Page 107 of Deadly Misfortunes

She frowned at him. "I thought you were a furniture salesman."

Sascha raised her brows. So Gregory didn't always tell people how much he was worth. With Sascha, she already knew, well, once she realized who he was, but it hadn’t meant anything to her.

"Yeah, well, here's the deal. When he and I were born—" He paused. "Can we sit inside and talk about this?"

She let out a breath. "Okay. Come in, though I don't usually let strangers into my house. But you seemed like a decent guy when we went out together." She glanced at Sascha.

Sascha raised her hands in defense. "I'm just a fortune teller."

The woman's eyes widened. "Can you do a reading for me?"

"Sure," Sascha eagerly agreed.

"You're a real one, right?" she asked as she closed the door behind them and they made their way into her living room, where three cats were perched in various places: one on a bookshelf, one on the back of a recliner, and one in a packing box that looked to be just for their entertainment.

"I am for real," Sascha said as she sat with Gregory on a couch, and Janie took a seat on a chair across from them.

Gregory hoped she would only give her a happy reading.

"So what's all this about Brendan? You know we broke up, and then he was madder than a hornet when he learned you had dated me that one time."

"Yeah, that's what we thought. Okay, so here's the deal. Brendan and I were born at the same time."

"No way. He's your twin?"

"No, we were both born at Memorial Hospital in Dallas. But his mother claimed that the babies were mixed up."

"Oh, I've met his mother. She and her husband divorced. She told me that Brendan wasn't her son, that some other baby was. I thought it was really bizarre. So you're the other kid?"

"The DNA results came back, proving that my parents were mine and that he belonged to Francine Drury."

"Yeah, I felt sorry for him. I always go for the underdog. I mean, what kind of a life could that be? When your parents don't want you because they think that you don't belong to them. And then finally treat you badly because of it. When his sister was born, it was totally different."

"How long were you dating?" Sascha asked.

"Six months. I saw the family several times, and the crappy way they treated him. But his sister was the princess and could do no wrong. I hated going over there, yet poor Brendan kept trying to win them over."

Gregory felt bad for him, knowing more of the backstory, though he had suspected that was what had happened.

"So what is the criminal stuff you think he has gotten involved in?" she asked.

"Well, you and I had that one and only date and⁠—"

"Yeah, you were boring as all get out."

Sascha laughed.

"I see you're engaged to him, or at least you're wearing a ring." She pointed to Sascha's engagement ring.

"Yes, we're engaged. Someone has been trying to kill Gregory."

Janie had been sitting forward in her seat, and she sat back, her eyes wide, her mouth agape. "No," she finally said.

"It might not have been him, but he was angry that I dated you the one time, right?"

"Well, yeah. But we had broken up."

"Why?"