Page 116 of Just One Silver Fox

Katia leaned toward Derek and bit off the words. “You liked me better because I cried.”

Olivia bounded to her feet. “You can’t say this about him! It’ll ruin everything.”

“I’ll call my lawyer…” Derek muttered.

“But we can say it,” Katia said. “And even if it has to be retracted, the tabloids will never forget.”

“You little bitches,” Derek hissed and took a step toward the sisters.

Both Troll and Nate moved forward, silent and menacing. Tobias looked back and forth between parents and daughters, then drained his glass of wine.

Derek’s features could have turned to stone. “Which of you is which?” he whispered but the twins didn’t tell him.

Olivia set down her wine glass as if perfectly composed, but her hand was shaking a little. “Don’t we have an interview this afternoon, Derek? We should go.”

“We should, my love.”

But the twins blocked their path. “And you knew,” Sonia accused Olivia in a whisper. “You knew and you covered for him. You chose him over your own daughter and now you’re surprised she doesn’t want to be a part of your big comeback. I’m surprised she spoke to you at all.”

“Here’s the deal,” Katia said. “And we’re not negotiating.”

Olivia and Derek looked between the twins warily.

“You’re dead to us. We don’t know you and you won’t ever try to contact us again.”

“But I’m your mother!” Olivia protested, but Katia continued.

“And in exchange, neither of us will accept the offer to publish our tell-all biography.”

“It would be so juicy,” Sonia said.

“It would destroy both of their careers forever,” Katia agreed.

“It would be justice,” Sonia said the last word with the emphasis it deserved to Nate’s thinking.

Derek sat down hard. Olivia shook a finger at her daughters. “You don’t understand. There aren’t many roles for women over forty. It’s the two of us together or not at all. This is ourchance…”

Katia waved toward the door. “You’re right about one thing, though: it’s definitely time for you to go. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass.”

Derek studied them, his gaze cold and calculating as she remembered, and Nate feared that he’d guessed which one was Sonia. The air crackled over the coffee table until Olivia cleared her throat.

“Derek?” she said sweetly, putting her hand through his arm. “I don’t think there’s anything more to be gained here.”

“You’re right, my love. We don’t want to be late.” After one last poisonous look, his expression changed to his usual affable one and the pair strode out of the apartment as if the world was their oyster.

Sonia dropped back bonelessly into her chair and Katia took a bow, toward Tobias, then spun, fist-pumping into the air in excitement.

“How awesome was that?” she demanded of no one in particular, then spun to face Sonia. “Can we do that again?”

Tobias put down the wine and came to stand in front of Sonia. “Thalia,” Tobias said, exhaling her old name. “I’m sorry. I had absolutely no idea.”

“It’s fine, Tommy,” she said. “That was how they planned it.” She stepped forward and gave him a hug. “Thank you for letting us use your place.” She pulled back to look at him. “And thanks for taking care of my crazy sister.”

Tobias laughed.

“And they’re out. The sisters will need some protective surveillance, at least until they leave town,” Pierce said in the comm.

“Agreed,” Troll said and Nate nodded.

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