black sludge that more closely resembled tar than any beverage I’d ever seen.

“I thought you said you knew how to work this thing?” The once tantalizing aroma of freshly brewed coffee now smelled bitter and scorched.

“I mean, I thought I did… maybe it needed more water or something?” She wrinkled her nose at the smell and tossed the cup of goo into the trash can with a swish.

“Hey Paul, can you work this thing?” She turned to Paul, but he was apparently immune to her puppy dog eyes.

“I do,signorina.” Paul didn’t break eye contact with me, although he was talking to Lucy. “But I heard that this was a… what was it? A girls' night?”

What a dick.

Anyone who would deny someone coffee had a special place in hell as far as I was concerned.

Lucy opened her mouth to protest, but I cut her off immediately.

“Yep. It sure is. So thanks anyway, but we’re good.” I tried to sound stern as well as keep my eyes off his chest. But I wasn’t sure how successful I was in either case.

“Understood.” Paul walked back toward the door, then stopped and turned to look back at me, his gaze lingering on my bare feet.

“I’m glad you’re feeling so comfortable here,soubrette.”

He walked out, the door closing softly behind him.

“Why the hell didn’t you let him make the damn coffee?” Lucy demanded as she put her hands on her hips. “I obviously can’t do it, and you didn’t even know how to use the grinder!”

“We don’t need help from anyone, least of all Paul. Girl power, right?”

She nodded at me but looked dubious.

I studied the coffee maker, trying to make some sort of sense out of it. With zero success.

“God, I wish I’d brought my coffee pot with me,” I groaned in defeat. “It sucked but at least I know how to use the thing.”

“So, why don’t you just go get it then?” Lucy asked.

I blinked. “I don’t think Angelo would want me to go by myself,” I answered her. “And I really don’t want to deal with Paul right now. Plus, I don’t even know where the bus stop is from here even if I could get out of here under the radar. Maybe Elena would help me out…”

“Yeah, right. You have met Elena, haven’t you?” she said, sarcastically. “You ask her for help, she goes straight to Paul or Angelo. If you want someone to sneak you out of the house, I’m your girl. Duh.”

“So what, you’ll give me a boost over the gate?” I could just see Paul’s face if he spotted me trying to scale the wall. That almost made the whole scheme worth it.

“No, because for one thing, someone would probably see us on the security cameras.”

Damn, I hadn’t even thought of cameras.

“If it were me, I’d just go with Paul,” Lucy said, waggling her eyebrows at me. “But since you’re being dumb, I figured I’d just drive you out in the morning. You can scrunch down in the backseat a little, no one will notice you in the back there. Then I’ll just skip school and take you to your apartment, easy breezy!”

Great, barely a week into hanging out with my new crime family and I’m already contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

“Won’t the school call or something if you miss?” I asked her, feeling slightly guilty.

---