Page 48 of Donut Disaster

Everett wraps an arm around my shoulders. “I’ve seen my fair share of crimes of passion. I always try to remember that people have a tendency to take leave of their senses when it comes to those things.”

Cookie sulks a moment. His enormous shoulders slump a few inches. “Morgan was quite passionate. And here it’s done him in.”

Cassie shudders. “You better believe it.” She’s glaring at someone across the room, and we look over to find Anika talking with Dr. Drake. They’re both head to toe in black, their heads knitted together as they engage in conversation. “You know, some people kill for heartbreak, and others kill for revenge.” She pumps her shoulders. “Thanks for stopping by. I’d better go console his poor mother.” She takes off just as Jeremy and Jessica Nicole come our way.

“So what’d you think?” Jeremy slaps his chest in a show of pride.

I shake my head, unable to formulate the words. “It was something.”

Jessica Nicole snaps her gum while laughing up a storm. “That bit at the end was all my idea. The best part was Morgan wasn’t here to see it. That’s what he gets for making a play at me when I didn’t want him to. All the action, none of the enjoyment.”

Revenge? I tilt my head her way. Could this be what Cassie was hinting at? Although, in all fairness, she wasn’t looking at these two. I glance back at Anika and Dr. Drake.

“Jeremy, do you know anything about Morgan’s girlfriends?”

“Which one? There were ten if there weren’t thirty.”

“That one,” I say, looking Anika’s way. “Or even Cassie.”

“Nope. All I know is their name, and that’s because you just told ’em to me.”

Jessica Nicole shrugs. “I know Cassie. The football princess.” She rolls her eyes. “Her father fired my father. How’s that for irony? My dad works in public relations, or at least he did until her bigwig coach of a father had the entire agency removed due to some internal email that wasn’t to his liking. Turns out, Jake Montgomery is temperamental, and the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree. She might look as cool as a cucumber on the outside, but she’s a barrel of gunpowder that doesn’t require a flame to set her off. You just look at her funny, and she’s got a vendetta against you. Real piece of work, that one.”

“Interesting.” I give Everett’s hand a squeeze.

Cookie barks. “Ask about the other one.”

“What about Anika?”

Jessica Nicole squints her way. “She’s not what she seems.”

Everett glances her way. “Someone mentioned she was Jane Lloyd and Jimmy Love’s child. I think that might give just about anyone an identity crisis.”

We share a hearty laugh on Anika’s behalf.

“Nope.” Jessica Nicole lines her tongue with her pink gum before making it snap like a series of firecrackers going off all at once. “She’s not what the world thinks she is. Sure, she runs in gilded social circles most people would give a limb to spend one night in, but she does grunge work on the side.”

“She does what?” I lean in, and Cookie does the same.

Cookie growls at her. “This is getting good, isn’t it, Lottie?”

Jessica Nicole nods as if agreeing with the sweet spirit. “They call it celebrity slumming or glamorous grounding. It’s when someone rich enough to make it rain green takes up a bottom rung career just to see how the other half lives. She performs once a week at the Strand, an exclusive club down in Leeds. They collect phones at the door and make you walk through a metal detector to get in. There’s a two hundred dollar cover, but the other girls there love her.”

“The Strand? You wouldn’t happen to know what day she performs, would you?”

“Mondays.” She shrugs. “Every day after that is a weekend. Some life.” She shakes her head as a crowd of mourners moves into our midst, and Everett and I graciously step away as they become engulfed.

Everett gives me a knowing look. “You’re having Noah take you there, aren’t you?”

“You’re the one who said to go out with him.” I crimp a smile. “Want to join in on the f-u-n?”

“Not me.” He darts a glance across the room. “I’ll sit this one out. Remember to have a heart-to-heart.”

“Contemplating a future with Noah while in a room full of scantily clad women? Why does this feel like the ultimate test for him?”

“It won’t be. You’ll be the only woman he sees.” He brushes his thumb over my cheek, his searing gaze pressing into mine, letting me know it’s true for him as well. “And if that’s not the case, kick him to the curb.”

“Kick who to the curb?” a deep voice rumbles from behind, and we turn to find Noah and Ivy standing there.