Page 18 of Beneath His Robes

“Oh. I-Wait. Do I know you?”

I plastered on my lazy smile and ran a hand through my hair.

“Probably. I used to live here when I was a kid.”

The blonde’s eyes lit up. “Wait. Ronan Saint Clare? Is that actually you?”

Hearing my name on her lips brought the memory to the forefront. This was Maria.

Maria fucking Cross.

Elias’s little sister.

I forced a laugh, trying to choke back my exasperation. Of course, his fucking sister would be the one to find me out here.

“Maria. Hey. Yeah. It’s me. Same old-same old.”

Maria laughed, her musical tone lingering around me.

“I wouldn’t say the same, Ronan. You are jacked! I mean, respectfully, wow. You look amazing.”

I swallowed an uncomfortable knot in my throat. “Oh…uh. Thanks.”

She waited outside my window, and the awkward silence stretched.

“So…How is everything? Do you, uh, work here?”

Maria laughed again and shook her head. “No. I was buying groceries. I am headed to my parents’ house for dinner. Dad’s always been demanding these stupid weekend dinners since we were teenagers. You’ve been to a few. I am sure you remember.”

Ah. The last dinner I attended at the Crosses’ was being balls deep inside Maria, and then Elias walked in on us and promptly ended any semblance of a life I had that wasn’t pure hell from the second I woke up.

“Yeah. Yeah, I remember. That’s nice. How are Dawn and Jerry?”

Maria perked up. A mischievous edge to her sweet tone caught me off guard. Those blue eyes resembled her brothers so much it hurt. I thought of him when I was inside of her. Pulled her face close and focused on those eyes, imagining they belonged to him.

“Why don’t you come?” She blurted, making me jump at the increased volume. “It will be so nice to catch up again. I know Mom and Dad will love to see you. It’s been too long, Saint Clare.”

I started to say no, but she cut me off. “Nope. I will not accept no for an answer. You remember the address, don’t you? Just follow me. If I recall, you enjoyed my ass in the past.”

I was actually blushing. I turned away from my mirror and shook my head. “The prodigal children of Monticello have certainly changed since I’ve been gone.”

Maria laughed and winked at me before returning to her bright pink car.

I sighed for the second time, wondering how in the hell I got to this point in my life.

Maybe Elias won’t be there.

Or maybe, he would, and yet again, I would be thrown out of that damn house.

ChapterEight

Elias

My mother was buzzing around the oven like an unsettled bee. She was normally very erratic during dinner time, but this was odd. She’d acted this way since she’d been on the phone with my sister.

“Ma, What can I do to help? Is everything okay?

I was starting to worry. Genuinely, my mother looked panicked. Her gray hair was standing straight up like a cockatoo from all her bending, moving, and creating recipes.

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