Kinley is a master. Angel appreciated the two women derailing Regina’s comment, even if they were only trying to maintain decorum. Regina clearly did not have the same attitude. Without knowing anything about Angel, she’d come over and dropped a grenade into the conversation. Now I know what to look out for—toothpicks bearing bombs. Why am I taking this shit? That’s right—I don’t have to.

Angel smoothed a hand over her hair, adopting a hint of posh into her voice. “Croatia? I had some friends go there a few years ago and claim it was the new Hawaii,” she said to Kinley. “Have you been?”

Regina answered for the hostess, her Upper East Side accent drawn out and bored-sounding. “Yes, of course we have. But are you sure you’re thinking of Croatia? It’s nothing like Hawaii. More like the new Monaco—but your friends wouldn’t know that, would they?”

“Regina…” Kinley let out a loud sigh.

“Well, that’s true,” said Angel, purposefully planting a small smile on her lips instead of shoving the condescending C-bag against the wall. “They were with Nurses Without Borders, on a supply run from Bosnia. They were happy just to have freshwater and to not have to watch for land mines.”

“That’s right, I’d heard you were a nurse.”

“Almost. I take my boards next week.”

“Sounds … fascinating,” said Regina, peering down at her nails, her voice trailing off.

“Yes, fascinating,” tittered a young girl in the group.

Lambeojo! Angel cursed at the girl internally, flashing a dark look at the level-ten ass kisser.

“Oh, my aunt was a nurse!” one of the other women cut in, not catching Regina’s subtext. “She was in a really bad neighborhood, saw a lot of nasty stuff. She said one time there was this girl who was a vagina drug mule but she was so drunk she shoved a box of McDonald’s fries up there instead of the bag of hash.”

“Jesus!” said Tiffani.

“What? You know you wanna hear. Girl, I bet you’ve seen some stuff. Any funny stories?” The woman was full and curvy, with dreads pulled into an intricate bun, and an aura of self-awareness. Angel had liked her immediately, but even more now that she’d blown past Regina’s jibes.

Angel shrugged, thinking for a second. “Well, last week at the clinic, some local bouncers brought in a guy who was totally unconscious. He’d been heckling the strippers, even took a swing at a girl as she bent over him. Instead of kicking him out, the girls roofied him and drew a big dick on his face with a permanent marker.”

“No!”