Page 101 of Deadly Misfortunes

Maria told them dinner was ready. Sascha took Gregory’s offered hand. They rose from the couch and headed for the dining room.

The prime rib roast sat on a platter on the table, with potatoes, carrots, and broccoli surrounding it, and it smelled and looked delicious.

“That’s a lot for just two people,” Sascha said, taking her seat next to him.

“We serve up what we want to eat, and then the staff will take it into the second dining room and enjoy it.”

“Oh, good.” Sascha was used to having leftovers when she made food at her apartment, but she realized they never had the same meal twice when she ate here. That was even better: that his staff could enjoy the delightful meals the chef prepared. A nice perk.

Gregory finished another bite of the roast. “You know, if there’s anything you want again, Chef Paul can make it for you.”

She hated asking for something that might mean the staff wouldn’t enjoy the main meal as much as they did.

“What are you thinking of eating?” He raised his brows.

“Ohmigod, you’re reading my mind again.”

“I sure am.”

“Roast beef hash. I love to have leftover beef with fried potatoes, garlic cloves, and onions.”

“Chef Paul can make it from fresh beef, so no one else is deprived of a good meal tonight.”

She smiled, leaned over, and kissed Gregory. “I’m used to watching what I make and recycling foods. When Kat was in the apartment next door to me, we always ate together. But once she was gone, there was only just me, so I had to learn to divide food up more.”

He took hold of her hand. “You don’t have to worry about that any longer.”

“I can’t believe I’m here with you and it’s permanent. And here you were telling me that I was after you⁠—”

He laughed. “Yeah, I was projecting. I wanted you to be with me, permanently.”

“I’m not after your money.”

“Only when Raymond offers it.”

She smiled. “Yeah, I liked him right away.”

Gregory’s dimples appeared again. She loved seeing them. He was so cute.

“Wait, so in your nightmare or vision, did the guy strangle his girlfriend?” Gregory suddenly asked.

“No. I, well, she stopped him. She kneed him in the jewels, and he finally got over it and tried to strangle her, but then heard someone or something, and he left. I just thought it was me crying out and the bodyguards arriving in the bedroom that brought me out of the vision, but she survived the encounter. He ran out of the bedroom.”

“He was masked, so it could have been someone other than her boyfriend. The vision just happened to be of Brendan’s girlfriend.”

She thought about it. “Yeah. But why would I even have the vision of the woman? Except—” She frowned. “She had dated you, even if it was only the one time. And you had someone trying to kill you, possibly because of that. Do you have a picture of Brendan?”

“Hank, my PI, sent me a photo of Brendan and the girlfriend. But not together. They’ve broken up.”

“Again? Maybe they hadn’t made up, and when they broke up, that was it.”

“That could be. And he could blame me for the breakup. The picture of Brendan isn’t really clear. He disappeared so Hank can’t get a current photo of him, just one off a social media site. The photo of the girlfriend is from a few weeks back.” Gregory showed the pictures on his phone to Sascha.

“The vision I saw was from the perspective of the girlfriend, so I can’t envision what she looks like, only her nails as she held them up to fend off the masked man.”

Then Maria came to the table and asked if they were ready for dessert. “Chef made a chocolate cake and chocolate mousse. Which would you like to have?”

“Chocolate mousse for me,” Sascha said. “I’ll have green tea also.”