Pretty When She Kills (Pretty When She Dies #2)(45)

“Do you want some coffee? Or some orange juice?” Sergio asked.

“Uh, coffee would be great,” Pete said. “I can get it though.” He quickly busied himself with collecting mugs and snagged the coffee pot from where it sat steaming. He was surprised to see that his hands were trembling. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Jackie glowering at Ethan and baby Anna Belle twisting around in her seat to look toward Pete. Maybe the kids were just curious, but he felt uneasy.

Casual small talk started between Ethan and Cynthia, lessening the tension in the room. Or maybe Pete was just imagining it. Sergio finished his tortilla duty and checked on his kids. Pete set a mug before Ethan and poured the coffee. Watching Sergio fussing over his kids made his own heart pang with an unexpected sadness. How many times had Pete imagined this sort of future for him and Amaliya?

Wrangling the kids out the back door was easier than expected. Jackie nearly drowned herself gulping down the last of her sugary milk and hurried out after her younger siblings. She gave Ethan one last dark look before banging the backdoor behind her.

“No slamming the door!” Cynthia shouted after her.

Sergio gathered up the cereal bowls and boxes to clear the table. The baby finished her bottle and set it down on the tray of the highchair with a loud thump.

Ethan laughed. “Like she’s just finished a good beer.”

Anna Belle regarded him thoughtfully.

“She’s always like that. I think she got it from Sergio,” Cynthia said, laughing. She set a plate of steaming tacos before Pete and another in front of Ethan. “Here you go.”

“Thanks for the meal,” Ethan said with a charming smile.

Cynthia returned it. She was obviously less suspicious than her kids.

Pete hungrily bit into a taco, almost devouring half of it. It tasted so amazing he wanted to shove the other half in after it.

A sharp intake of breath and a whispered prayer in Spanish drew the eyes of all in the room to the doorway. Innocente stood in the doorway looking furious.

“You!” she said sharply.

Then all hell broke loose.





Chapter 15


Trying to shift her purse around while searching through it, Samantha muttered irritably. Wearing a short white skirt, pink tank top, and white flip-flops with big pink stones on them, she was cutely dressed, but the dark circles under her eyes were evidence of her sleepless night. Samantha fumbled about inside her packed purse as her cat, Beatrice, regarded her coolly from the back of the sofa. The gray tabby was stretched out in a patch of sunshine, the white bib under her chin practically glowing in the light.

Finally, Samantha located her sunglasses and house keys. She held up both triumphantly, but Beatrice didn’t appear impressed. The cat closed her eyes dismissively.

“Well, fine.” Shifting the big pink bag onto her shoulder, she yanked open her front door. “I’ll be back later. Don’t scratch the couch!”

Beatrice ignored Samantha with her usual cat aloofness.

Shoving open her screen door, Samantha nearly whacked Jeff in the face as he stepped onto the porch.

“Whoa!”

“Sorry, Jeff!” She hurriedly shut the door and locked it while he took several cautious steps back onto the walkway. “I’m all crazy this morning. I slept through the alarm clock.”

“No problem. It was hard for me to wake up, too.”

Jeff gave her his usual kind smile and she hugged him tightly.

“You’re so sweet!”

“If you insist,” he answered, snuggling her.

Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, she slid out of his arms, feeling self-conscious. He just smiled and held out his hand to her. Happily, she took it and they walked down the walk to his beat-up Land Rover parked at the curb.

“Did you eat anything?” Jeff asked, holding the passenger door open for her.

“I didn’t. I got up too late.”

“Good thing I snagged some coffee and some kolaches then,” he said with a grin before shutting the door and circling around to the driver’s side.

A white bag and two large coffees were nestled into the console. Samantha hungrily yanked out a kolache and took a big bite, savoring the warm bread and spicy sausage. Around her chewing, she said, “Gawd, I love you.”

Jeff grinned at her words as he drove up the street. “I aim to please.”

“You always think of everything. It’s like you’re magic or something.” She hesitated, gave him a thoughtful look, and said, “Are you magic or something?”

“Ordinary human. Boringly so,” Jeff assured her.

“Not a secret elf, or fairy, or something?”

“Nope. Human as can be. I promise.”

“I wonder what I am now,” Samantha said with a sigh.

“A fabulous and very pretty human woman with a little extra flair.” Jeff lightly touched her hand.

Unexpected tears glimmered in her eyes as she took another quick bite of her breakfast. Jeff had a wonderful way of making her feel good even when things were going horribly wrong.

Traffic was light and they made decent time driving past downtown to the walking trail encircling Lady Bird Lake. The parking lot was fairly empty near the Lamar Boulevard Bridge. They didn’t talk much as they both munched on the warm kolaches and chased the tasty breakfast down with sweet, milky coffee. Samantha enjoyed the camaraderie and her high anxiety mellowed out to a low ping in the back of her mind.