Page 139 of My Dark Protector

“God. To. His. Dick. Sorry, I forgot that the mere mention of cocaine happened earlier. Never mind that it wasn’t linked to either Jaxon or Teagan.” Cassandra made a squawking sound, not unlike the one that all of her children replicated whenever indignant dictated.

“Honestly,” Shea said, turning to Jaxon and Teagan. “You ought to just rip off the plaster and tell her you’re shacking up too.”

It was Teagan’s turn to squawk now. And Jaxon started stammering. “We’renotshacking up.”

Brad shrugged, wrinkling his nose a bit more animatedly than was necessary. “I mean… when’s the last time you spent a night alone?”

“That’s neither here nor there!” Teagan said.

“Right? She has her place and I have mine. And as soon as I get it livable, I’ll be going to stay there again.”

“But I mean… she’ll be coming with you to stay there, right?” Shea asked.

This was getting out of hand. Teagan pressed her lips together before blurting out. “Shea’s got a boyfriend. Mom, have you heard about Shea’s boyfriend?”

“You filthy little trollop, I’ll strangle you,” Shea leaped up, overturning her chair and going to reach across the table for Teagan, who scooted back just in time.

“He’s a bartender, Mom. He’s a bartender!” Teagan yelped as she ducked behind Jaxon and ran around to position herself behind Seth’s chair.

“A bartender!” Cassandra exclaimed. “Where? How long have you been dating him? Why haven’t we met him yet?”

Brad and Dave were adding in tidbits here and there to keep Mom on the tangent of Shea’s relationship. Britt and Andrea were nowhere to be found, apparently getting the fuck out of dodge the second the opportunity arose, so Teagan went to go find them.

As she passed by her dad, she heard him speak to Jaxon. “We could get you added to the lease if needed?”

“I mean, maybe one day, but I don’t live with her. I don’t even have clothing over there, sir.”

Smiling a bit, she ducked into the kitchen, where Andrea was currently placing one of the cake layers on a stand. Britt had a knife in one hand and the bowl of frosting in the other.

“Mom asked me to do that,” Teagan said.

“I don’t mind. Besides. It keeps us out of there,” Britt said.

“Right. And there’s cake,” Andrea added, pinching a bit of the sponge between her fingers and popping it into her mouth.

“Fuck them and their cake,” Teagan said, pulling open the drawer and grabbing three spoons.

Brittany set down the bowl of frosting and Teagan dipped her spoon into the frosting bowl and then into the cake layer, taking a big, chocolaty bite before continuing.

“Sorry that my Mom’s such a pain in the ass.”

Andrea shrugged. “She doesn’t bother me that much. Just ignore the fact that I exist.”

“Better than her scrutinizing your every move,” Brittany rolled her eyes. “At least you have the benefit of sharing her DNA, Teagan. That gives you some modicum of safety.”

Teagan grinned. “I suppose it does. And you are dating the firstborn. You’ve got it the worst out of all of us. Is he worth it?”

Britt beamed down at the bowl of frosting. “Indeed he is.”

“Good,” Teagan leaned against the counter and took another spoonful of frosting. “I have to say, this went a lot better than I was expecting. I thought for certain my mother was going to mummify herself when I told her I hadn’t gotten those photos back last week. So seeing her back to her usual tricks is nice.”

Britt and Andrea smiled and then Andrea spoke. “You, uh… you know Dave’s trying to get Eric charged with having your photos. It’s tough going, and it’s not certain if he’ll get charged for it, because it’s a hot button issue that can make or break the case. And the goal is to get him locked up for as long as is possible. Which is looking a bit… more likely with the felony embezzlement charge.”

Teagan shrugged her shoulders. “Those photos aren’t me anymore. I don’t give him permission to ruin me with them. I don’t give Joshua the permission either.”

Andrea reached across the kitchen island and squeezed her hand. More of a physical gesture than she’d ever gotten from her before. So it meant more, in a way.

“Dave also said your father’s been in touch with his own lawyer. And the Dwights as well,” she continued.

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