“It’s the twenty-first century, Kyle, and I’m stronger than you are right now.”
He shot her a look, and she glowered back at him. They were still glaring at each other when Julian entered the living room.
“Are we about to have a twin showdown?” Julian asked as he stopped near the couch. “My money’s on Cassidy; she’s meaner.”
They both turned their glares on him. He grinned as he ran a hand through his tousled hair. She loved that her brother and Aida were so happy together, but she was not in the mood for it right now.
“Oh, bite me,” she muttered.
Julian laughed as he made his way into the kitchen and opened the fridge to remove a bag of blood. “What has the two of you so pissy on this lovely morning?”
“Your brother’s a sexist pig,” Cassidy said before bending to tie her other boot.
Julian rose and closed the fridge door. “That’s obvious, but what’s the problem?”
“Thanks a lot, asshole,” Kyle said and gave Julian the finger.
Julian laughed as he removed the scissors from the drawer next to the fridge, cut the bag open, and poured the contents into a mug. He set the mug in the microwave and turned it on. Aida strolled into the room with a spring in her step and a grin on her face.
“Good morning,” she greeted as she walked across the room to pull out one of the kitchen chairs. She plopped onto it. “It’s so beautiful outside today.”
“Save me from the couple in love,” Kyle muttered.
Cassidy chuckled. “Only if you save me too.”
She glanced at her brother, and when he smiled at her, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling back. She’d never been able to stay mad at him or anyone else for long. However, Kyle could make her the angriest and also help her get over it the fastest.
“I’ll always save you,” he said.
“I know. I have to go. I’ll see you guys later.”
She rose and bounced on her toes to make sure the stakes she’d hidden in her boots were tucked securely into place. Satisfied they wouldn’t stab her while she was walking, she lifted her jacket and draped it over her arm. She’d gone down earlier and rewashed it before putting it in the dryer. A faint hint of smoke still wafted from it, but it wasn’t unbearable.
“Keep us updated,” Julian said as she strode toward the door.
“I will,” she promised. “I love you all.”
“Love you too,” the three of them said as she opened the door and left the apartment.
She jogged down the steps to the first floor. She was eager to see Dante again, but she had to make a call first. She had opened the front door and was running down the steps when Kyle called her name.
Stopping on the sidewalk, she looked up to find him leaning out the living room window with his arms wrapped around himself while he kissed the air. “Oh, Dante, how I love thee,” he called in a high falsetto. “Let me count the ways!”
From the open kitchen window, Aida and Julian laughed as they crouched down in it. Cassidy rolled her eyes and gave them the finger. She started to turn away but crashed into something that caused her to stagger back.
Before she could recover, the scent of leather filled her nose.
Chapter Twenty
“Oh no!” Aida cried, but her words were drowned out by Julian and Kyle’s loud laughter.
Cassidy gritted her teeth as she restrained herself from running up to her apartment and pummeling her brothers into a bloody pulp. However, she was too mortified to move as her face burned.
The windows sliding shut didn’t completely drown out their laughter or Aida’s scolding. Cassidy kept her head bent; there was no way she could ever look at Dante again. Maybe Aida hadn’t seen Dante coming, but she had no doubt Kyle did.
He’d done this on purpose, and because of that, she would make him pay. There was a reason she was the reigning queen of the prank wars amongst the younger siblings. And when she finished torturing him, she would kill him. Her parents had nine other children; they wouldn’t miss him.
Dante bit his lip to keep from laughing as he gazed from the closed windows to Cassidy’s fiery red face. He could still hear her brother’s raucous laughter, something he hadn’t expected to hear from them when it came to him.
He was half convinced he would end up fighting with them on his walk over here. He was sure the two of them would be ready to kill him after last night. He was aware Cassidy would tell her brother what happened, and Kyle could never show his face at Lavender Moon again.
Instead, he found the two of them hanging out the windows and teasing her. It was something he would have done to Maya. If it weren’t for the fact Cassidy looked so uncomfortable, he would have laughed with them, but when she still wouldn’t look at him, some of his amusement faded.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I wish people would stop asking me that,” she muttered.
“I won’t ask again then.”
Cassidy struggled to get her face to stop burning, but she could not make her blush cease. She stared at his battered leather jacket. It was a lighter brown and more worn than the one he’d been wearing last night.
“I thought we were going to meet at your place,” she muttered.
“It’s a beautiful day out; I decided to go for a walk. I was only going to go halfway, but I kept walking.”
It was more like he’d been too impatient to see her again, and unable to stay in his apartment. He hadn’t meant to walk all the way here, but
