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I spun away, heading for the glass doors on the other side of the patio that led into the kitchen. I was done with this conversation, and I was done playing host.
* * *
I was prettysure Mamma’s seating arrangement was a deliberate plan to torture us. It was as if she knew everything that was unsaid between me, Nacio, and his guests.
Papa sat at one end of the long glass table with Joriel at the other. Nacio, Quinn, and Remy were on one side, and I was between Mamma and Samuel on the other.
Samuel didn’t speak to me as we had drinks and picked at appetizers. Mamma could put us next to each other, but she couldn’t make him acknowledge me. I didn’t want to care, but I couldn’t help sneaking glances at him every few seconds.
About halfway through dinner, my phone buzzed in my back pocket. It went against every social standard I’d ever been taught, but I pulled it out to check the message. I didn’t care about impressing anyone sitting at the table with me at the moment.
The text was from an unknown number, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out who it was from.
I let the screen go dark without responding, tucking the phone into my pocket. I’d block this latest number later. I felt the thing buzz several more times and resisted the urge to flinch every time.
Right after what had to be the tenth text, Samuel leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Maybe you should just answer your phone. The constant buzzing is getting rather annoying.”
“How can you even hear that?” I whispered back.
“I have good ears.”
My phone vibrated again, and I flinched. Judging by the way Samuel’s eyes narrowed, he noticed.
“Who is it?” he asked.
“Nothing important.” It was just a major irritation to not be able to get the messages to stop no matter how many numbers I blocked.
Samuel placed a hand on my thigh, and I jumped again, feeling my eyes widen. We were literally in the middle of dinner with nearly my entire family. And what had happened to his stay-away-from-me speech?
I reached for his hand, planning on physically removing it from my leg, but he wouldn’t budge.
“What are you doing?” I hissed.
“Relax, princess.”
Not likely.
“Don’t want to make a scene, do we?”
“I hate you.”
His hand crept a couple of inches higher up my thigh. “You want to say that again?”
I gritted my teeth. Ididwant to say it again, along with a few other choice words. Instead, I ignored his hand and tried to focus on the dinner conversation. After tonight, I was going to do everything in my power to avoid Samuel even if that meant not returning to Youngblood and making myself scarce when Nacio invited people over.
“Sam, Nacio tells me that you returned to Boston recently?” Mamma said, phrasing it like a question.
“It was time. I’d stayed away for far too long.”
“What kept you away?”
“A girl.”
My heart squeezed. He’d had a girl wherever he was for the past eight years? I shouldn’t have cared—it wasn’t like I had any claim on him. I didn’t even want to have a claim on him. At least that was my story, and I was sticking to it. I could do better than assholes who made it clear they didn’t want me. Or respect me, for that matter.
Mamma smiled. “Well, it’s nice to have you back in town. I always love meeting Nacio’s friends and business partners.”
“Thank you for having us, ma’am,” Joriel cut in. “You have a beautiful home.”
