Page 64 of Ravage

Once everyone has served themselves, I pick up my knife and fork, but Diana smacks my hand. "Hey, we still say grace in this house, sister."

I roll my eyes. "How about you and Steven say grace, and I'll sit over here eating my food and plotting my descent into hell?"

She glowers at me, but this is not the first time we've had this discussion. Hell, it wouldn’t even be the twentieth time we've had this argument.

Cam clears this throat beside me, shifting in his seat. Steven simply shakes his head.

"Diana, you know how Imogen feels about it, so just drop it."

I shoot him a grateful look, and his lips twitch. My brother-in-law is a total teddy bear and often has to remind Diana that I'm old enoughto make these decisions for myself. I don't think he particularly cares for the religious nonsense either, because he only goes to church for the major holidays, and from what I've heard, it's under duress.

Diana sighs and bows her head.

I think it's laughable how determined she is to continue living the lies we were brought up believing. But then, she was the good daughter. The light to my dark.

As we start eating, Diana's phone rings between us on the table, and we both look down at the screen. I grimace when I see 'Mum' flash up.

She sighs, giving me an apologetic look, before answering.

"Hi Mum," she says, pushing her chair back from the table and going into the living room.

"She still talks to your parents, then?" Cam asks quietly.

Steven sighs. "Unfortunately."

Steven has a pretty low opinion of our parents, having met them after I escaped their clutches.

"Diana is the good daughter. I'm pretty sure my name is only said in horrified whispers these days," I add.

Steven grimaces, telling me I'm right without uttering a word.

Cam looks troubled, and I reach over to squeeze his hand. "It's okay. I'm much better off without them in my life."

"She's right." Steven points towards Tabitha. "I won't let them have her without us around, and I'm pretty sure that's what Cassandra is calling about. She's trying to lay on the guilt about not getting to see her grandbaby, even though I have no problem with them having supervised visits with us there."

"Fucking narcissist," I mutter, and Steven nods in agreement.

Diana comes back, frowning, but doesn't give us any details of the phone call. We continue to talk while we eat, and I'm grateful that the conversation has moved away from talk about my parents. I've never regretted walking away, but it still stings to imagine what my life could have been like if I'd had parents like Cam's.

We head back to my apartment after leaving Diana and Steven, and the drive is subdued. When we walk back into my apartment, I sink down onto the couch with a sigh.

"You okay?" he asks, taking a seat next to me.

"Yeah. Just wish I understood why Diana is so determined to keep in touch with our parents. I know they hated me more, but her childhood wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows."

He squeezes my knee. "I wish I could relate. It must really suck not being able to talk to your parents."

"Yeah, it does, but there is no way I'll ever go back. Not unless they both get personality transplants and actually become decent people."

He huffs a laugh and pulls me into his side. "Well, for what it's worth, I think you're pretty amazing and they are the ones missing out by not having you in their lives anymore."

I turn to look up at him, and he pushes my hair back behind my ear. "Thank you."

He brushes a kiss to my cheek, and I turn my face to press my lips against his. He chuckles as he pulls me in closer, deepening the kiss.

A month ago, if someone had told me I would be content with just kissing, I'd have laughed in their face. But kissing Cam has become as important as breathing to me in such a short period of time.

We kiss lazily for a while, neither of us pushing for more. He strokes my cheek with his thumb while holding me close, and I slide my hand to the back of his neck, letting my fingers weave through his hair.

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