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“Uh-uh,” the silver blonde named Raine said. “He’s head over heels. And about time. We were all starting to worry. We’ve been trying to fix him up with our single girlfriends for years, but nothing stuck.”
Becca felt vaguely panicked, as if their easy assumptions about a happy ending could somehow jinx her dawning hopes. “Oh, no, we just met,” she said. “It’s not—I mean, we haven’t—we’re definitely not, um, stuck. Yet.”
“Oh, no,” Seth said, chortling. “Not stuck. Just locking lips every ten seconds. And for what? To confuse us? For the record, it’s working.”
“Margot. I’m hurt. Why didn’t you seat me at the lovebirds’ table? The one with Nikolai’s new little friend?”
Becca turned at the sound of that husky, sensual alto voice. It was a woman she’d noticed in the bridal party. A spectacular beauty with a corona of braided dark hair and tilted golden eyes, resplendent in a bronze taffeta evening dress trimmed with dangling jet beads.
“Because I didn’t want you to scare her to death and put her off us all forever,” Margot said, in a warning tone. “Be nice, Tam.”
“Bullshit. If she can handle that foul-mouthed lout Nikolai, she can handle me.” The woman named Tam pulled out Nick’s chair and sank down next to Becca, with a whispering rustle of full skirts. She gave Becca a slow and not particularly friendly once-over.
Becca shrank back. Her simple bias cut dress in dusty pink was very pretty, particularly with the aggressive way that her new bustier propped up her boobs, but the outfit was no match for the other woman’s Marie Antoinette splendor.
Tam reached out, and plucked the spaghetti strap of Becca’s gown. “Nice dress,” she said. “Good color for you and it showcases your breasts. But those glasses are harsh for a pretty pink flower like you. And someone has to break it to you, honey. When you’re wearing cool-toned pink, don’t go for hot red lipstick. It hurts the eyes.”
Becca’s hairs prickled. She resisted the impulse to cover her slut red mouth with her hand. “I’m not a flower,” she said in a very clear voice. “And what a lucky thing it is for us both that I don’t need your approval.”
Tam froze for a moment. She blinked. A slow smile curved her perfect mocha-painted mouth. “I was hoping you’d have backbone, just to make things more interesting,” she said. “You’ll need all of it to wrangle that man into shape. No woman’s ever succeeded so far.”
“Good. That’s just as well,” Becca said loftily. “I actually prefer to be the first. That way I can break him in properly.”
Seth, Davy and Connor all coughed and sputtered into their coffee. Tam applauded slowly. “Ah. That’s the spirit. I’m starting to see why Nikolai lost his head. The dewy green eyes that go blink blink, the big bouncing tits, the alabaster skin. Laid out naked on Zhoglo’s altar.”
Blood drained from Becca’s face, and the warmth from her body disappeared into an invisible sinkhole, leaving her ice cold and shivering with fear, to hear that name invoked here.
“What do you know about that?” she whispered.
Tam smiled, and chucked Becca under the chin. “Ah, sweetheart,” she murmured. “I know everything.”
An uncomfortable silence followed, and after a few teeth-grinding seconds of it, Seth clapped his hands together heartily.
“Uh, well, then. Moving right along. Raine made me promise not to ask any questions about that crazy shit, but since Tam’s already broken the ice—”
“Seth!” Raine said, in a warming tone. “I meant what I said.”
“But I want more details!” Seth complained. “Nick just gave us bare bones, and I mean, white, bleached, dry as dust bones. Tightlipped son of a bitch. Mr. Monosyllable. It breaks my balls.”
Becca floundered for a moment. “Ah, well, maybe after some more time has gone by,” she hedged. “It’s not something I want to dwell on.”
Not while she was on the man’s hit list, that was for sure.
“What did I tell you?” Raine tapped her husband’s chest with an admonishing finger. “Jerk. Now you pay the penalty.”
“Oh, no!” Seth turned a comically sad face Becca’s way. “She’s boycotting my second favorite sexual activity for a week!”
Becca held back giggles. “Oh, dear. That’s terrible. What will you do?”
“Oh, I’ll live,” he assured her. “There’s always my first favorite activity to fall back on, and there’s nothing I love more than—ow!” He turned to Raine, looking hurt. “Hey! Those stiletto heels are sharp!”
Raine shot Becca a sidelong, embarrassed smile. “Sorry about that,” she said. “He’s a wild animal. I told him not to bug you about it. I can well imagine why you wouldn’t want to talk about Zhoglo.”
“Don’t.” Nick’s adamant voice cut across Raine’s and silenced everyone at the table. “Don’t mention his name. He might hear you.”
Everyone turned to look at Nick, who was staring down at Tam, slit-eyed.
“So what’s Milla up to?” Davy asked quietly.
