Page 75 of Feed Your Fiends

“We reconnected at school,” Sylo says. “And here we are now. Cousins.”

“Here we are,” I say quietly.

But Sylo’s eyes are flickering to my baby’s.

And so’s Delphine’s.

Elle

Gant’s smile as he peers at Delphine, a mirror image of his mother in living flesh, isn’t his usual calculating snarl. It isn’t his indulgent grin when he’s come up, chin wet from between my thighs. It’s a genuine smile that makes me envision a little untainted Gant, like in the baby photos his aunt showed us. Pictures she’s collected and organised into an album alongside her family photos to foster a pseudo-relationship with her nephew from afar. I shouldn’t want to see him happy, and yet witnessing it first-hand puts a litheness in my heart.

But it’s an illusion, remember? Remember the last time you allowed your heart to feel?

Phantom pains shoot through my feet, and I shift them in the boots I’d been so self-conscious about for no reason because Gant was right. I have nothing to worry about because if Delphine is a fashion snob, she hides it well.

Her smile is as soft as her palm that’s gently found my arm a few times as we flipped through the memories of her old photo albums. She’d even leaned her head against mine, and my hair is as dry as straw compared to her baby-smooth strands. As a kid, people always assumed I had lice because my hair was greasy and yet so fucking dry at the same time. They’d think I was dirty even when my clothes were clean and ironed, it’s just that they were faded and worn. But Delphine’s touching me, her hip pressed against mine, her four-figure bracelet pressing into my skin as she turns the album’s pages. Women like Delphine only sneered if they noticed me, including her sister Marisol. Seriously, how could Marisol hate this woman? Then again, Delphine’s married to a potential killer.

My eyes flicker to Sylo, who’s watching me over the rim of his teacup, and suddenly, the warm sunshine, tea, and Delphine’s perfume all fade away.

Sylo was with Jarett at The Watering Hole. Maybe.

Stay focused.

Sylo slips away to the tea cake table, and I try to slip my fingers from Gant’s. He’s not gripping me for dear life like when we first arrived. His fingers are warm now, relaxed, but the second I pull away, he tears his eyes from Delphine and curls his fingers tighter.

“I’m just going for another tea cake.”

“Try the raspberry lemon tart,” Delphine says between bites as she pulls out another photo. “It’s divine.”

“I’ll be fine,” I whisper. “You’ll be fine.”

And truly I think he,they,could use this moment without my presence. Even Sylo got the clue, or at least his boredom lured him away.

“Hi.”

Sylo turns to me, a smirk playing on his lips. “Are you allowed to talk to me?”

“Gant isn’t my puppet master.”

“No, but he delivers consequences to anyone who doesn’t listen.”

“I’m sorry about the spider incident, by the way.”

“Are you? If so, you wouldn’t risk talking to me now.”

Not that he seems scared in the slightest. I think he likes this weird cousin rivalry.

Cousins…

I glance over at Delphine and Gant, who are on their feet now, peering out the giant window that overlooks the gardens. She’s showing him something, but from his reflection in the glass, I can tell he’s staring at me.

“Better make it quick.” Sylo snaps my attention back to him.

“What?”

“I know you don’t give a damn about these tea cakes or finger sandwiches, so what do you want?”

I’m momentarily speechless, my mouth hanging open.

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