Page 81 of Soulmates

“Your parents have five children,” I murmured in her ear. “I think they know what sex is and how it works.”

“That doesn’t mean they need a front-row seat tomysex life,” she hissed back. “And my fourteen-year-old brother most certainly doesn’t.”

“Relax, Siren. They’re not listening to us.”

“How would you know?” she demanded.

“Because your brother is currently upstairs, and your parents are having a rather heated conversation with Nacio in the kitchen. Wait, why is Nacio here?”

“Because he loves us and comes over regularly.”

Thank all things holy that Nacio was purely human and had no way of knowing what I’d done to his sister less than twenty-four hours ago.

“Come on.” Siren slipped out of my grip and started up the stairs. “Let’s get up there before he can get here and throw a hissy fit.”

“You’re just prolonging the inevitable,” I said as I followed her up the stairs and into a bedroom. “We have to face him eventually.”

She locked the door behind us and grinned at me. “I think you can take him. Besides, at least Mamma is on team Samuel, and Papa always sides with Mamma. Nacio’s all on his own on team Freddie.”

I couldn’t help the growl that rumbled from deep in my soul. “There aren’t teams. This isyourlife and thereforeyourdecision. Yours is the only opinion that matters.”

Her smile lit up the whole fucking room. “I know. I learned that when you tried to tell me to get with Freddie.”

She needed to stop saying that asshole’s name before I stripped her bare and fucked his memory out of her head.

Siren’s eyes sparkled as if she knew exactly what she was doing to me and wasn’t the least bit sorry. She was going to pay for that later tonight. This time inherbed.

Twenty

Piper

As soon asI heard the shower turn on in my bathroom, I made my way back downstairs. It was time to face the music.

I’d been avoiding Nacio since he showed up twenty or so minutes ago. After I’d gotten home from Mass, I’d been spending most of my day upstairs, catching up on schoolwork. It was only partially an excuse to hide from my parents’ questions—I really did have work I needed to finish today. But I was also avoiding talking to my family, and that felt really weird and wrong. I didn’t hide stuff from my parents. We had a good relationship. Mamma and Papa were my best friends. Nacio too when he wasn’t being an overbearing ass.

But when it came to Sam, everything felt like a secret.

Maybe that was because he’d been a secret for years. I never told anyone about meeting him that night when I was fifteen. I also knew there were secrets Sam was keeping from me, and that made it hard to talk to my parents about him because I didn’t want to admit just how much I didn’t know about the man I’d just given my body to.

I’d barely stepped into the kitchen when Nacio’s gaze snapped to mine. He looked beyond pissed. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him look so mad, and I’d seen a lot of temper tantrums from Nacio over the years. What was it about Sam that got under his skin?

“What did I miss?” I asked.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Nacio was pissed as hell.

I folded my arms over my chest. “Excuse me?”

“You spent the night at Sam’s place last night. Why can’t you just listen to me for once in your life? You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

“Then why don’t you tell me,” I snapped.

“I can’t!” He slammed a tattooed hand down on the island between us.

“Nacio, that’s enough,” Mamma said. “Please calm down.”

“You don’t understand.” He yanked at his hair. “You don’t know him like I do.”

“You’re right,” I said coolly. “I know him in averydifferent way than you do.” This whole conversation sucked. Usually I confided in Nacio. He knew a lot about my past dates. But when it came to Sam, he was so blinded by anger and judgment that he was impossible to talk to.

---