Page 43 of Sinful Attraction

“I just walked in on being told to prepare for epic levels of Maria-drama, Mom. You can’t have it both ways. I can’t be both bracing myself for it and brushing it off.”

“I...” she starts talking but quickly closes her mouth.

“What is it, Mom?”

“I don’t know, honey. I’m sorry. I know Maria can be very hard to be around! But she’s my daughter, and I love her. I hope she’s wrong in all the things she’s saying, and we can convince her of that and just move on.”

“But Mom... you literally just told me to expect...”

She just smiles tightly. “I know. I’m in a bad position here. My daughter is saying terrible things about my son, and I don’t know if it’s true. But even if it isn’t true, I have to support her.”

I raise my eyebrows as I stare at her. “Even if she’s attacking me?”

My mother goes quiet, and I stare at her for a few moments before shaking my head and turning to walk to my room. Lunch is going to be unpleasant, I can already tell.

It is... lots of silence. Everyone else in the room looks at each other silently, and nobody looks at me. I feel like I’ve just farted in church.

Maria looks smug as hell and keeps giving me these little sidelong looks like she knows a secret I don’t. Just looking at her with that expression on her face makes me want to smack her one. Why the hell is she smiling like that?

Sometimes, I wonder if there’s something really wrong with her mind or if there really are more drugs involved than any of us would expect.

Billy isn’t here. If he were, I have a feeling this would all be a hell of a lot easier. As it is, it feels like there’s a pane of glass between me and my family, and it’s increasingly pissing me off.

Maria seems to keep forgetting that I have a backbone just because I have a lot of patience.

I eat my burger and fries in silence, knowing the drama’s going to kick off the moment I speak up. I don’t give a shit, but I don’t want it ruining my meal completely. The whole time I’m mechanically chewing it down, I’m watching Maria.

She smirks and makes a fancy business of eating her burger and fries while gazing at me through her lashes. It looks contrived: overacted. Like she’s either covering for something or is so completely high that she’s no longer really herself. I can’t even tell which one it is, but the way she’s acting pisses me off even more.

I manage to keep my mood down to a low simmer mostly by thinking about Arya. I’m going to see Arya soon, and then all this bullshit will get shoved back into the back of my mind where it fucking belongs. And Maria can just stew over the fact that she can never really get to me anymore like she did when we were kids.

But for now, I have a confrontation to plow through, and there’s no way out of that but through it.

I finish my meal while awkward silence rules the table. Maria’s smile flickers uncertainly on her face, fading away then forcing its way back. She’s starting to doubt herself.

My parents look nervous—even my dad. It’s kind of ridiculous to watch. Why have they always doted on her to the point where they get scared of her tantrums? My father runs a big chunk of the Bay Area. What the hell is he scared of, some broken plates? A headache?

Most of the time, I look up to my father, but right now, all I can see of him is this cowed man who can’t even discipline his own kid—because he and Mom never did, with her.

It’s depressing, and it pisses me off. I wish I could do something to change it all, but their favorite is their favorite, and that favorite has never been me.

“All right,” I say finally after the last bite on my plate is gone. “What the hell is all of this about? You guys are acting like I kicked a baby.”

Maria scoffs and says nothing, annoying me even further. My whole body tenses, but I just stare at her expectantly.

My father clears his throat. “Son... we need to address all of these rumors that you deliberately dropped the ball on that $5 million heist.”

I stare at him incredulously. “That is what all of this is about? Haven’t I explained away that stupid rumor already?”

He can’t look at me. “Well... the problem is, it’s a more believable explanation than your idea that one of us, or someone on the staff, managed to take that money.”

“This is ridiculous. I already pointed out that I wouldn’t gratuitously torpedo my reputation with the family like this.” My heart isn’t even beating that fast over this. I’m just too tired. I’m too... done.

“Maybe you weren’t thinking straight?” my mother ventures diplomatically. “Maybe you even made a mistake and lost the money somehow. Sent it to the wrong account.”

“Sent it to the wrong account, that’s it.” My father bobs his head, and I roll my eyes and rub one of my temples in exasperation.

“Dad. I triple-checked everything. I even offered to show you the records.” Is this kind of bullshit what Arya goes through with her family? Is this how hard it is for her? Is it even harder?

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