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I climbed the stairs of her front stoop and knocked. I’d never felt so much like a teenager before in my life, standing outside a human girl’s door, preparing to ask her to forgive me and share her life with me.
The door swung open, and I was face-to-face with Violetta Amato. She held baby Nova in her arms and didn’t look particularly surprised to see me.
“Sam,” she said in a neutral tone that gave me absolutely zero hints as to where I stood with Siren’s family.
“Is Piper here?” I asked.
“No. She went out with Sierra and Nate. They didn’t say when they planned on coming home.”
I’d assumed Nathaniel would take the girls straight here. It didn’t sound like him at all to leave Nova with a human babysitter any longer than he had to.
“Do you know where they went?” Considering they’d both been on Castle Island a couple of hours ago, I sincerely doubted they’d told Violetta where they were actually going, but I didn’t have anything else to go on. I wasn’t Siren’s guardian—I didn’t have the bond Nathaniel had had with Sierra when they started dating.
Violetta shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
“Is Nacio here?” I asked, my desperation starting to show in my voice.
“Why don’t you come in,” she suggested, stepping back from the doorway.
I’d spent days practically living in this house. I knew it as well as I knew Youngblood or my own apartment. But without Siren here, I felt like a stranger, like the house had lost all its welcome.
That feeling only got worse when Violetta led me into the dining room and gestured for me to take a seat at the home bar. There were two chairs there that I’d never actually seen anyone sit in. Usually the family just went behind the bar to mix drinks and then drank them elsewhere in the house.
I sat while Violetta disappeared into the kitchen. She came back with her oldest son a couple of minutes later.
Nacio didn’t look thrilled to see me. He slipped behind the bar without a word and poured two glasses of bourbon before taking the chair beside me.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Looking for your sister.”
“She’s not here.” He downed half his drink in one swallow.
“Your mother said that. Do you know where she is?”
“Out with friends.”
“That’s not a place,” I gritted out.
“Why do you need to see Piper?” His russet-brown eyes connected with mine. “Don’t you think you’ve hurt her enough already?”
“Look, I know I screwed up, but I’m trying to fix it. I can’t apologize to her if I don’t know where she is.”
“So that’s your plan? You’re going to say you’re sorry, and she’s going to welcome you back into her bed? She deserves better than that, Sam.”
“I know that. I’m planning on asking her to marry me.”
“No,” Nacio said flatly.
“I wasn’t asking for your permission.”
“But you are asking me to tell you where she is.” He took another sip of his drink with a smirk. He was enjoying having the upper hand too much for my liking, and it was taking more mental energy than I had right now to keep from switching to threats. I was certain I could get Nacio to tell me where Siren was, but it wouldn’t win me any points with her to threaten her brother.
“Listen, I love your sister more than anything else in this world, and Iamgoing to marry her. You don’t have to like it, but understand that you can’t stop it. She wants me too, and you know it. So please save us all the hassle and drama and tell me where she is.”
Nacio studied me for a long moment. “She wants kids.”
“I’m prepared to give them to her.”
