Page 77 of Desperate Needs

So, instead of pushing away their concerns and pretending I could handle this along, I clung to them instead. I told them everything that had happened just this past week.

I mean, really, it was only a few days. But it felt like more.

Connor hurt me. He did the thing I feared most from a man, pretending to like me just so he could fuck with my father. Having sex with me without caring or feeling a thing for me beyond basic attraction, which I assumed was something every man felt for anything with a pussy at one time or other.

“Cuz, that is not true. Our parents taught us that,” Andrea said with the firm conviction of someone who’d never had a man run a game on them.

And I sincerely hoped she never had to experience that. As for me, well, I felt wrung out and raw, and only a little buzzed, which was not okay.

“We need more wine,” I said.

“I’ll get it,” Lucy volunteered. She searched through the cabinets, coming up dry, and I whined.

“Relax, I’m texting Aella,” she told me, and I nodded.

Our cousin had her own winery in South Jersey, and I knew she was in town for the holidays visiting her mom and dad.

If we were lucky, she might have some of her special label with her. Five minutes later, Lucy whooped, and I grinned.

“Score! She’s out with Coral, but they are going to swing buy her Dad’s place and then come right here.”

Her dad’s place was the Viper’s Den, a badass bar and club in Jersey City that none of us were allowed to frequent. I snorted. That wasn’t exactly true.

Uncles Angel, Nico, and Luc welcomed us anytime. They just had so many of their guys watching us we couldn’t flirt or dance or do anything fun, which was the whole point of going out.

“How long?”

“She said ten minutes. I’m going to throw some of this cookie dough in the oven,” Lucy said, and I nodded, on board with the idea of wine and cookies.

Fifteen minutes later, Aella and Coral were sitting in the living room with the three of us.

They’d brought a bottle of wine for each of us, and paired with the platter of warm chocolate chips sitting on the coffee table, it was a veritable feast.

“Okay, so hang on, Clem. Your Daddy is trying to fuck Pop over? And he used you to do it? What does he have a death wish?” Coral asked.

“She calls him Daddy? OMG! I miss all the best stories,” Aella snorted.

“Connor Callahan is a total butthead. Our cousin is hurting here, so be compassionate, for fuck’s sake!” Andrea ordered.

“Okay, okay. Wait, Connor Callahan? I know him!” Aella said.

“You do?” I asked, sitting up straight besides feeling a little tipsier now.

“Yeah. His family did something to fuck the Vipers over, but I heard my dad talking to Uncle Nico about how the Callahan heir went legit, starting a security group or something.”

I was all ears, pestering her for more info, but she’d heard what she’d heard and that was it.

“Least it makes sense, right? I mean, his father fucked shit up and Connor is just trying to rebuild,” Aella explained around a mouthful of cookie.

“Yeah, I suppose. I just wish he hadn’t used me to do it.”

They all looked at me with sympathy shining in their eyes, and once more I was struck by how lucky I was to have them. Sisterhood came in all forms, born and found, and these women were all mine.

“You do know Uncle Josef is going to kick Connor’s ass, right?” Andrea asked, as she wrapped me up in a hug.

“I told Pop not to. I mean, I didn't explain everything that happened. I just asked him not to retaliate yet and to give me some space. But I did warn him about the virus.”

“I hear you, but you know Uncle Josef. He won’t let it rest and really, he shouldn’t. Fuck Connor Callahan and his whole poisonous family tree,” she snarled.

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