Close Cover (Masters and Mercenaries #16)(77)

He’d told her he would give her time. Oh, when she saw him, he would hug her and kiss the top of her head, but she was kind of going crazy because being close to the man made her hormones explode.

Sera grinned. “She’s claiming you’ve given her PTSD. Now, I’ve seen actual PTSD and it doesn’t involve sitting around and crying over that piss-poor wig of hers.”

Delphine waved a hand through the air with dramatic flair. “I can cure her of it if she would only let me. There’s a demon attached to that girl. Only I can convince that demon to flee. But she says twenty-five dollars is too expensive. Do you think I’m pricing myself out of the market, Lisa? Remy tells me you’re a business guru.”

Oh, she was not going to be the business advisor to a psychic. “I think that sounds perfectly reasonable. I know if I had a demon attached to me, I would fork that twenty-five over pretty quickly.”

“She doesn’t have a demon attached. She’s got FOMO,” Sera said.

“FOMO?” Delphine got that look in her eyes that Lisa already knew meant she was scheming. “I think I can cure that, too.”

Sera’s eyes rolled, but she reached out and patted her momma’s hand. “It stands for fear of missing out. It means she didn’t want Remy back then, but she doesn’t want anyone else to get him.”

“I told Remy it would never work out. He’s seen his promised bride and it certainly wasn’t Josette.” Delphine lifted her iced tea glass. “He’s got a touch of the sight, you see. Comes from my side of the family. The Dellacourts have always had a way with the sight. Now, everyone will tell you it comes from the Guidry line, but the Dellacourts are much more in touch with the other side, if you know what I mean. I’ve got a nephew who made something of himself. Now I am almost one-hundred percent certain he did it by making a deal with a demon. I’ve offered my services to him as well.”

“Yeah, there’s a reason we’re the black sheep of that particular family,” Sera explained.

“But to get back to my original point. Josette was never the bride the universe selected for my Remy. Not that anyone would listen.”

“They had to listen. You talked about it at their wedding,” Sera complained. “She actually stood up in the middle. You know when the preacher asks if anyone has just cause? Yeah, that was when Momma struck.”

Wow, she never thought she’d feel for Josette. She knew she shouldn’t ask the next question, but she couldn’t help herself. “The sight?”

Delphine leaned in, her voice going low. “The sight, child. He gets visions of the future. He’s seen his promised bride since he was a teenaged boy, but he never saw her face.”

His sight needed an adjustment. And for a psychic he kind of sucked at figuring out cause and effect. A psychic should have seen that not telling his lady love he was being paid a shit ton of money to sleep with her would have a chilling effect on their relationship. Okay, anyone should have seen that coming from a mile away.

Which was why maybe he was exactly what Laurel had said he was—a dumbass.

“So he thought it was Josette? The vision he had?” She had been wondering why that hard-working man would fall for someone like Josette. Besides the perfect face and long legs and big boobs. Besides that stuff.

“Since we were kids he always says he sees his future wife here.” Sera smiled over at her boy. Luc seemed fascinated with a toy truck, running it over the bottom of the playpen. “But the sun is too much and he can only see her outline. Of course he also said he could feel how warm she was, so that disqualifies Josette right there.”

“Hello, lovely ladies,” a masculine voice crooned. “Can I get you anything this fine afternoon?”

Sera frowned. “Yes, a damn waiter who doesn’t take thirty minutes to take my order. I saw you over there with the Savoie sisters. Elva has a husband and Minnie is barely eighteen.”

Zep shook his head. “I’m not trying to sleep with them, sister. I’m trying to get tips. I’m using my masculine wiles to try to pay off those damn parking tickets before Roxie throws me in jail.”

Sera faced off with her younger brother. “I’ve got a tip for you. Stop using your masculine wiles. You’ve got none. You’ve got a pretty face and nice abs. No wiles whatsoever. Develop some serving skills, like table management and customer service, and the tips might follow.”

Delphine stood up, putting a hand on her youngest child’s back. “Don’t you worry about her, Zep. You’re doing a fine job. Your sister is merely hangry. I heard that word used and it fits Seraphina to a T. Come on. I’ll make her a croque-monsieur and she’ll perk right up. I’ll make one for my new baby, too.” She reached out and patted Lisa’s head. “You like ham and cheese, right, child?”

“Sure.” She was just happy Delphine wasn’t offering her a cleansing. Food she could handle.

Delphine led Zep away, but not before he stopped by the playpen and picked up his nephew. He smiled in a way that had every woman who wasn’t related to him panting. He said some words that made the boy smile and then he kissed Luc and put him back down before following his mother into the kitchen.

Sure enough, the Savoie sisters both sighed as he walked past them.

Sera shook her head. “Now, see, those are masculine wiles. My brother isn’t the most self-aware of men and he can be righteously obnoxious, but one of these days, he’s going to be a good husband. One day a long time from now.” She looked back at Lisa. “Though I think my older brother would make a good one right now. Don’t listen to Momma about the sight stuff. And her Dellacourt relatives certainly didn’t sell their souls. My second cousin Dante is simply very good with computers. And Remy is just plain good.”