Page 15 of Tainted Truth

Well, I feel stupid.

I glance over at Zane, and he gives me an easy smile that says he knows what I’m thinking of.

“Hi! It’s nice to meet y’all.” I give a small wave.

Solana gives a small smile and returns to her book,Breaking Dawn.

“Y’all?” Mariela snickers.

My cheeks pinken slightly. I haven’t been mocked for my southern drawl in years. The first time I said “Y’all” in front of Hayes, he thought I was being sarcastic. I quickly realized my Southern slang would give away my roots, and I couldn’t have that. So, I stopped saying things like “Bless your heart,” but I have never been able to shake “Y’all.”

“Mariela! Manners,” Paloma scolds.

Elena gives Mariela a pinch on her arm.

“Ow! What the fuck!?” Mariela rubs her tender skin.

Elena doesn’t look remorseful. “You don’t have to be a bitch. Rio’s never brought anyone home.”

Wait. Never?

Then she turns to me and gives a quick smile. “It’s great to have you here.”

“Thanks! Dinner looks delicious. I don’t get home-cooked meals often.”

Mariela rolls her eyes and goes back to scrolling on her phone.

“Ignore her. She isn’t out of her teenage phase.” Elena comforts me after Mariela’s dismissal and I try to not to stress over Mariela’s obvious dislike.

Do I want their approval? If I do, does that mean I wantthem? Can I live with knowing what they’ve done and, what I assume, they regularly do?

While I debate over my little existential crisis, Elena leads me into a chair in the middle of the table, and Asher plants his grumpy ass in the seat right next to me. My heart equally warms and stirs. Rio claims the seat on my other side and gives Asher a stern look while Zane looks at us with his lips turned up in a soft smile.

What the hell is going on with these three?

As I’m consulting my manual,How to Decipher the Grunts and Gestures of Cavemen, the back door bangs open, and another woman with long, dark, curly hair comes through in a hurry. She’s in gray sweats and a cropped NYU T-shirt and has a frantic energy about her.

“I’m here! Sorry I’m late!”

“That’s Carmen. She’s studying to be a lawyer like Rio,” Elena whispers to me and my heart warms at the idea of Rio’s sister following in his footsteps.

Okay, maybe notallof his footsteps.

Carmen rushes over to Rio and hurries out an unsolicited explanation. “I didn’t invite them. I swear it, Rio. I didn’t.”

Rio, Asher, and Zane’s faces go hard while I tilt my head to the side and blink. Asher stands, pulling me with him and positions his large body between the door and me. Rio reaches under his shirt and pulls out a knife in each hand and faces the back door as well. Guns suddenly appear in Zane and Asher’s hands.

Are we preparing for the apocalypse or something?

When the door swings open again, three, tattooed, bronze-skinned men walk through, and I recognize them immediately. My whole body locks up and a cold sweat breaks out on my neck even though the New York heat hangs in the air.

With arms open wide the one in the middle says, “!Hola, Mamá Flores!¿Qué pasa?”

Zane growls. “Oh, fuck no.”

CHAPTER 4

ASHER

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