Page 46 of Prodigal Son

She wanted to crawl under a rock and hurl one at her brother’s stupid head. As soon as they got in the car, she snapped, “I told you no vampire talk!”

“The world needs to know!”

She hit him in the arm. “There’s nothing to know, you moron! You just humiliated me!”

“Who cares?”

“I do! I’m a reporter. People talk. Your idiotic theories could erase all of my credibility.”

“I think you’re being a little over dramatic. I mean, come on, Destiny, you don’t even have ten thousand followers on Instagram. Who’s going to talk about this?”

She gaped at him. “I can’t believe you just said that. At least I’m not holding doors and staring at fake tits all day!”

“Hey! Some of the dancers have very real tits.”

“Oh my, God.” She rubbed her temples. “Just drive.”

“Where are we going, now?”

“The mall. I need a new phone.”

She didn’t speak to her brother the entire drive, nor did she talk to him while they waited for the pimple-faced tech assistant at the electronic store to program her new phone. As soon as the device was in her hand, she called the station to speak to her boss.

Vito had notified her crew that she hadn’t come home, and they were relieved to hear she was safe and sound, but that didn’t erase the fact that she’d pissed off her team before heading back into the woods.

“What were you thinking, Destiny?” her boss asked.

She winced at the censure in her supervisor’s voice. “I’m really sorry, Bob. I realize now that the woods are dangerous, and good little girls should stay in safer places.” She slapped a hand over her mouth. What the hell was wrong with her? Why did she keep saying that?

An awkward chuckle crossed the line. “Well, that’s one way to put it. Why don’t you take the week off to recuperate? It sounds like you’ve been through quite an ordeal and you’re still a little shaken up.”

“I’m fine—”

“I insist. Come back in a week, ready to report.”

He framed it as personal time, but it felt more like a suspension. She could only imagine what the crew told him. Whatever. She was on salary, and she could use a vacation anyway.

“Then I’ll see you in a week.” Her lips hardened around the false sincerity, recognizing that she’d just been manipulated and passively penalized.

“Sure thing. Get some rest.” Bob ended the call, and she threw her new phone in the back seat of the car.

“They seemed cool.” Vito said, shoving a cheese doodle in his mouth.

“Just…be quiet.”

He twisted in the driver’s seat to face her. The cheese doodle bag crunching against the steering wheel. “Look, I know you’re pissed. But maybe your boss is right and you just need a few days off.”

“Just take me home.” Remembering the condition of her home, she dropped her head back and groaned.

“What’s wrong now?”

“My house is a pigsty.”

“Forget about that.” He put the car in reverse and backed out of the parking spot. “How about a drive?”

“Whatever. I don’t care.”

Ten minutes later, they were cruising down the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

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