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“Don’t be. It was a mercy to be away from Grandma for so long. Why can’t she be like Grandpa?” I swallow the sample, nod approvingly, and Finn pours me more.

“If he was more like her, they would’ve killed each other a long time ago,” Xavier says.

Liam tastes a spoonful of the hearty stew and gives Silas a thumbs-up. “Better than the last one. You should open a restaurant.”

“Nope. Only cook for people I care about,” Silas says before diving into his.

Xavier raises his glass, probably glad we’re included in the small group of people Silas cares about. I take a big spoonful of the beef and mushrooms. Liam’s correct that Silas’s recipe has improved. It’s the best beef bourguignon I’ve ever had.

Roarke turns to Liam. “By the way, what’s up with you and that couple last Thursday? You looked a little pissed.”

“What happened?” I’ve been out of the loop for too long.

“I went over to Kingswood Stones & Designs to have a drink with him,” Roarke says, “you know, just to shoot the bull, and saw him looking at a couple like he wanted to murder them. Felt personal.”

Liam scowls like he just found a roach in his wine. “Ah, I just hate them. The guy’s engaged to her sister, but he let her try on the engagement ring. Well, not the final design, but still…”

“Maybe he needed a model?” Gideon shrugs.

“Model, my ass.” Liam snorts. “Their heads were like this.” He puts his palms together. “I’m shocked their lips weren’t touching. They whispered like schoolgirls the entire time, smiling and giggling.”

“Scumbags and their bitches are everywhere,” I say cynically, thinking of Trevor and Boobsie Barbie. And Slick and his chick of the day. Disgusting. I drink some Rhône, but the honeysuckle-sweet over-notes do very little to wash away the bitter disgust.

“Sure. But the girl—his fiancée—deserves better,” Liam says, his blue eyes darkening with something more than sympathy.

I study him. “Huh. You have feelings for the fiancée?”

He closes his eyes briefly. “It’s Olivia.”

Everyone around the table freezes. There’s only oneOliviawho could put that longing expression on Liam’s face.

“It’s been years,” Gideon says.

“A decade.” Finn shakes his head.

Liam stiffens. “So?”

“Don’t get involved in a couple’s drama. You don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes,” Roarke says.

The light in Liam’s eyes dims. I pat his back, wishing he’d been able to get together with the girl he fell for at first sight. But apparently, she was an infamous ice queen on campus, and he didn’t get to ask her out, not even once. I don’t blame him, though. He was only twenty, and hormones and nervousness probably got to him.

Xavier sighs, then shifts toward me, clearly signaling a change of subject. “Any progress on that high school kid scandal?”

“Nope. Jeremiah reached out, but the kid isn’t really a kid. She’s twenty-six.”

Liam frowns, shaking his head.

“Ihopeshe isn’t still in high school.” Xavier’s tone drops with disgust and sarcasm.

“No. That part sounded like an exaggeration from the tabloid, for which Jeremiah sent a strongly worded letter demanding retraction and an apology, plus some sort of financial compensation big enough to hurt. But Ms. Not Actually in High School is digging in her heels. Says she won’t meet a lawyer because they’re out to get her.” I roll my eyes, but not too hard because it isn’t entirely stupid of her to avoid meeting somebody like Jeremiah, who drinks the blood of past opponents every morning before starting her day.

Gideon washes down some bread and the bourguignon with Pinot Noir. “Who could’ve put her up to this? And why?”

“I don’t know, but when I find out, I’m going to murder them.”

“Excellent. I’ll bury them in my herb garden. Bodies make great compost,” Silas says.

“Does that mean we’ll be indirectly consuming the bastard every time we get together?” Liam asks.