it gently and folded it back at the shoulders before re-draping it.
“Office guys take care of their shit and know how to hang their suit coats. I thought you were good at this stuff.”
Vin opened the door before Chris could say anymore. The smug look didn’t disappear as they faced the two ladies from the day before and another on the front step.
“Hi! Welcome to the neighborhood. I’m Doreen.” The tall blonde smiled widely at Chris.
“Welcome. I’m Carla. We saw you move in yesterday and had to do the neighborly thing and drop by. Is this a good time? We brought a coffee cake. And oregano,” the second woman sang brightly. “Sounded like you go through a lot of it. I grow mine.” Her red hair glittered in the sunlight with shades unnatural to human coloring.
“I gotta get to work,” Vin mumbled.
“That’s okay. It’ll be all girl talk anyway. We’ll just catch her up with the gossip.” Doreen’s stiff smile and cold eyes held no welcome for Vin. The others smiled woodenly too.
Chris bit his tongue to keep from laughing. “Guess you’d better go, Vinny.” Vin ducked his head and started out the door.
“Aren’t you going to kiss your wife goodbye?” Doreen asked.
Mercifully for Chris’ cock, Vin dropped a cursory kiss on his cheek and took off. Chris stood aside to let them pass. “You’ll have to excuse our moving mess and my husband. He’s not much of a talker.”
“Except to his girlfriend?” Carla gently squeezed Chris’ arm, her eyes liquid with understanding. “We heard the whole thing, honey. I’m so sorry.”
“You have to forgive Carla. She’s doesn’t hold back,” Doreen said, fondly.
Chris held a hand out to the third woman, who hadn’t spoken yet. “Thank you all for the welcome. I’m Christy.”
“Nina,” she said, smiling widely.
Chris motioned them to the living room and then set another pot of coffee on. This was almost too easy. Drug dealers that came to him? What’s the catch? The case file said Christy would get a referral from another inside agent, but felt too simple. What had they been told? And Vin hadn’t said anything about disappearing all day to a fictional office while Chris infiltrated the ring alone.
Yeah, he wanted the glory, but this front man shit felt more like solo work. Dresses, drag, and now the neighborhood? Fucking fantastic. Now he had to figure out female small talk for God knew how long until Vin decided he’d spent enough time at a bar or something and came home.
And what did Chris do? Housework? Fuck that! Laundry? Hell no. And he wasn’t making Vin’s bed either. He might go smell the pillow—but he definitely wasn’t making his fucking bed.
What the fuck did women talk about anyway? Why hadn’t he paid more attention to his sisters?
Chris set out the pot of coffee and several mugs. Every trip back into the living room was greeted with silence and large commercial smiles. They looked like toothpaste ads for daytime programming. Your teeth can be sparkly and new too, with DentaGreat . If it had been Vin smiling like that, it would have had a distinct, shit-eating quality to it.
Doreen got up to get plates, forks, and a knife. It was all very tea-party. He worked hard to keep his pinky crooked like Nina’s and nibble on a corner of the cake like Carla before setting it aside.
Chatter turned to gossip about babies and who was cheating on their wives—a not too subtle u-turn in bringing the conversation back to the fight between Vinny and Christy.
“Are you going to be okay? Does he ever hit you?” Carla asked.
He fought down the urge to defend Vin. Did he make something up? Would that make them more sympathetic or shut down communications for the drug bust by seeming weak?
“He’s hit you,” Nina said, interpreting Chris’ silence.
“Vinny gets a little worked up sometimes. He hasn’t hit me, exactly.”
“That’s fine, sweetie, you don’t have to tell us. We’re strangers, but you’ll come to trust us. If he lays a