With Seth and Redjack off on a run, Vivian took a good look at Sam and Chris. "Well, shall we have a drink?"

They sat down at a booth in the hotel bar. A young waiter approached. "One strawberry dacquari with a lemon. Oh, and can you put sugar on the rim?" She looked at the other two. "Let's see if I can still remember." She pointed to Sam. "He'll have a Bushmills." She took a moment to think, and then she pointed to Chris. "He'll have a rum and Sprite, but instead of fifty-fifty, make it two-thirds rum."

Sam grinned. "Well, some things never change." He lifted his thumb towards Vivian's mouth and traced the scar. "Did I do that?"

Vivian pushed his hand away. "No, that was afterwards, I'm afraid."

Chris moved a few inches to he could see the hotel door better. Years of experience had taught him to keep an eye on incoming guests. "What, hanging out with the wrong crowd, Viv?"

"We are the wrong crowd," said Vivian. She tapped the scar. "But this was from a worse crowd." The waiter handed them their drinks. "But let's not discuss this particular crowd until we're back in the suite. For security."

"The suite?" asked Sam.

Vivian was sipping her drink, so all she could do at first was nod. "Mh-hmmm. The only room they have large enough was the bridal suite, so I went ahead and booked it."

Sam was trying not to laugh. Chris was a little better at hiding his amusement. "Bet Seth was glad to hear that."

Vivian was not amused. "Seth has a whole half of a suite to himself," she said in a flat voice.

"Look, I've seen my share of unhappy relationships." Actually, thought Sam, I've caused one or two of them. "But are things really so bad between you two?"

Chris nodded. "I thought something was up..."

"Look, I don't remember much about the beating. I just remember waking up in the hospital with my wrist handcuffed to the bed. I went to trial...alone. I went to jail...alone." She licked a bit of the sugar off the glass. "Some people just don't take that 'for better or worse' shit seriously."

Chris took the lemon out of his drink. "So...how come you're not hiring us to kill Seth? I'm sure the idea has cross your mind."

Now Vivian grinned. She held up four manicured fingers. "Reason One: As mad as I am at Seth, he's not the one that put me in the hospital. Reason Two: I need him to get back at our little mutual enemy. Reason Three: If I wanted to kill Seth, all I'd have to do is throw a keg in the pool and tell him it's full of beer."

"And Reason Four?" asked Chris.

Vivian just shrugged. "He may be an asshole, but I was Mrs. Asshole for a while. Kind of hard to kill a guy that stole a Tiffany ring just for you."