Two

“Lenny, you finally know how to walk in heels!” he throws a snarky comment, making sure to use the nickname Lenny. He has seen me in heels before, but that’s Nathan. What else should I expect from him?

“You should see how I kick idiots like you with my heels. Such a lovely sight,” I snap, walking away.

“Bro, she literally stomped on my foot with those heels before you came. Avoid her for your own good,” I hear Henry warning Nathan and I smile a little to myself. My brother knows how I can’t bear to be in the same place as Nathan, so I know he may try to ease the situation a little for me.

Since dinner is already on the table, we all make our way to the dining room and we take our seats. I have the best luck on earth. Nathan is sitting right in front of me. How I wish I could just throw my plate at his face.

“So, how is hacking going, Linnea?” Nathan smirks as he looks at me.

“As good as ever. Just remember to never piss off a hacker because they know how to ruin someone’s life,” I simper, then I proceed to cut the steak before me. “Heard that you still make it to the news almost once a week with your flings. Is that true?” Two can play this game.

“It’s good to know that you find me irresistible that you’re keeping up to date with what the news says about me.” Such an arrogant asshole.

“Quite the opposite actually. News about you tends to pop up on my newsfeed most of the time, but seriously Nathaniel, you need to up your game,” I say, “I mean it’s always Nathan Rodriguez leaves whichever place you were with a new lady. Can she be his girl or is it just another fling? I’m kind of waiting for the day I read Nathan Rodriguez gets somebody pregnant. I promise the baby shower will be on me.” His reaction is unreadable, but this is Nathan here. Even if he’s fuming with anger, he will never let it show.

It will be unfair of me to say that Nathan isn’t good-looking. He is, in fact, quite handsome with his dark brown hair and brown eyes. His face is perfectly sculptured, and he is so tall. The guy that any girl would love to be seen with. However, Nathan is also the type of guy who can never settle. He is always sleeping with different women and partying hard. Not my type at all. He either has trust issues or commitment issues. That’s my analysis, at least.

“You two need to stop.” My dad sighs. Here comes the scolding. I can almost imagine how this night will go. It’s not like it’s one of a kind. We have had this kind of dinner numerous times before.

“The way you two treat each other isn’t making it easy for us to talk about what we want to discuss with the two of us,” Uncle Gabriel says and I frown. Is there a purpose behind this dinner? I thought it’s a normal one like the ones we had before.

“There’s not a single topic that can ever concern Linnea and me together.” For the first time, I find myself agreeing with Nathan. Unless it’s us killing one another, there’s nothing that Nathan and I can ever agree on.

“Actually, there is,” Mum says in a voice that does not belong to her. Audrey Henderson is a confident woman and the tone she has just spoken in lacks the confidence I’m used to. Do they want us to hide a corpse?

“What is it?” For the first time, I find Nathan worried. So am I, but I take a piece of steak, trying to cover my nervousness with eating.

“Your marriage,” Malory speaks, and I choke on the food I have just swallowed. I would rather hide a corpse.