A Taste of Sin by Fiona Zedde

done. Their rich scent mingled with the gravy simmering on the stove and with the bread pudding warming on the sideboard.
    “Did your mom do all this?”
    “Hardly. She helped with breakfast. Dummy and I took care of dinner. If anybody falls over dead it’s his fault.”
    “Good to know.” Rémi opened the fridge. “Any breakfast left?”
    “No.”
    But Rémi quickly homed in on the freshly made bread that was still warm and exhaling its textured rosemary scent from where it sat on the counter. When Dez looked at her friend next she had the honey butter out of the fridge and was making herself a heart-attack sandwich with the bread and the bacon, egg, and grits she found on the backup stove near the rear kitchen door.
    “When you’re done mooching you can mash these potatoes. People should start coming in about an hour.”
    But the doorbell rang barely fifteen minutes later. It was one of Derrick’s friends—but not Victoria. That was one pair of C-cups that Dez wouldn’t mind seeing again. Claudia poked her head in the kitchen.
    “I think your brother has a new girlfriend.”
    Dez rolled her eyes. “It’s probably just some hooker he paid to come here and make nice.”
    “Darling, don’t be mean,” her mother said, although she couldn’t quite hide her smile. Her head disappeared back into the living room.
    “I wonder what skank he brought home this time?”
    “Don’t be a bitch,” Rémi murmured around a mouthful of food from her seat on the counter. “You know he only runs with classy broads, unlike some other people in the family I won’t name.”
    “What the hell do you mean by that? All my women are classy.” Then she decided to change her statement. “At least the ones I decide to bring home to my mama.”
    “You think so?” Rémi snickered.
    “Are you girls playing nice in here?” Nuria walked in looking perky and awake in her designer parent-meeting gear of a high-necked (but sheer) white blouse and a black mermaid-cut skirt that flirted around her knees as she walked.
    “We always play well together, baby.” Rémi smirked and took another bite of her sandwich.
    Nuria received her kiss from each woman before taking her turn at the fridge. “By the way, Sage and Phil won’t be coming. I think they’re in the middle of one of their marathon fuck sessions or something.”
    “That’s cool. I’ll catch up with them some other time,” Dez said.
    Nuria poured herself a glass of orange juice and leaned on the counter beside Rémi. “Your brother is a cutie, Dez. I keep forgetting about that until I see him again. Delicious.”
    “Yeah, it doesn’t seem fair that an asshole should have such a cute face, does it?” She opened the fridge door and took out the package of unsalted butter. “Family curse.”
    Derrick chose that moment to slip into the kitchen. “I’m going to start setting the table since people are already starting to come.” He gave each woman a pointed look.
    “Just play host and start passing out the liquor,” Dez said.
    “By the time all the food is done they’ll all be so drunk that they won’t care anyway.”
    “Why do all that? People know that you don’t come to a birthday dinner at two in the afternoon.”
    “So what’s your girlfriend’s excuse?”
    “Shut it, Dez.” He backed out of the kitchen with an armload of china.
    “You two don’t like each other, do you?”
    “How can you tell?”
    Rémi finished up her food. “Compliments to the chef once again. Your mama can really throw down in the kitchen, Dez. I’m telling you, one day I’m going to have to marry that woman.”
    “How many times do I have to tell you, Rémi? Stay away from my mother.”
    Her friend made a dismissive noise as she hopped off the counter. “Nuria, Dez wants you to mash those potatoes for her.” She walked out of the kitchen.
    Moments later they could hear her paying effusive compliments to Claudia. Nothing that would make Dez rush out there and lay her out