Page 35 of Cherished By the Sinners

Chapter Eleven

Darlene

Darlene watched Magnuscharge out of the restaurant like he was dressed in armor and on his way to a jousting tournament he was sure to win.

His stride was similar to Mason’s, but not quite the same.Mason’s stride was smoother, quieter.Magnus held everyone in a room’s attention.Mason could slide in and out and most wouldn’t notice.

Huh.Was that a natural development or something they perfected over time?She’d have to ask them.

She focused on her food.She’d finished her steak already and was nearly done the potatoes and vegetables.The waitress came out with a fresh pot of tea.

“Could I see a dessert menu?”Darlene asked.

“Our desserts change every day.The Chef likes to create new ones all the time.Tonight he has a chocolate lava cake, a rhubarb tiramisù, and an apple and raspberry crumble with ice cream.”

“Oh, can I have the crumble, please?”

“Of course,” the waitress smiled at her then headed for the kitchen.

Darlene finished the food on her plate and noted that the vice cop had stood up.He was talking to the two men he was with, but she couldn’t make out any actual words.

She pushed away her empty plate and pulled her tea a little closer.

The vice cop walked up to her table with an over-the-top swagger.“Moving up in the world, are we?”he said to her.He bent over the table as if he were being friendly.His smiled held all the slick disgust of a used car salesman.“If you’re doing those two meatheads, I hope you raised your rates.”

“I have a new job now,” she said, proud of how calm she sounded.“A legitimate job.”

“In this place?”he asked on a laugh so loud he sounded more like a donkey than a man.“This place is run by a crime family.One that doesn’t mind getting their hands dirty.One day soon you’re just going to—” He snapped his fingers only an inch from her face.“—disappear.”

Darlene didn’t answer.

He leaned closer still, his hand reaching for her face, when three tiny elderly Chinese ladies all but ran into him.

“What the—” he said as the three ladies asked him questions in rapid Mandarin and made shooing motions at him.

He backed up a few steps and the ladies piled into the booth on either side of her.They chattered at her in a combination of Mandarin and English, asking what she ate and what kind of tea she was drinking.She had to focus quite hard on listening in order to understand their broken English.

It was hard not to laugh at the astonished expression on the cop’s face.

Darlene answered their questions and thanked them for coming to visit her.“Would you like dessert?”she asked them in slow English.

“You understand them?”The vice cop asked, as if he couldn’t believe his own ears.

“Yes.”That’s all the answer he was going to get.

One of the ladies very obviously looked the cop up and down, shook her head and whispered in her ear, “He has very small hands.He wouldn’t make a good husband.”

Darlene giggled as the lady said something in Mandarin to her friends.Probably repeating what she’d whispered to Darlene.