Page 26 of Professional Liar

I shook my head. “No, my friend, if you tell my grandmother you make a better red sauce than her, I’ll be a widow before the week is out.”

The guys glanced between us nervously, but Pierce only smiled. “So she is like every other Minola woman then.”

“Seems improbable, right?”

“More like a menace to public safety.”

I ate until I couldn’t fit anything else in. Once I sat back and surveyed them, I could see Pierce’s men respected him deeply. They looked to him for answers, acceded to him in conversation, and asked for his opinion. I let the conversation go, not joining, just listening.

They’d called me many things in my life. But with this man beside me…with him as my weapon…

They’d call me queen.