Page 5 of Deadly Misfortunes

Camden laughed. “What’s being said?”

“He got her pregnant.”

“Yeah, well, she’s pregnant now with twins.”

Then Gregory frowned. “How could that have happened though? It would be too early to know.”

“They have their ways.”

“Oh, right, their psychic abilities.” But Gregory suspected it was more likely that Katrina and Prescott had met earlier than they were letting on. “What about their cousin Lucy?”

“I don’t know anything about that. I’ve never met her. Katrina mentioned Damon was marrying her. That’s all I know.”

“And Sascha?”

“Katrina’s pretty conservative. Sascha’s not. I mean, when Katrina dances…well, all I can say is she was a delight. Sascha, yeah, well, she’s really something too. If she hadn’t had to do her single number next, you better believe I would have her wrapped securely in my arms still.” Camden took a deep breath. “I would have had a go for Katrina if I could have, but Prescott wasn’t giving me a chance. Now there’s Sascha.” He nodded his head at her. “She didn’t pay any attention to me last year when she entertained at our party. In fact, she avoided me as if I had some kind of communicable disease. Of course, I was married at the time.”

Gregory laughed.

“But now…well, I would say I have a pretty good chance with her.”

Gregory wasn’t sure whether Camden was egging him on or genuinely interested in Sascha. His license plates said it all. TXStud… and he tried to live up to his self-professed reputation. Had Camden truly wanted to get to know Katrina better? Or was he only fascinated with her because Prescott had wanted her? Maybe the same went for Sascha. Now that Gregory showed he liked her and wanted to get to know her better, Camden wanted her.

Gregory couldn’t keep his eyes off her, though, and when the music ended, the room roared with cheers, wolf whistles, and clapping. She served as some enticing entertainment all right. He sure wanted to dance close to her, as Camden had.

When the music changed to a nice slow dance, he had every intention of twisting around the floor with her, showing her his special moves. To his surprise, she hurried out of the room instead.

Camden clapped him on the back. “You missed the opportunity to dance with her. She’ll have a drink to cool down and begin again with the fortune-telling readings. You know she makes pretty good money at these parties.”

She was worth every penny, but Gregory was totally annoyed he’d missed the opportunity to hold her close as she fled into the next room.

When he should have told himself to stay far away from the bewitching sensation before she convinced him that she was the one for him, like Katrina had Prescott.

3

Sascha hadn’t been surprised that Gregory watched her like a hungry timber wolf ready to pounce on its prey when she’d been dancing for the partygoers. She’d hoped she wouldn’t miss a step when she caught Gregory’s eye a couple of times during her wild twirls. She could have sworn he was panting because she’d made him so hot. When she hurried out of the room to get a drink, she could have laughed as he stepped forward to ask her to dance…a little too late.

But she was a working girl for the evening. She only allowed herself one dance with Camden to annoy Gregory. And because Camden’s family paid for her to be there.

To think Gregory had been checking up on her family. The very nerve of the guy.

When she asked for a soft drink at the bar, she had every intention of working on palm readings next, but then her former boyfriend, Damon, walked in the door. She couldn’t help that her heart pitter-pattered whenever she saw him. She knew she had to get over it. His eyes caught hers right away, though, and he immediately gravitated toward her.

She took her drink and returned to her seat, where she would perform her readings, trying to avoid the inevitable. Taking a deep breath, she turned her gaze up to meet his. “What are you doing here, Damon?”

She wasn’t mad, just concerned. In the five years since she’d lost her powers, she still couldn’t fight the attraction she had for him, nor could he for her.

He turned his eyes from hers and stared at the crystal ball sitting on her table. “You’ve got to tell your Aunt Meg I can’t marry Lucy. I never meant for you to lose your powers the way you did, but honest to goodness, Sascha, I can’t marry that witch.”

Sascha and Katrina—often called Kat—really liked their cousin, Lucy. She was lots of fun to be around, but she did rub some people the wrong way.

“I’ve talked to Aunt Meg until the sun goes down. She wants her daughter married off, whether Lucy’s your soulmate or not. If she loses her powers, so be it. Aunt Meg will cast the curse on you if you don’t comply. She’s adamant about it.”

“I’m almost willing to take the curse.”

“You can’t be serious.” She glanced down at his trousers. “The new drugs on the market won’t allow you to have the kind of pleasure you have now, once she casts the spell. Lucy will come around, given time. In five years, you can divorce her. Then your punishment will end.”

“Unless I wring her neck first. Then, well, then I’ll end up in prison forever.” He dragged his fingers through his red hair, tussled by the Texas breeze. “That may be preferable, truthfully.”