Imitation of Death Read Online Free

the cap off the marker. Mouth pursed, she signed her name with great flourish across his bare skin. Left pec. The smile.
    Astro Wharton looked down at her signature as he accepted the marker back. “Oh my God, my friends at the gym aren’t going to believe this. Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome.” She flashed the smile one last time and walked away.
    Nikki stood staring at the eye candy for a second. Had this guy really just asked a seventy-year-old woman to autograph his pec?
    “Nicolette?” Victoria sang, curling a finger to beckon her.
    Nikki flashed her best imitation of the smile her mother had made her practice in the mirror as a teenager. This smile was required in any public situation. “Have a good day.”
    With Nikki, Victoria, Jorge, and Hector safely on the other side of the fence, Marshall swung the gate shut. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, Jorge?” Marshall demanded. “You’re lucky he didn’t blow your brains out. You know better than to mess with Crazy Eddie.”
    Jorge threw back his shoulders. “He’s lucky I didn’t—”
    “Gentlemen, gentlemen.” Nikki stepped between the two, afraid Jorge was going to get into it with Marshall next.
    They’d attended the same elementary school, Nikki and Jorge; Victoria had thought it important that her daughter see how regular folks lived. Even in those days, Jorge had been a hothead, getting into fights, defending honor and pride. Nikki had ended up having to stick up for Jorge against teachers and the principal. In middle school, Nikki had joined the ranks of the privileged children and gone to private school and Jorge had been left to fight his own battles.
    “I think I’m going to finish my cocktail.” Victoria halted in front of Jorge. “Are you all right?” she asked in a motherly tone Nikki didn’t hear often. “Not hurt, are you?”
    Jorge shook his head, and lowered his gaze. He’d always been in awe of Victoria, maybe a little scared of her. Which was smart. She certainly scared the bejeezus out of Nikki.
    “Good.” Victoria gave a regal nod, back in movie goddess mode. “Join me, Marshall?”
    “By all means.” Marshall offered his arm and the two strolled across the side lawn toward the back.
    Nikki heard her dogs barking and saw them appear in the yard, then take off after Victoria and Marshall. Nikki turned her attention to Jorge. “What happened? How did you end up in Eddie’s yard?”
    “I was trimming,” Jorge explained, motioning to the azaleas. “I heard Ree’s voice. Like she was in trouble.”
    “And she’s your cousin?”
    He nodded. “My uncle’s daughter, Maria Gaza,” he said stiffly. “We never had much to do with them. Mom thought they were . . . low class. They haven’t been in the States long.”
    Nikki nodded. She felt guilty that she knew so little of Jorge’s life now. They had never had a disagreement; they had just sort of drifted apart. “So you heard your cousin,” she encouraged.
    “I told him to stay out of it,” Hector put in. “Ree can take care of herself.”
    Jorge glanced at his brother-in-law and then continued. “I saw them through the fence. She and Eddie were arguing.” He shrugged. “He hit her, so I went out the gate.”
    “And onto the Bernard property.”
    “Gates were open. He can’t hit Ree,” Jorge insisted. “He can’t hit women.”
    Nikki glanced away, her gaze settling on the still-flowering azaleas. He’d been trimming off the old blooms. “You have to stay out of this, Jorge. As Hector said, let Ree handle it. She should call the police.”
    “Call the police? Really, Nikki?” He laughed, but without humor. “ She’s not legal .”
    Nikki looked at him again. “Then she needs to stay away from him.”
    “Or I could just kill him,” Jorge said.
    “I’d do it for you, hermano ,” Hector put in quietly. “You know I would.”
    Nikki frowned, looking from one man to the other. “You’re not killing anyone. Either of you. It’s a