Page 265 of Sweet Nightmare

I bet my cousin Poe wrote that one.

Or maybe it was my Aunt Mila.

Another notification pops up on my screen.

I stop.

Then I smile.

Because I know that smile.

That smile does filthy, unforgivable things to me.

Most days, I say something deliberately infuriating just to watch him smile at me like that.

A video call request flashes across my screen, courtesy of our family group chat, dragging me out of my increasingly indecent thoughts of Stephen.

I knew this was coming. Better get this over with now.

With a sigh, I swipe to accept.

Dad appears first, his light honey and silver hair immaculate as ever and his expression calm but watchful. There’s concern in his eyes, the kind he tries not to make obvious because he’s always known that fussing over me only makes me dig my heels in harder. Mom sits beside him, beautiful and perfect but her eyes look tired and faintly swollen. She looks as though she’s spent the morning fighting off a dozen different worries and… crying. Beneath all that, though, there’s steel in her expression. My mother has never needed to look unshaken to be strong. I’m proud to say that I got that from her.

My brother, Roman joins next, wearing a perfectly tailored suit, looking as though he’d gladly march straight into hell and murder the Devil himself if it meant protecting his family.

Allegra appears last, buried beneath a mountain of peach-themed blankets, clutching a mug nearly the size of her head.

“Hi, Sissy,” Allegra says. “You look well-rested.”

“Allegra!” Mom scolds.

“What?” She looks sheepish. “She does!”

Mom and Dad sigh in perfect unison.

“Your children are perfect in every way,” Mom tells Dad, “but God, they’re exhausting.”

“We learned from you,” Allegra says with a laugh.