“Da was a prejudiced jerk sometimes,” I countered, accepting the cup she filled with coffee. “Thanks.”
“No worries.”
“What did Da say?” Neev peppered, reminding me of how much of Da she’d missed out on.
No, he hadn’t been the best of men, but he was our father. And he’d loved us.
“That bikers thought mobsters had too high an opinion of themselves and mobsters thought bikers had low foreheads.”
Neev purred, “None of those hotties had low foreheads.”
I clucked my tongue. “Neev.”
“I was joking!”
Raisin asked me, “You scared about staying here?”
I flicked a look at Stan, who’d untucked a Little Debbie’s cupcake from its wrapper with as much care as a mom diapering her newborn. “No.”
“Think he’ll hold your hand and let you sit on his lap for the rest of the day?”
I shoved Neev. “Why do I love you again?”
“Because I’m fucking awesome.”
I sampled some of Raisin’s coffee. “That so?”
Raisin tucked her jacket tighter around herself. “I’m not sure why I’m on edge.”
“Because we’re miles away from home, and even if their overprotectiveness annoys the shit out of us, Lucas and Cade are always close enough to kickstart a rescue mission?” I drawled.
Neev pulled a face at the coffee—bougie to her bones, that one. “I’m glad to be away from them. They drive me nuts.”
“They driveusnuts. Why else did we pick Cancún?” I argued.
“It pains me to say it but Kitty’s right. They’re our safety net.”
The three of us shared a look, but Neev conceded, “I lied. Idomiss them.”
“Yeah, me too.”
Raisin stirred creamer into Neev’s coffee. “Same.”
When I glanced over the counter, I saw that Stan had his eyes on us again. Maybe he felt our worries, or maybe he read it in my expression because he was back on his feet.
All ten miles of him.
When he leaned an arm against the kitchen wall, I realized thatthe only reason I hadn’t freaked out so far was because of him. He didn’t feel like a stranger to me. Not because of our flirtation on the flight over here and our multiple conversations and heart-to-hearts, but because of Currau.
I’d learned a lot about his family through hisprozio.
My sisters didn’t have that luxury.
No wonder Raisin looked ready to start pulling out her eyelashes from stress.
“Nothing will happen to you while I’m here.”
I didn’t want to be the woman who was immediately reassured by a guy’s vow when men vowed to do basic ass shit every damn day and routinely failed, but Iwasreassured.
