Bitter Bite (Elemental Assassin #14)(56)
I did.
Bria sighed and grabbed the blackberry lemonade she’d been sipping. “Well,
let’s go see what Mama Dee is up to today.”
“Mama Dee?”
“Yeah. That’s what she wants me to call her.”
Silvio snickered. Bria shot him a glare, and the vamp coughed, as if trying to
clear the laughter out of his throat.
I snickered too. “I don’t know whether to weep for you or fall down on the
floor and start laughing hysterically.”
Bria made a face. “I know, right? I want to stab myself in the eye with a
toothpick every time I say it. But Finn keeps saying how great it is that Mama
Dee and I are getting along so well.”
“Oh, Bria! There you are!” Deirdre waved her hand. “Come join us, honey!”
Bria eyed the trash can beside the cash register like she was going to need
it. After a moment, she sighed again, longer and deeper. “The things we do
for love,” she muttered.
She plastered a bright smile on her face, spun around on her stool, and
marched over to their booth. Deirdre leaned across the table and made a couple
of loud smacking noises as she air-kissed both of Bria’s cheeks. Bria
returned the gesture, although her smile slipped just a bit, and she started
eyeing the metal napkin holder like she wanted to brain the other woman with
it. I wouldn’t be averse to that. Not at all.
“And where is Miss Gin at?” Deirdre exclaimed, her voice even louder than
before. “Gin, honey! There you are! Come say hello!”
Then it was my turn to screw on a smile, which I only accomplished by grinding
my teeth. That familiar ache in my face started almost immediately and shot up
into my temples. Bria was right. The things we did for love.
“Oh, yes,” Silvio said in a low, amused voice. “Do go say hello to Mama
Dee, Gin.”
I turned my smile to him and added a bit more teeth to my expression. “Keep
in mind that I’m still an assassin. One who can make people disappear quite
easily. Especially certain cheeky vampire assistants who enjoy mercilessly
mocking their bosses.”
He gave me an innocent smile in return. “And do say hello to Mama Dee for me
too, while you’re at it.”
“You’re a dead man, Silvio.”
He chuckled and went back to his tablet.
I made sure my smile was locked in place before heading over to the corner
booth. “Hey, y’all. What can I get you today?”
Deirdre ordered her usual grilled cheese and sweet iced tea. Finn and Bria
both opted for fried chicken salads topped with honey-mustard dressing.
I started to turn away, but Deirdre grabbed my arm. Even though she wasn’t
actively using her power, invisible waves of her Ice magic still rippled off
her fingers. The cold, frigid sensation soaked through the fabric of my long-
sleeved T-shirt and chilled my skin underneath. But I wasn’t going to give
her the satisfaction of knowing that a simple touch of her hand was enough to
make me hiss with pain, so I ground my teeth even tighter and kept my blank
smile fixed on my face.
Bria winced in sympathy, though, since she could also feel Deirdre’s magic.
Like me, she avoided touching the other Ice elemental as much as possible.
Bria had warned Finn about his mother’s Ice power, about how she was much
stronger than she was letting on, but he’d ignored my sister the same way he
ignored me.
“Oh, Gin, I’m so glad I ran into you today,” Deirdre chirped.
I shifted on my feet so that her hand fell away from my arm, which had already
gone numb from her touch. “You’re glad that you ran into me in my own
restaurant?”
Bria snickered. Finn looked at her, and she covered her laughter by gulping
down more lemonade.
Deirdre ignored my sarcasm. “I wanted to remind you that tomorrow night is
the opening of that little jewelry exhibit I put together to benefit my
charity foundation. Of course, you and Owen are invited. And on the VIP list.
” She winked at me.
“Of course.” I ground out the words through my fake smile. “We wouldn’t
dream of missing it, especially since this is only the third time you’ve
invited us now.” Finn frowned at me, but I jerked my thumb over my shoulder.
“Let me go put your order in. I’ll be back with your food in a jiffy.”
“Thanks, Gin, honey.” Deirdre winked at me again. “You’re a real peach.”
I turned, stalked back over to the counter, and handed the order ticket to
Sophia. The Goth dwarf gave me a mulish look, not liking Deirdre any more than
I did, but she fixed their food in silence. I handed the plates off to
Catalina to take over to the booth while I wiped down the counter, even though
I’d just finished doing the same thing when Bria had first come in.
“Chicken,” Silvio teased, realizing that I was avoiding going back over to
the booth.