The bell over the door rings as if taunting me, and I turn to find Georgie walking in. He gives me his usual glower for a greeting, then beams to Kali. I don’t wait for him to even get to her, though, before I snatch her from Solana’s arms, to the protest of both dog and woman, and stalk out of the shop thinking of how exactly I’m going to kill Clifton Phillips.

19

Mercedes

“Soooo?” Solana’s stare burns a hole into the side of my face as we sit on the sofa watching a trashy reality TV show. I think the entire premise is that everyone just gets drunk every night and makes bad decisions, but I’m not entirely certain.

“So what?” I toss a piece of popcorn into my mouth and chew on it.

“Nothing to report today?”

I turn to her, arching an eyebrow in question. She’s been acting strange since she got here. Almost like she’s expecting something, but I don’t know what.

“Will you just tell me what’s on your mind?” I groan. “Clearly, there’s something.”

“It’s nothing.” She shrugs a shoulder innocently. Too innocent if you ask me.

“It’s something,” I mutter.

Pestilence settles into my side, laying his head over my lap while he eyes the popcorn bowl.

“You’re in a mood.” Solana plucks a piece of popcorn from the bowl and feeds it to the dog. “Did something happen with Judge today?”

“You mean other than him trying to lure me back to his house with a puppy?” I remark dryly.

“I think it’s kind of cute.” Solana scratches Pestilence’s head and wiggles her brows. “I wouldn’t mind a hot guy trying to lure me back to his place with a puppy.”

I toss her a glare. “Did you just call Judge hot?”

Another innocent smile. “Why, does that bother you? He is hot. I have eyeballs. Can’t I just make that casual observation?”

I drag my annoyed gaze back to the TV and pretend to watch the cast fight about who slept with who last night. Solana knows she’s getting under my skin, and she’s doing it intentionally. But the question is why.

“It must be something in that Montgomery blood,” she adds thoughtfully. “Theron might be an asshole, but he’s got that dark, brooding thing going for him too.”

“Solana.” I start to protest, irritated that I haven’t squashed this fascination of hers like I thought I did. But before I can even get into it, a thunderous knock rattles my door.

“Whoa.” Solana’s eyes widen as she looks from me to the door. “Who could that be?”

“I have a feeling…” I drag myself up off the couch and walk over to the entryway, staring through the peephole to find the last two people on earth I expected to see on my doorstep tonight.