*-*-*-*

Food, he definitely needed food to help him figure out a few things, he decided a few hours later when he got sick of hanging out in the lobby.

“That bastard!” he heard Danny hiss, making him smile, because if there was one thing that could make him smile tonight, it was screwing over one of his brothers.

“I think I saw a pizza place down the street,” he heard Jodi suggest almost desperately as he glanced over his shoulder and watched his brother step up behind him in line.

“I was here first,” Darrin reminded his brother with a glare, noting the way that Jodi blushed prettily and decided that it would probably be for the best if he left the poor thing alone tonight.

“Too bad,” Danny bit out, ignoring Jodi’s obvious attempts to escape and pulled her in line right behind him.

“You know the rules.”

“Yes, I do, but since you haven’t even paid yet this buffet is still up for grabs,” Danny said, getting in his face.

“There are plenty of buffets in this city,” Darrin said, getting in his older brother’s face, “why don’t you go to one of them?”

“We’re not going anywhere.”

“Umm, I don’t mind grabbing pizza,” Jodi offered, but they ignored her because there was no way that any self-respecting Bradford would ditch an all you can eat buffet for a slice of pizza.

“When you fuck this up, and you will, you better not take me down with you,” Darrin bit out, staring his brother down.

“I’m not the one who’s going to fuck this up,” Danny said, almost nose to nose with him now.

“How many?” the anxious woman standing behind the cash register asked, glancing nervously between the two of them.

“One,” Darrin said tightly just as Danny bit out, “Two.”

Shooting his brother one last glare, he pulled out his wallet and turned his attention to the small woman standing behind the counter, noticeably swallowing as she shot a hopeful look towards the exit, making him wonder if this was the buffet that Jason and Trevor had managed to get themselves banned from last June when they’d brought their wives down here for Book Bash.

“My treat,” he said, gesturing to his brother and Jodi, making sure to flash the nervous woman his badge as he pulled out his money to help reassure her that they weren’t about to go on a rampage and tear the place apart.

She visibly relaxed, shooting them a warm smile as she pushed her glasses back up her nose and returned her attention to the cash register. “With three adults, that will be thirty-”

“Better make it four,” his reluctant wife said as she walked past them and headed towards the buffet tables.

“Oh, okay,” the cashier said with a slight frown. “With four adults that will be-”

“You got this?” he asked his brother, keeping his eyes locked on his wife as she strolled through the busy restaurant.

“Don’t worry about it,” Danny said, pulling out his wallet as Darrin shoved his back in his pocket and went after his wife, deciding that perhaps it was time to try a different approach.

Chapter 25

“We need to talk,” Darrin said without preamble as he grabbed a plate and joined her in line.

“About our impending divorce and your promise not to threaten to end our friendship again?” she asked, forcing herself to remember that she needed to push him away and end this for him. He deserved better and she was going to make sure that he got-

“Fine. Then why don’t you tell me why you want a divorce,” he suggested, taking her by surprise, because she honestly hadn’t expected that. What she had expected was some more arguing, perhaps an attempted kidnapping or two, basically the typical Bradford response. Actually asking about the reason behind her decision was completely unexpected and for some reason, absolutely terrifying because she knew the large bastard was up to something.

“Maybe we can discuss this,” he said, sounding perfectly amicable to discussing this like two calm, rational adults.

Yeah, he was definitely up to something.

“What are you up to?” she asked, deciding to skip the games, terror and bullshit and get right to the point.

“What makes you think that I’m up to something?” he asked, giving her what he no doubt believed was a warm, reassuring smile meant to set her at ease, and on anyone else it would probably work, but she’d been raised among the Bradfords and was well acquainted with their bullshit.

Eyes narrowing on the bastard still giving her that damn smile, she reached for the spoon sticking straight up in the mound of mashed potatoes, but before she could reach it, Darrin had it and was scooping a big spoonful onto her plate. “So, what would you like to discuss?” he asked as he scooped three large spoonfuls of mashed potatoes onto his plate all while smiling that damn smile of his.

“How about we discuss what you’re up to?” she suggested a bit snappishly as she scooped some baked macaroni and cheese onto her plate.

“I’m not up to anything,” he said, blinking innocently as he held up his plate with a hopeful smile.

Biting back a curse and a smile, because he really was just too cute for his own good, she scooped up a big spoonful of macaroni and cheese and dropped it on his plate. Before he could start pouting, and they both knew that he was seconds away from pouting, she quickly scooped up more macaroni and cheese onto his plate.

“You’re not up to anything?” she asked offhandedly as she helped herself to a chicken breast.