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“You are not your parents,” Handsome says, his hands landing on my hips.
“We have good parents; they can be yours now, too,” Las says, and I blink slowly.
“What?” I whisper.
“They have been anxious to visit. They will love you and treat you as their own child.” Las cups my chin. “Tell me what you need us to do. How do you want us to handle them?”
I blink again, mostly to try to stop myself from tearing up. “Do we have to go?”
“Yes,” he says. “You need to make a clean break. Otherwise, they will keep coming at you until you break down and give them the money they want.”
“Crap,” I groan. I know he’s right. I didn’t confront them before I left. I need to set my boundaries face-to-face. The one bright spot is that they weren’t expecting me to have my mates around me.
“Dinner with the in-laws,” Lucas hisses. “Fun.”
“Fun,” I snort. “I’m serious about staying far enough away that she can’t touch you. She has been known to have wandering hands,” I warn.
“Jesus,” Handsome says.
“I lost more boyfriends that way,” I sigh.
They start to smile, but when they see how serious I am, they freeze.
“You’re not kidding,” Las says sternly.
“Nope.” She has always wanted everything I have. “Don’t let your guard down. Once she smells a weakness, she will take advantage.”
Like I said before, I’d rather be in a room filled with shifters and vampires than my mom.
Chapter Twenty-One
Las
Ihaven’t had the desire to hit a woman since meeting the one who helped kidnap my brother. Rita should be grateful that Breeane is holding my hand tightly under the table.
We secured the bakery, went home to shower, and gave Breeane some time to build up her defenses before the most uncomfortable, infuriating meal of all time.
I reserved a room at a restaurant that my friend owned. Remy was a jaguar shifter that had lived quietly here for a few months. He bought this place when it was failing and turned it around. Now, it was busy constantly. I explained the situation to him, asking him for a quiet place to eat because the woman meeting us was bound to get loud.
He didn’t ask many questions.
Breeane sat between Logan and me, with Lucas on the other side of me, on one side of the table. Her parents faced us, and since they sat down, the woman hadn’t shut up. She has been telling us stories about Breeane growing up. This wouldn’t be unusual for a parent to do, but the way she described her daughter rubbed me the wrong way.
I have met people before who have given backhanded compliments. Rita has it down to an art.
“I told her that her boyfriend was no good the very first time she brought him home,” she says as I tune back into the conversation.
“You didn’t have to sleep with him to prove the point,” Breeane says dryly.
Her mom laughs nervously. She conveniently left out that part. “You slept with him?” Lucas asks incredulously.
“I knew that she wouldn’t believe he was a cheater,” she defends weakly. “She needed to hear it from a trusted source.” She picks up her wine, gulping deeply, while glancing at her husband. He obviously doesn’t care what his wife does. I don’t think he’s even listening.
“Trusted,” Logan whispers.
The conversation is thankfully interrupted by Remy entering the room. Rita gasps. I tilt my head, looking at my friend objectively. I guess he is a good-looking guy. He takes care of himself, so he’s in shape. He has black hair that is slicked back while he’s at work, dark gold eyes he dims in front of humans, and he is wearing a black suit. He is a black jaguar, very rare. I have seen him while he is shifted, and he is stunning to witness. Normally, his species has black spots on a yellow coat. His is the opposite. His black takes up most of his body; the yellow is minimal.
“Las,” he says with a smile. “Good to see you.”
