Page 93 of Devious Truth

“Ah, send him in.” I wave over to him.

“What is Artem doing here?” Elana questions, her tone sharpening.

“I asked him to join us; there’s going to be some changes, and he needs to be aware of them.”

“What changes?” She looks to Kaz. “You didn’t say anything.”

“It’s necessary, Elana.” Kaz’s jaw tightens. “You need to listen.”

“Is that what this brunch is for? To gang up on me?”

Artem saunters through the doorway, his eyes immediately landing on Elana.

Alexander stands as Artem steps to the table and offers his hand.

“Sit, eat.” He gestures to the abundance of food Joann has laid out.

“Thank you,” he nods and takes a seat on the opposite side of Kaz. A plate is brought for him.

“What are these changes?” Elana asks, leaning over her plate to glare at Alexander.

“I know we agreed that you wouldn’t have security with you at all times, but things have changed.”

“No.” Elana shakes her head violently. “Absolutely not. You promised.”

I reach over to Vee’s hand and give her a light squeeze. She’s slowly devouring a strawberry while watching my sister get heated across the table from her.

“I know we did, but things have changed. It’s dangerous right now, so until this is done, you’ll have?—”

“I said no.” She slams her fist into the table. Her fork jumps from her plate onto the table.

“We’ll figure it out,” Kaz says, tone calm but firm. “You won’t even notice the extra men.”

Artem’s eyes narrow on her. His jaw grinds tighter the longer she keeps pushing back against the added security.

“Elana, the other night I was out with some friends, and I saw your doppelgänger,” Vee cuts in, voice light as air, slipping the words into the lull like a pressure release valve.

Elana turns toward her, caught off guard. “My doppelgänger?”

“Yeah. This woman looked just like you—it was spooky.” Vee laughs. “Probably the wine messing with me. Still, I would’ve bet money it was you.”

“Where was this?” Alexander asks, his tone a bit too sharp to be merely a curious question.

“Blue Diamonds. Friday night,” I answer, pushing the Vatrushka tray toward Elana. “Have another; maybe it will sweeten your sour mood.”

“My mood is always sweet until my brothers start going back on their promises to me.” She flashes me a sarcastic smile but snatches up a Vatrushka. “Friday night I was at Natalie’s house. Her boyfriend broke up with her, so we stayed in, ordered pizza, and made a few pitchers of margaritas.”

Artem’s jaw ticks, his fingers tightening around the base of his fork.

“Margaritas? I haven’t had one of those since before I was—” Vee’s words cut off sharply. She brings her fingertips to the base of her throat. “It’s been years.”

“Oh, then we should go out for Mexican. I know the perfect place. Best tacos in town, and the margaritas are delicious.” Elana ignores the glare Alexander is giving her.

The argument over the extra security isn’t over, but it’s been waylaid thanks to Vee’s interruption. Once Elana calms down, she’ll be more reasonable about it. And yelling over the scrambled eggs isn’t going to get us any closer to her cooperation.

“You can count me and Mira in,” Megan chimes in.

“We have a fucking war going on, and these girls are going out for fucking tacos,” Alexander snaps, giving me a hard look.

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