Free Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman by JB Lynn Page A

available. Your aunts filled me in.”
    “Which of them?”
    “All three.” Alice, who usually had the patience of a saint, rolled her eyes.
    I winced. “Sorry ’bout that.”
    She shrugged. “Wasn’t your fault. Susan said you’d probably be here, so we borrowed Leslie’s car, which, by the way, reeks of pot. She really shouldn’t be driving while smoking that stuff. We really wanted to get away from Templeton, your Aunt Loretta’s boyfriend. Have you met him?”
    I shook my head. He’d exhibited the good taste to skip the funeral, and since I’d ducked out of the wake I hadn’t made the acquaintance of Loretta’s latest love of her life. “I haven’t had the pleasure.”
    “You’re going to hate him,” Alice said. Besides being my best friend for decades, she had grown up next door to the B&B, so she was well acquainted with Aunt Loretta’s loves. “Anyway, we rushed over here to check on you.”
    Eager to get rid of them so that I could talk to Delveccio, I spun in a circle doing the hokey-pokey. “As you can see, I’m fine.” I glanced at the big guy. “How ’bout you? Meeting all three of my aunts at once must have been . . .”
    “A bit overwhelming,” Alice supplied helpfully.
    I shook my head. “You’re too kind.”
    “I survived,” Lamont said with an easy smile.
    Shaking my finger at him, I warned, “Whatever you do, don’t eat the love muffins!”
    “Pardon me?”
    “At breakfast. Don’t eat the love muffins. They’re terrible. Aunt Loretta, the sex-addict-slash-baker keeps putting weird aphrodisiac ingredients to them.”
    “She’s not a sex addict,” Alice said.
    “Why? Because it’s only PC to say a man’s a sex addict? The woman has had more lovers than Cassanova!”
    Delveccio strolled back in. He glanced in my direction. I thought I saw a tad of annoyance in that look. I really had to find a way to get rid of my Amazonian friend and her even bigger boyfriend. Soon. Preferably before I changed my mind about taking the job, or the offer was rescinded.
    “Anyway,” Alice soothed, blissfully unaware of my dilemma, “I just wanted to come check on you.”
    “And I thank you for that, but you must be tired from your trip. Why don’t you go back to the B&B to rest, and I’ll call you tomorrow to catch up?”
    Tony/Anthony was talking to one of the nurses. I hoped that didn’t mean he was leaving already.
    “But I haven’t seen Katie yet. Leslie says it’s terrible, wires and machines everywhere.”
    “It is. Maybe now isn’t the time? Maybe come back when you’re feeling stronger?” After all, Alice had been the kid who fainted at the sight of her own blood when she’d fallen off her bike and skinned her knee.
    “Is it okay if Lamont comes with me?”
    “Of course.” It meant I’d be rid of both of them. “Only two visitors allowed in the room at a time. Third door on your left there.”
    “Okay. We won’t be long.”
    Hand-in-hand, the two giants moved toward Katie’s room. I looked over to Delveccio. He was still engrossed in his conversation with the nurses. I tried to catch his eye, but he didn’t look up.
    Now what the hell was I supposed to do?
    I sank into one of the waiting-area chairs and nodded encouragingly at Alice and Lamont. They were hovering in Katie’s doorway, much the same as the social worker Stacy Kiernan had. I wondered why people did that. Was it a lack of commitment on their part to step over the line? Did crossing the threshold irrevocably change things?
    They disappeared from sight. Leaning forward, I dropped my head into my hands as I tried to figure out exactly what I should say to Delveccio. A pair of leather loafers that probably cost more than I made in a week stepped into my line of vision.
    “Mind if I sit here?” Tony/Anthony asked, motioning at the chair beside mine.
    “Of course not.”
    He sank into the seat, his shoulder rubbing up against mine. I flinched. The scent of his expensive cologne managed to