Page 70 of Evil Villain (The Royal Court)

“Gee, thanks dad,” I said with a chuckle.

Brayden was excitedly leaning into the snuggle with my mom. “I mean, it isn’t as if we didn’t know that.”

“True,” I said.

Alistair leaned back in his seat and rubbed his belly. “There is nothing like your home-cooked meals, Rebeccah.”

“It’s so true,” Avery said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Nikki this food-happy.”

Nikita was half-asleep in her chair, with a lazy smile on her face. “I don’t think I’ve everbeenthis food-happy.”

“Thanks for doing it on such short notice, mama,” I said to my mom, who saw four hungry young adults walk through her front door, and took the challenge head on.

“Are you kidding? I live for this,” my mom replied. “I knew that I had a promise to Alistair and Avery, and a few extra mouths only made it that much better.”

“I cannot wait to rub this in everyone else’s faces,” Brayden said.

“Aw,” I said. “Glad to see you getting back to your roots, Brayden.”

He smiled over at me. “What can I say? There’s a jerk streak in me that I’ve been ignoring for far too long. It’s time for my inner ass to re-emerge.” Then he looked at my mom. “Sorry, inner butt.”

My mom waved her hand at Brayden. “It’s okay. We’re a family thatstaunchlybelieves in swearing.”

Avery leaned forward and her eyes started to sparkle. “Wait, really? Sothat’swhere Cherri gets it from.”

“Oh no,” my dad said. “Did we raise a potty mouth?”

“Fuck no,” I said, and everyone at the table started to laugh.

Avery’s smile only widened. “This whole time we’ve been seeing this darker side of Cherri and hearing her swear more often, and I’ve wondered where it came from. I don’t think I’ve ever heard either of you swear.”

“Well, we try to do the right thing around you kids, but Cherri has obviously been around us her whole life, so.” My mom shrugged. “What can you do? Sometimes your kid gets your sailor mouth.”

“I cannot imagine having to get up and actually go home,” Alistair said. “We would have to move and walk and stuff and ugh.” He fell back in his chair. “I don’t wanna.”

“Sorry guys, but I’m pretty anxious to get back to Deon,” I admitted.

“I’m still angry you didn’tbringDeon,” my dad grumbled, something he’d been complaining about since I first arrived to tell them that he was alive and well.

“He had to reconnect with his brother, dad. I think that takes precedence over being interrogated by you literalhoursafter he was brought home from being on the run for eight months,” I said.

My dad rolled his eyes. “Fine.”

“I’ll bring him by soon, I promise,” I said.

“We’ll be just fine,” my mom said. “You kids go. Tell Deon we’re glad he’s okay, and we’re looking forward to seeing him soon.”

“I will. Maybe don’t tell Gus that he missed me,” I said.

“Yeah, because we were looking forward to hearing him whine all night,” my dad grunted.

“Chris,” my mom hissed.

“Oh my god,” Avery yelped. “It’s so cute. You’re just like them, Cherri. I never knew!”

“Welcome to a look into where I get it from,” I said, then I tapped Alistair on top of his head. “Come on, buddy. It’s time to go.”

In dramatic, flubber-like fashion, Alistair rolled to the side so far that it looked like he was going to drop onto the floor, then he stood to his feet. He leaned all the way back, his long blond hair dragging behind him, and dragged himself towards the front door. Avery, Nikita, Brayden and I opted for a much less showy departure, each giving my parents a hug, and saying our goodbyes before heading out into the night. We all piled back into my car and made our way back to Nathan’s house.

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