Page 32 of Cryptic Curse

She purses her lips, shifts her weight from one foot to the other.“Well…I guess I could.”

“Or… I can ask Raven to put a movie on one of the TVs in one of the bedrooms for you.We all understand if you need some alone time.”

She smiles.“Yeah, actually I would like that.”

“Perfect.”We walk over to Vinnie and Raven.“Raven?”

She turns to me.“Yeah, what is it Daniela?”

“I guess I’ll be helping your mom in the kitchen, and Belinda was wondering if she could watch a movie in one of the bedrooms.”

Raven brushes a strand of hair from Belinda’s face.“Of course you can, Bee.Or you can hang out here with Vinnie and me.I can get you an Orange Crush.”

Belinda smiles.“If you want me to.”

Raven grins.“But you’d rather watch a movie, wouldn’t you?”

Belinda nods shyly.

“That’s okay,” Vinnie says.“A movie it will be.”

“I’ll take care of it, Vinnie,” Raven escorts Belinda down one of the hallways and into a bedroom.

“You sure you’re up for this?”Vinnie asks me.

“You know I love to cook.”I swallow.“I just don’t know if I’ll be up to Raven’s mom’s standards.”

“Star’s a good woman,” Vinnie says.“I know she can come on kind of strong at times, but she loves her family.And she wants to do this for Raven.”

“And you,” I remind him.

He chuckles.“Yeah, but especially for Raven.After getting through her cancer treatment and all.It’s just as much a celebration of that, and also of Austin waking up.”

I nod.“Yeah.”

“So go ahead and join her in the kitchen,” Vinnie says.“Or if you don’t want to, just tell me.I’ll take care of everything.”

“No, I’d like to be useful, Vinnie.”

He gestures me toward the kitchen.“Go on in then.There’s no reason to be shy around this family.Savannah and I learned that right away.”

“Speak of the devil,” I say.

Falcon and Savannah walk in.

Savannah grins.“You two talking about us?”

“All good things, I promise,” Vinnie says.

“I’m sure.”She pats Vinnie on the shoulder before turning to me.“Do you and Star need any help with dinner?”

“Since I have no idea what she’s planning to serve, sure,” I say.

“Come on then.”Savannah grabs my arm, turns to Vinnie.“Do you think Raven would like to join us as well?”

Vinnie is about to answer, but then his phone dings.He reaches into his pocket, looks at the text, and widen his eyes.“Actually… I need to talk to her about something.”He looks around the house.“Which way did she take Belinda?”

Eagle gets to his feet.“She probably took her to the guest room.I’ll show you.I have to take a piss anyway.”

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