The blonde tossed her short, curled bob out of her eyes. “Of course he isn’t. He’s with my husband, getting his ass handed to him for being the biggest idiot on the planet.”
The dark-haired woman propped her hands on her ample hips and chirped, “Youmustbe Frankie!”
She gave the women a wary look. “Uh, yes?”
Clapping her hands together, the blonde wasted no time pushing her way through the narrow gap Francesca had opened. She stumbled back several steps, pinching the sides of her robe together, and gawked as the women waltzed in.
“A pleasure to meet you,” the blonde sing-songed. “I’m Dahlia and this is my cousin Marietta. We’re here to check on the newest member of the family.”
Marietta, apparently, kicked the door shut with the business end of a stiletto — a move she’d now seen three consecutive Amauris perform. It was like no one in the family knew how to use a doorknob.
“I can’t believe I lost the damn bet,” she sighed, fluffing her mane of black hair with both manicured hands. “Ireallythought it’d be Nash and Ginny before anybody else settled down.”
Dahlia wiggled her finger in front of her cousin’s nose. “Don’t be a sore loser. It was so obvious that something’s been up with him for weeks. Do you know he asked me whether a sauce pan exclusively cooks sauce a couple days ago? That’s weird even for him.”
“I thought it was a sex thing,” Marietta protested, hands up. “I don’t know what a sauce pan is used for either, you know.”
Francesca’s attention bounced between the two women, one who looked like she’d just stepped off the cover of a glossy business magazine and the other who could’ve walked off the runway. They bickered like she wasn’t even there.
Sensing that they might continue indefinitely, she delicately cleared her throat. “I don’t know what Luis told you, but we’re not together. Ikeeptelling him that.”
Both women stilled. They fixed her with twin stares of deep and unsettling intensity before, as one, they burst into cackles.
“Ugh, that’s just what I needed today,” Marietta sighed, wiping a tear from her eye. “Do you think I could set up a camera to get you telling him that to his face for posterity? I think it’ll do some real numbers around town.”
Getting a little annoyed now, Francesca crossed her arms and coolly asked, “Is hereallyso irresistible to women that saying no would be worthy of comment?”
Dahlia slung her arm around Francesca’s shoulders. Walking her toward the living room, she gleefully explained, “It’s not that so much as… Well, how long have you known Luis?”
“A few months,” she answered stiffly.
“A few months is more than enough time to pick up the fact that the man has an ego the size of the Solbourne family’s private blimp.” They sat down together on the couch. Dahlia gave her shoulders a little squeeze when she added, “We Amauris enjoy nothing better than a good razzing, that’s all. You’ll get used to it.”
Throwing off her coat with an impressive amount of flourish, Marietta confirmed, “We’re still making fun of Felix for that time Dahlia climbed out the window and down a pergola to escape him.”
Francesca’s eyes widened. In a soft, urgent voice, she asked, “Is he holding you captive? Do you need help?”
Dahlia visibly swallowed a laugh. Giving her shoulders another friendly squeeze, she assured her, “I’m most certainly not being held captive. I love my husband very much. Just don’t tell him I said that. Gotta keep him on his toes.”
Marietta sank onto the opposite couch and crossed her legs. Balancing her chin on her palm, she asked, “So, how did this whole thing go down? I want all the details. The more embarrassing for Luis, the better.”
Suddenly aware of the fact that she was in the precarious position of being interrogated by two charming but keenly intelligent women, Francesca braced herself.
Folding her hands in her robed lap, she hedged, “There’s really not that much of a story. I’m just his housekeeper.”
Dahlia’s arm fell away. Shrugging out of her crimson coat, she lounged against the armrest, keeping Francesca’s profile in her sights. A flash of bite marks on her neck nearly made Francesca do a double take, since she was pretty sure she’d seen fangs in Dahlia’s mouth, but she managed to restrain the urge just in time. It seemed rude to gawk.
“Funny,” the blonde drawled, “becauseIheard from my cousin Tomas that Luis won your contract in the Blood Games.”
Francesca pursed her lips. “Well… two things can be true, can’t they?”
Dahlia’s crimson smile was wickedly beautiful and terrifying. “They can indeed.”
“If you know about the Blood Games, then you know that whatever this is between me and Luis, it’s not…” She trailed off, unable to find the right words. Maybe because they didn’t exist. Or possibly because saying them felt a little too close to a lie.
Marietta and Dahlia exchanged a look.
It was Marietta who said, “Listen, I’m not going to force you to tell me all the intimate details. As someone who grew up with the man, I really don’t need to know more about his freak sex life than I already do, thanks. But what Iwillsay is that no Amauri, novampire,puts themselves on the line like he did for someone he doesn’t really, really care about. When the goddess pulled us out of the pit, she made us selfish. Terribly selfish. We don’tdo anything out of the purity of hearts. When we do things for others, it’s because wewantto.”