Page 64 of Hate to Love You
“Well,” he says, clapping his hands together. “Now that the entertainment portion of the evening has concluded with Sister Succubus, I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. So can we please go see what your cooks have prepared for your dinner…in your house?”
I roll my eyes, walking back to shut off the Cadillac since I had to stop an assault the moment we arrived.
“You’re always starving. You’re like a bottomless pit when it comes to food.”
“Don’t forget tits and ass,” Pasha says, tipping what appears to be an imaginary top hat at me. “When it comes to indulgences, I try to keep a well-diversified portfolio.”
His comment about tits and ass suddenly reminds me of my conversation with a certain brunette this morning.
Abigail Wayne.
My mood instantly shifts.
“Well, unfortunately, I doubt the chef was made aware of your peculiar dietary preferences,” I grin, slapping my brother’s shoulder as my Butler, Olfred, opens the door for us. “But I’m sure we can find something in the pantry to hold you over.”
“What do you mean the coroner doesn’t have an answer yet?” Polina shouts at Nikolai. “It’s been over twenty-four hours!”
“...As I was saying,” Nikolai continues, glaring at our sister. “They did have an answer, but they concluded it was a heart attack. So, they are re—”
“It wasn’t a damn heart attack!” Polina screams, smashing her hand down hard on the table.
“He’s not saying it is, Polina!” Lev shouts back at her, rushing to the defense of his twin. “If you let him finish, he’s trying to tell you that they are doing it again to see if they missed something.”
“They have missed something!” She says, throwing her hands to her head. “This is ridiculous! Igor worked out all the time! He was healthy!”
Pasha chuckles, nearly choking on his food.
“What?” She hisses at him. “What is so funny, Puppy?”
“The fact that you thought your lard-ass of a husband was healthy,” Pasha says, taking a sip of his wine. “He thought cheeseburgers were a food group, Pol. Be serious.”
“He had an iron deficiency!” She scoffs defensively.
This makes Pasha laugh, now coughing into his wine.
“Suck my dick, Pasha!” Polina snaps at him.
Unfortunately, this causes the twins to erupt in laughter along with Pasha.
“Enough,” I say firmly, raising my hand as Ana elbows Lev hard in the ribs, shooting both him and Nikolai a glare. “Regardless of what you thought of Igor, he was part of this family, and now he’s dead. As is our cousin Stetson. And while perhaps Igor’s death could be explained away with poor diet, Stetson was executed by the Irish two nights ago.”
The table falls silent, with the exception of Polina’s angrily tapping foot, and the clinking of glasses and silverware.
“But,” Lev says, tilting his head slightly. “I mean, when you look at all the facts, the circumstances of Stetson and Igor’s deaths are so vastly different.”
“Right,” Nikolai says, nodding. “Couldn’t it just be a weird coincidence?”
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” I say darkly. “Especially not where the Irish are concerned.”
“So, you’re saying that you’re pretty convinced that the Irish killed them both?” Ana asks, her eyes finding mine over the top of her wine glass. “That just doesn’t seem like them. They’re always so proud of their kills, and they always want us to know. So why would they make such a point of us finding Stetson the way we did, but then having Igor die of a heart attack?”
“He didn’t die of a fucking heart attack!” Polina says, pushing her chair back from the table. “How many times do I have to tell you people!”
“Polina,” I say firmly. “Sit down.”
“No! I’m not going to sit here and listen to you all—”
“You are going to do exactly what I fucking tell you to do, or I will tie you to that fucking chair and stuff that napkin in your mouth to shut you the hell up!” I roar, smashing my hand on the table.