“I would have to spend the afternoon shopping. I hate to shop. I considered it one of the life's necessary evils, like brussels sprouts and high-heeled shoes.”

“I hate it. I hate taxidermy shops and all that crap.”

“I knew there was evil in the world. Death and taxes were all necessary evils.So was shopping."I hate shopping," I muttered."Of course you do," Phaelan said. "You're a Benares, [the daughter of a long line of professional thieves]. We're not used to paying for anything." Phaelan was my cousin; he called himself a seafaring businessman. Law enforcement in every major city called him "that damned pirate," or less flattering epithets, none of them repeatable here...."Have you considered something in scarlet leather?" Phaelan mused from beside me."Have you considered just painting a bull's eye on my back?" I retorted.My cousin wasn't with me because he liked shopping. He was by my side because being within five feet of me was a guarantee of getting into trouble of the worst kind. Phaelan hadn't plundered or pillaged anything in weeks. He was bored. So this morning, he was a cocky, swaggering invitation for Trouble to bring it on and do her worst.”

“I assigned him to help me trim the Brussels sprouts, but instead he kept trying to throw them away when he thought I wasn’t looking. “Brussels sprouts, Grace, really? These are our friends. Why are you doing this to them?”

“You went shopping with Rebecca?' 'Yep,' I said, pulling the shoes out of the box. His brows went to the heavens.'Wow, those are like…Jenn shoes.''These are not hooker shoes,' I said defensively. 'Well played,' he said.”

“I hate high heels. Walking in high heels for eight hours a day should be forbidden by the Geneva Convention.”