Page 152 of Vicious Addictions

“That means sex… Oh, my God! You two boned!”

“Jesus Christ, Stella! Keep your voice down.”

“What? People bone all the time. It’s human nature.”

“I’m not having this conversation with you.” I push myself up to my feet, putting as much distance between us as possible.

“If you don’t talk to me, who else will you talk to?” She rushes to follow me down the corridor. “Not Marcello. I bet he’s still a virgin.”

“And you’re not?” I ask over my shoulder and immediately regret it when I see the glint in her eyes.

“I’ve fooled around,” she admits smugly, forcing me to halt my step and swiftly turn around.

“First, don’t say shit like that to me ever again. Second, if I ever find out who laid a hand on you, I’ll kill him myself. And third, you better pray that Dad never finds out because he’ll do so much worse than just kill the poor bastard.”

“Which one?” She tilts her head slightly to the left, looking confused.

“You fooled around with more than one guy?!” My eyes widen in alarm.

“No, idiot. Which dad?”

“All three of them, Stella,” I say flatly. “All fucking three.”

“Fine.” She sighs. “Then let’s put my sex life on the back burner and talk about yours instead.”

“I said no.” I rush my steps down the hallway again.

“Oh, come on. You gotta give me something? Who made the first move? Was it you? Was it her? I bet it was her. Did you two smash more than once? Oh, shit! You did, didn’t you?” She laughs at my pain.

“I’m not listening,” I mutter, plugging my ears with my thumbs.

“Jesus, Jude, when did you become such a prude? We’re all adults here. Stop acting like a fucking child.”

I stop in my tracks yet again and turn around to face my baby sister once more.

“No. I’m the adult.You’rethe child.”

“I’m seventeen—legal, as far as the state of Illinois is concerned,” she has the audacity to say with a straight face.

“No, you’re a Romano. Vincent Romano’s eldest daughter, to be more precise. If word got out that you’ve… that you…”

“Had sex?” she supplies unrepentantly.

“That.” I grit my teeth. “It wouldn’t bode well for the family.”

“Right, causeprincipessashave to stay virtuous until marriage,” she states with a scowl. “God, I hate how misogynistic this family is.”

I know when she says ‘family,’ she doesn’t mean our own. She means thefamiglia.

“It’s the twenty-first century. A woman can have sex if she wants to. I bet you didn’t care about Mina being a virgin when you had sex with her.” Heat rises to my cheeks, and Stella, the damn bloodhound that she is, catches it instantly. “I knew it! You guys got it on the way before she got here. Admit it!”

“It’s different with us,” I try to explain.

“How? How is it different?” But my face must say it all because every taunt she was ready to hurdle at me leaves her all at once.

“Because you were in love with her,” she says softly, almost apologetically. “Oh, my God… you loved her.”

“Loved? Love? Are the two even exclusive? But hey, who needs love when power and loyalty do just fine?” I reply self-deprecatingly.

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