Persephone gets a new target after Penny and Amelia show up at Cora's Bakery begging for help. Emory, who knows Pete's type well, makes it her personal mission to bring his empire down. Chief of Police Beau Simpson has been on Jake's ass more and mo...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"You can't be serious."
The look I sent my husband is lethal and would make lesser men cower. But not Jake. If anything, it amuses him. I swear the man gets off on trying to put me in my place.
A smirk crossed his handsome face, and I wanted to kiss it and slap it off when he replied. "Oh, but I am. Mayor Mitchell is throwing a banquet in honor of the task force in a few weeks, and all the beautiful spouses are expected to attend."
I'm damn near wearing a path in the dark concrete of the floor of The Underworld as I recount the conversation I had with Jake to the rest of the Furies.
"I'm not going. It's too close for comfort, we tempt fate enough as it is on a regular basis by being linked to these idiots! It feels like we'd be chumming the waters by going."
I stop pacing and place my hands on the stainless steel table in front of me, hoping the contrast in temperature helps me slow my breathing. Birdie's hand lands on my shoulder then pulls me upright and into a hug.
"Hey, it's ok, Em. Deep breaths," Her voice is soothing as she gently rocks me side to side. She's always been the voice of reason when I start to panic. "You don't have to go, it's not worth the stress, ok?"
Ever the realist and not afraid to give me the hard truth, Addie pipes in. "We'll support you no matter what, you know that. But it may not be the best look for the commander's wife to be missing from the event that is basically being held to celebrate his hard work."
I groan, realizing how bad it actually would look. I don't have time to dwell on it though, because the motion sensor for the front door of Cora's goes off. The live view of the detection pops up on the monitor on the wall and everyone's eyes snap to the screen. It's safe to say our jaws drop in unison when we see the panicked faces of none other than Penny Mitchell and her daughter, Amelia. A collective gasp leaves the group, and Birdie and I rush up to let them in, leaving the rest of the crew behind. It's our typical response in a situation like this, just in case it's a "married to a police officer" matter instead of a Furies one. We quickly push open the door, usher them inside, and lock it back.
"Oh my God, you two! What happened?!" I ask, wrapping Amelia in my arms and holding her close to my chest. She started working in the bakery part time last summer and she's started to become like a daughter to me.
Birdie has an arm around Penny's shoulders as she guides her to sit in the cushy loveseat in the corner. Once the backs of her knees hit the chair, Penny collapses into it and begins sobbing. Amelia breaks not long after her mom and Birdie and I try our best to comfort them, something we've grown to be unfortunately good at doing. Once their cries slow to stuttered breaths, I offer to grab them some hot tea and they gratefully accept. When I return with two oversized mugs in hand, their faces are tear stained and swollen, but they each have a determined look in their eyes.
