Real Life & Liars by Kristina Riggle Read Free Book Online Page B

sitting. “Taylor won’t let me play his Game Boy!” Taylor appears behind Chip’s shoulder, shouting, “It’s mine! I don’t have to share!”
    Kit whines, “They were fighting, Mom! They almost kicked me in the head!”
    “What’s wrong with yours?” Katya demands, trying to send her best Glare of Death, but the kids have long ago built up immunity to it.
    “The battery’s dead.”
    “I told you to charge it before we left home.”
    “Isn’t it about time we left anyway?”
    Kat’s blood burns in her veins at the imperious way Chip spoke to her, sounding all too much like Charles.
    Katya stands up and stares hard at her son from across the room. He’s big—bigger than she could imagine from his tiny newborn self—and he’s leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. He has the temerity to yawn.
    “You will not tell me when it is time to leave. I don’t give a damn about your lousy stinking battery, and if you can’t play nice up there, I’ll take Taylor’s away, too, and Kit’s iPod, and you’ll sit up there in silence and, horror of horrors, maybe you’d have to read a book or, heaven forbid, actually talk to each other. But we won’t leave this house one second before I’m ready. Are we clear?”
    Kit emits a high-pitched sound somewhere between a whine and a disgusted snort. “What did I—”
    “Nothing, shut up, I don’t care, get out!” Kat digs the fingernails of her left hand into the palm to keep herself from throwing her now-empty wineglass against the doorframe, where Chip lounges. He finally peels himself away from the door and leaves without comment. Kit turns back to roll her eyes, and it’s only the presence of Darius the outsider that keeps Katya from flying across the room and slapping her impudent little face.
    Katya hasn’t even sat down, smoothed her hair, or regained her composure when her husband comes in, clicking his cell phone closed as he goes. “Oh, I just told the kids to get their stuff. We need to get back to the hotel.”
    “Why.” She throws the word like a dagger. Charles doesn’t even flinch.
    “I need to upload some files to Tara, and we need the Wi-Fi connection at the hotel.”
    Mira files in quietly behind Charles, followed by Max. Despite her earlier outburst, she looks serene, floating into the room, in sharp relief to the homicidal rage Katya feels roiling in her own gut. She swallows down a primal scream. “I’m staying here.”
    Charles finally looks directly at her for the first time all night. He says nothing, merely raising his eyebrows slightly.
    “You take the kids to the hotel, but I feel like staying with my family now. We’ve just had quite an announcement here, which you’ve missed all this time on the phone. Irina has gotten married to Darius, here. He’s a sales manager at a BMW dealership, and he’s studying for his MBA.”
    “Congratulations,” Charles said, but he hasn’t looked at his sister-in-law and her groom. He turns the phone over in his large hand. “How am I going to get any work done around the kids?”
    Tend to them yourself for the first time in your life, you lousy selfish motherfucker.
    “Give Chip his Game Boy battery, and they’ll leave you alone. It’s not rocket science, as you’ve mentioned to me more than once.”
    This finally provokes a reaction in Charles. He had turned away, but he looks back at her through lowered eyelids. Katya is sure that only she notices the tiny lift on one side of his lips, a sneer meant for her eyes only. “Fine. I’ll bring your bag in from the car.”
    He strides out to the car, and behind him in a blur are the children, spitting out, “Bye Mom,” as they run past, giddy to be getting out of their grandmother’s house. Katya knows without her there, they will empty the minibar of all the twelve-dollar cashews and five-dollar cans of pop, and probably order room service, since Charles won’t notice once he boots up his laptop.
    Katya knows that a better