Page 299 of Vicious Saint
Not good gets worse when I glance down to find Saint’s head on my stomach, one arm cradling my hips.
Fuck me forward, sideways, upside down.
How the hell did my mom and aunt break past the security system?
The answer to my question arrives from the doorway, typing away at his phone.
Vic.Who also doesn’t look nearly as bothered as my mother to find his son and me like this.
“Get up. Now. You’re coming with me,” Mom demands, loud enough to make Saint stir and roll off me.
“No,” I bite out, sitting up then throwing my legs over the edge of the bed. “And be quiet, you’re gonna wake up Saint.”
“You expect me to care when I find you locked in this roomsleepingwith him?”
“He hasn’t slept in days!” I whisper, but also kind of shout.
“Then get up so I can take you back to the mansion.”
“I promised I wouldn’t leave him.”
“Get. Up,” Mom demands again, eyes turned into angry fireballs as she pulls my injured arm.
The scrapes behind my sleeve burn as I rip myself from her hold.
“Juniper, take it easy.” Auntie Pop steps in, literally, right in front of her. “We don’t even know the whole story yet, and you won’t get to hear it if your head explodes.” Mom turns down the heat enough for Auntie to face me. “We just wanna clear things up, kiddo. This is a big deal. Not only did you scare the shit out of us when the panic alarm went off on our phones, but we just found you tangled up in bed with your stepbrother.”
She’s got a point, obviously.
But it still pisses me off.
“We were in Long Island!” Mom hisses again. “In traffic! I was worried sick.”
“Why didn’t you just call me?”
“Cell reception won’t work in these rooms when they’re in panic mode,” Vic states from the foot of the bed, still working his phone. “I have it this way to avoid tracking.”
Jesus.
“And it’s not like Carlo was able to get in to reassure me,” Mom adds with a huff. “For all I knew you could’ve been getting attacked again.”
Yeah. With an entire army in the building.
Vic finally puts the damn phone in his pocket. “I tried telling your mother she had nothing to worry about, that chances were Saint was trying to teach you how the system works. But…” He tilts his head side to side. “She insisted we head back to make sure.”
“In other words, she was being dramatic.”
Auntie snorts, which doesn’t help with Mom’s feminine rage.
“Well, not completely,” Vic argues. “You guys should’ve given us the heads up. Or at least Carlo. I’m unable to override the system without—”
“Facial and voice recognition,” I cut him off. “Yeah, I know because unlike you guys Saint is being honest with me.”
All three faces fall. But only Vic speaks.
“I promised I would give you the truth when I can, Hendrix. As of right now, my main priority is keeping you, your sister, and brother safe.”
I look over my shoulder at Saint, who must be lost in a much more peaceful dimension than this one, because he smiles in his sleep.
