Page 23 of Spider Demon's Kiss

How did I explain that?

“It happened when I was driving away.”

He looked at me confused.

“So, what happened to Lorenzo? Didn’t you say he was there with you?”

“Not when I was heading out.”

“Why wasn’t he with you when you were heading out?”

“I needed to go out and get some fuckin’ air. Do you have a problem with that?”

Matteo backed off.

“I don’t have a problem with it. I’m just trying to understand what happened. You know Pa is gonna ask me about this.”

“Just tell him, what you know. I don’t have any secrets.”

“Are you sure about that?” he asked me cutting to the heart of things.

“Look. Tell him what you gotta tell him. I have nothin’ to hide. I did what I had to do. Now it’s done.”

“You know Ma’s gonna want to meet him, right? She’s gonna expect you to bring him by for Sunday dinner. There’s no way you’re gonna escape that.”

Oh fuck. He was right. No matter what Pa thought about this, Ma was gonna welcome him into the pack. She’s gonna want to have him over and she’ll expect him to act like a part of the family.

How was I gonna bring my crazy new dress-wearing husband to one of our off-the-rail family dinners. If anyone says anything about his dresses, someone could end up dead.

“You keep reachin’ for your side. Are you sure you’re okay, Dante?”

“I’m fine.” I told him starting to wonder if what I had was a panic attack. Or maybe the walls really were closing in on me.

“Listen, I gotta get to work. Is there anything else you need from me?”

“Yeah, I need you to break this news to Pa so I don’t have to.”

“Noted.”

“And I need you to reassure me that this whole thing isn’t gonna blow up in your face.”

“Everything’s under control.”

“I hope it is,” Matteo said with true concern. Turning to go, he said, “Maybe you, me, and your new husband should goout for a test run before you introduce him to the rest of the pack. You know…”

“…Because we can’t be sure if the rest of the pack thinks like us?”

“Exactly.”

“I’ll think about it,” I told him turning my focus to my computer monitor.

When Matteo closed the door behind him, I looked up. The air refilled my lungs like a wind tunnel. Everything about our conversation was unexpected. Out of everyone, I thought Matteo would take me being with a man the worst. He wasn’t exactly known for thoughtful contemplation.

But he had said that no one else could be trusted to think like us. What exactly did that mean? How did we think?

I’ve never known my pretty boy brother and I to think alike about anything. But he definitely meant something by it. The question was, what?

Another question was, how was I going to break it to our father that I had married Sato’s son. Yet another question was, would Kuroi kill me before I got the opportunity

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