Chapter 24
"Takes after her dear mother, doesn't she?" Julian slurred into Ivy's ear, fingering the rich fur stole around her neck contemplatively. "Consorting with the locals."
"Really, Darling?" the endearment sounded more like an insult rolling off of Ivy's acerbic tongue. "She inherited her roving eye from you, not me. Our daughter's taste, at least, seems more discerning than yours. She does draw the line at seducing anything that breathes."
"If you had a pulse, my beautiful Ice Queen," Julian sneered drunkenly, crooking a finger around her stole and teasing it away from her neck, "I wouldn't have to seek my pleasure elsewhere."
Slyly snatching the stole from his stealthy fingers, Ivy considered her husband with cool blue eyes. "And crush your little strumpet's heart?"
"Is that jealousy I detect in your voice, Dear Heart?" The twinkling Christmas lights were reflected in Julian's dark eyes as he leered at her suggestively.
"Hardly," Ivy scoffed haughtily, sidestepping her husband before he could lay his hands on her again. Pasting a brilliant smile on her face, she instructed Julian to do likewise when she noticed their youngest daughter's approach, her smiling aunt in tow. Under her breath, through teeth that were clenching in a smile, she reminded him, "It's Christmas, Darling. Do play nice."
"Mother, Father," Natalie beamed. "Look who I found!"
I miss Julian and Ivy, and their verbal slapdowns.
LOL!
Short, I know, but I hope I captured them.
Poor Natalie is so oblivious.
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Thanks so much for reading!