Sucker Punch (First Fangs Club #3) - Kristen Painter Page 0,75
be able to stay out here for long.”
Charlie glared at them. “He has a lot of nerve showing up here. This isn’t his state. And he had nothing to do with that raid. He’s doing this for show. Or he knew you were going to be here and didn’t want to be left out.”
Donna looked at her. “You think he knew we’d be here?”
“It’s possible. But this is some stunt. He wasn’t included in the raid, so now he’s making his presence known.”
Donna frowned. “I wish I could have sent Neo after him.”
They watched in silence as Fitzhugh and Claudette paid their condolences to LV and Toni. Neither woman seemed overjoyed to greet him.
Temo grunted. “I wondered what had happened to Claudette. Never figured she’d gotten back with him.”
Donna snorted. “No wonder Cammie said he smelled like French perfume last night. Claudette didn’t stay at her studio in the village very long, did she?”
Pierce nudged Donna gently. “You think she’s behind his recent council complaints?”
“After I saved her life, she’d better not be.”
Charlie blew out a breath. “I bet she’s not discouraging him. In fact, I bet he’s got her so twisted up that she somehow believes you’re the bad guy. He’s such a rat. Of course, Claudette’s not exactly an angel either. They’re so well suited.”
“That’s an understatement,” Pierce muttered. He leaned in. “Do you want to leave?”
Donna arched her brows. “And let him think he intimidates me? Not a chance.”
Pierce smiled. “Good. Because I was going to argue to stay.”
She laughed softly. “He ought to worry about you punching him again.”
Pierce gave her a wry smile. “He really should.”
The ceremony began, and Fitzhugh and Claudette found a spot at the edge of the gathering under the scant shade of a few bare crepe myrtles. The reverend’s voice traveled easily over the quiet crowd.
Donna listened, her mind wandering to the last time she’d been at a funeral.
It had been for Joe. She hadn’t known he wasn’t really dead then, and that day had been extremely hard on her. Not because of her grief, but because of all the manufactured sympathy for a horrible man who’d spent his life breaking the law to get ahead.
The willpower and self-control that it had taken for her to get through that day had nearly pushed her to her limit. And then Big Tony, Joe’s boss, had given her an order that had changed her life.
Do one last job for him, a job Joe had been unable to complete, and Donna would be free to live the rest of her life as she wished.
She should have known it was too good to be true.
Not only had it been a setup, but her side trip to Joe’s gravesite had put her in the path of the rogue vampire who’d bitten her.
Thankfully, Claudette had saved Donna’s life. And set her on the path she now walked.
Donna shifted her gaze from the reverend to the former governor. Claudette had her arm through Fitzhugh’s and was leaning into him, their two umbrellas mashed together.
What was she playing at? She had to know about the complaints he’d made to the council.
At least he’d been smart enough not to bring Claudette to Francine’s party. Or Claudette had been smart enough to stay home. Although referring to either of them as smart enough seemed odd.
Donna would not be the terrible sire Claudette had been. She’d called Will after returning home from Cammie’s Venari visit to Fitzhugh, thankful to find the man in good spirits and grateful to her for saving his life.
He’d seemed perfectly at ease being a vampire. But then, he was already part reaper, so maybe there wasn’t much of a transition for him to deal with. If so, he was lucky.
Claudette had basically left Donna to fend for herself. Which was how she’d ended up draining Yuri, the Russian gangster, to death and breaking her psychic bond with Claudette. Thankfully, Will had told her he had no plans to use their psychic connection unless absolutely necessary. Donna appreciated that, because how did you prepare for having a man’s voice in your head?
She looked at Rico, his hands folded in front of him. Was that Russian lunk still in the FBI’s deep freeze? Rico had covered for her with Yuri. That alone would have been reason enough to rescue him from the fae.
What did he want to talk to her about? She couldn’t imagine.
A violinist played as the casket was being lowered.
Her attention returned to Fitzhugh and Claudette. Had