Page 105 of The Hardest Hit

She smiled at him and went to the oven. “Do you want ice cream on your pie?” she asked, pulling on the oven mitts.

“No, no ice cream,” said Pops, smiling wolfishly. “Olivia Rose, I appreciate your spunk, but I’ve got those pictures on a thumb drive.”

“I’m sure that you do,” said Olivia. She set the plate down and lifted the slice of pie carefully onto a cool plate. “Cool whip?” He nodded his head and she dutifully spooned some out of the blue tub. “But you’re going to give it to me.”

“No, I most certainly am not. And your wall sitter there had better not get any fancy ideas either.”

She set the plate down in front of him. “I do not know how you get ahead in politics, Pops. Ya slow.”

For the first time, he looked uncertain. “Now,” she said going back to the oven and putting her grandmother’s pie on a cool plate, “I do not care if you and Eleanor Deveraux fist-fight it out on the senate floor. I would say that it is probably not in your best interest, but you’re welcome to go at it as far as I’m concerned. But Evan Deveraux is mine. If you lift a finger in his direction, you’re going to regret it.”

“Oh, and how are you going to accomplish that?” demanded Pops, booming out a jovial laugh.

She waited until he was done. Waited until he was silent and looking at her. “I know where you keep the bourbon, Pops.”

His eyes flicked to the bottle on the table.

“I know where you keepallthe bourbon.”

“Olivia Rose,” he said uncomfortably, his voice carrying just the hint of a whine, “what are you doing? This isn’t like you. You’re a good girl. Stop behaving like this.”

“You’re going to give me that thumb drive,” said Olivia, ignoring his commentary. “And you’re going to keep your damn mouth shut. You’re a busy man, Pops, and sometimes you just get ahead of yourself. Think of this as me keeping you out of trouble.”

He stared at her, his eyes glittering in the light from the stove, the shadows carving his face into jowly jack-o-lantern shapes. Finally, he picked up his glass and drank it down.

“I keep my mouth shut, and you do the same?” he asked.

“That is the general idea,” said Olivia. He lifted his briefcase onto the table and opened it. He produced a flash drive and slid it across the table to her.

“That’s a good boy,” said Olivia. “Now, be a lamb and go take Grams her pie. I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you.”

He accepted the plate and glared at Jackson. “Get him out of here, Olivia Rose. I won’t have any Deverauxes in this house. And I think, after tonight, you’d better not come back either.”

“See you at your funeral then,” said Olivia.

His eyes flicked back to her, hard and angry.

“I’ll bake you a real nice cake.”

“I’ll just bet you will,” he said and walked out of the kitchen.

38

Evan – Deveraux House

“Oh, for fucks sake, Grandma!” snapped Dominique.

Evan sat on the couch between Aiden and Dominique. He had not wanted to come to Sunday dinner. He had not wanted to go into Deveraux House. He hadn’t wanted to see Eleanor. He hadn’t wanted any of it. But Aiden and Dominique had pushed and pushed and he hadn’t had the energy to fight. And now they were in the study and they hadn’t left him once. It was as if he had his own bodyguards.

Eleanor had been angry about it. He could see it in the way her eyes flicked between the cousins and the tightness of her mouth.

“Do you have to use that kind of language?” said Eleanor. “Your mother never did.”

“Why do you think she does it?” muttered Aiden.

Evan abruptly stood up and went to the bar. He wasn’t even sure what they were arguing about. He hadn’t been following the conversation.

“I have some more inappropriate language,” said Dominique. “Want to hear it?”