Tangled Web: A Small Town Romance (The Cortell Brothers Book 6) by Giulia Lagomarsino (an ebook reader txt) 📕

the talking gesture with her hand and then held her hand out like a handshake.

You want me to shake his hand? I mouthed.

What? She mouthed back.

Shake his hand? I tried to ask more clearly.

What?

Sighing, I decided to wing it. “Excuse me, could you help me reach this bag up here?” I pointed to the end cap, but instead of handing me the bag from the top, he reached for the one in front of him. “No, I need the one at the top.”

“But they’re the same.”

“I still need the one at the top.”

Huffing, he took a step forward, but when he did, he slipped on the Sixlets and his legs went out from under him. Flying onto his back, Kat raced out from behind me and jumped on the front of the cart.

“Go! Go! Go!”

Not knowing what else to do, I shoved the shopping cart forward and started running across the back of the grocery store, passing all the aisles along the way. My eyes widened when I saw another woman coming my way, a look of shock on her face.

“Anna!” Kat shouted. “Get on!”

“Do what?” I shrieked.

Anna jumped on the side of the cart, which made it very difficult to push. It was all lopsided. But when I saw another man come screeching around the corner of the last aisle, I felt duty bound to help these women escape. Taking a hard left, I raced down the second to last aisle, narrowly missing the man and laughing as Kat ripped a bag of cheese popcorn off the shelf and tossed it in the cart.

Glancing behind me, I saw I now had two men chasing me, and when I reached the end of the aisle, another woman came out of nowhere and paused for only a second when she saw Kat and Anna on the cart. I assumed Anna was one of the pregnant women. The third woman didn’t waste a second jumping on the other side of the cart. My muscles protested as I did my best to corner the next aisle without tipping over the cart.

“Hurry! They’re gaining on us!”

“Do you want to get down here and push three women on a cart?” I snapped, but picked up my pace anyway. We were in the snack aisle, and the women started snatching snacks off the shelves, tossing them in the cart as I pushed us harder to the end.

“Oh shit!” Anna shouted, pointing her finger. “It’s Joe!”

My eyes widened when I saw the tattooed man standing at the end of the aisle, arms out and ready to stop me. I had to be crazy to join in this fight. Glancing behind me, I saw the two other men racing toward me, while the manager ran behind them, shouting at them to stop. I spun back around just as we approached the tattooed man.

“Stop,” Joe commanded.

I started to slow, but the third woman turned to me and glared. “Don’t you dare stop. Keep going!”

I picked up my pace and watched as she pulled her purse off her shoulder. I maneuvered to the side of him and just as he reached to grab the cart and stop us, the third woman swung back her purse, narrowly missing my face, and swung it at Joe. The weight of the purse hit him directly in the face and he fell backward into a freestanding stack of Ritz crackers.

The cart started to tip as I took the next corner, so the ladies jumped off, grabbing their snacks as they took off running. Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed my purse and took off after them. I felt like I was in the middle of a crime spree. The ladies rushed through the double doors to the back room and then yanked open the cooler door, rushing inside.

“Oh, this is a great plan,” Anna snapped as the door swung shut.

“It’s better than being with them,” Kat said, tearing into the bag of cheese popcorn.

“What exactly was that?” I asked, still panting from my exertion. I was sweating like crazy and my legs burned from running so hard and pushing all that weight.

“That was our crazy family, trying to keep us from living normal lives,” the third woman said. “Sofia, by the way.”

“Lorelei.”

“She’s Andrew’s girlfriend,” Kat informed her. “Popcorn?” She asked, holding out the bag. It was tempting, but I didn’t dare take food from a pregnant lady, especially one that seemed to be starved of good treats.

“How is it that all of you are here?”

“We had to come together. It’s ‘safer’ if we go in a group outing,” Anna said sarcastically. “Like grocery shopping is a dangerous event. Swiss Cake Roll?”

I shook my head.

“I swear to God, I can’t take any more of this. It’s ridiculous,” Sofia said angrily. She grabbed a box of chocolate granola bars and ripped them open, moaning as she took her first bite.

“But why are they all with you?” I asked, still not understanding.

“Because they’re all psycho,” Anna snapped. “And your boyfriend is one of the craziest!”

“My boyfriend?”

“Yeah, he’s been riding the crazy train with Eric, not allowing us to walk up steps or—“

“Paint my own apartment!” Sofia interjected.

“Yeah, and despite him stealing me a pizza, he also ate half of it,” Kat griped.

The door started to open and Anna leapt forward, snatching the handle and yanking it back. “Help me!”

Kat and Sofia jumped in, helping her hold it closed.

“Ma’am, this is the store manager. I’m going to need you to come out of the cooler.”

“Never!” Anna shouted, which I thought was a little drastic. They all still had coats on. I had given mine to Kat and now I was freezing.

“Ma’am, I’m going to have to call the police if you don’t come out.”

“Good!” Kat shouted. “Call Jack and get him down here. Tell him to arrest Robert and Joe!”

“Hey, we’re just trying to protect you,” a man protested from the other side.

“By depriving us of basic needs?” Sofia asked.

“Granola bars aren’t a basic need, baby.”

Sofia