Page 26 of Tuesday

“Yeah, but she’s stronger than that pussy,” Vi answers.

“And to think you thought you loved him!” Blanche crows, then cackles, holding her large stomach.

“Shut it, you! I was confused!”

“It was more than that, girl,” Nat joins in the teasing.

I blow out a breath and get on with it. These women talk at the speed of light when they all get together, and I can’t keep up. I wrap an arm around Candice’s torso, then hold her head against my shoulder with my palm on her forehead. Lovely leans over with a marker pen and draws some squiggles and dots on Candice’s face.

“You OK?” I ask her under my breath. She gives me a smile, although it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Look, my brother is an idiot.”

She barks out a laugh, “Rhodie, we both know your brother isn’t an idiot. He’s the Pres and he has a lot of responsibilities. I won’t be a burden on him.”

“You’re not-”

“Yes, I am. For some reason he sees me as a damsel in distress. I’m not you know, but there’s no convincing him otherwise.”

I nod. Marx is a stubborn asshole when he wants to be. I open my mouth to say something to make her feel better, but stop when she places a hand on the forearm that’s wrapped around Candice.

“I’m fine, Rhodie. I’ve walked through hell and come out the other side. All this-” she waves her hand around. “All this is cake, as Ana says.” She grins at me and I know for a fucking fact that if Marx lets this woman slip through his fingers he’ll regret it for the rest of his life. Lovely, the way she is, her strength, her empathy, the way she has Marx in knots? That’s first lady shit right there.

Lovely turns to see that Chewy is ready and chomping at the bit to get this phase of her plan started.

“Let’s start with 7ml to the top lip.”

Chapter 9

Chewy

“What did she say?” Remy asks, brow furrowed.

“I think she said ‘Tito dent awol’,” Ana shrugs.

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“No, she said ‘Tito hornors home’,” Mira says.

“That makes even less sense!” Blanche says, throwing her hands up. “That’s it, I’m dissolving this filler so we can understand her.” She waddles toward Pops who hands over a syringe.

Looking at Candice I have to admit, 7ml probably was alittletoo much. That and the amount of wine we gave her makes it almost impossible to understand what the hell she’s saying.

“Little too much, huh?” Rhodie asks with the smirk that never ceases to make me wet.

“Maybe, just a teensy bit,” I hold my thumb and forefinger apart just a little bit.

I look at Candice’s face at the same time Rhodie looks down at her. I take in her huge top lip. It’s almost three times the size it once was, and is an interesting shade of purple around the edges. Blanche looks over her shoulder at me, asking permission I think, so I nod in her direction. I mean, it’s not like you can fuck up removing filler. Blanche moves to stick the needle in, and a laugh escapes me when I notice that she is using the largest gauge needle we own. Candice must see it too, as she starts to fight against Rhodie. Hard.

“Stay still you silly bitch!” Blanche growls, gripping her cheeks, as she presses the needle into Candice’s lip and depresses the plunger.

“Whoa! That looks worse than before,” Remy whispers in awe.

My head tilts to the side and I have to admit, it’s definitely bigger than it was. “Blanche, did you use the right stuff?”

“I used whatever Pops gave me.” She frowns down at the syringe in her hand.

As a collective, we all turn to stare at Pops who is standing with his back to us as he preps my tools.

“Pops?” Blanche growls.

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