“So.” Dad slapped me on the back, scaring the ever-loving shit out of me, and looked ahead. “You wanna talk about it?”
“If this is the sex talk, you’re a bit late, Dad.” I kept cleaning and then realized he was way too quiet next to me, which meant he was thinking, which meant something was wrong. Normally I’d get a laugh out of him. Today he just stood next to me, completely void of emotion, like he had gone somewhere he couldn’t come back from.
I knew that feeling well.
“Dad?” I placed everything on the counter and turned.
We looked so much alike, it was almost scary, but where his eyes had this icy almost cruelty to them, mine were a warmer aqua, my hair was longer on top, and I had the eagle tattoo permanently etched into my neck. His lips pressed into a line as he crossed his arms and then finally looked at me. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“So not sex,” I whispered under my breath. “Are we talking about nearly dying?”
“We are.” His eyes drilled into me. “I could have lost you.”
A heaviness pressed down against my heart. “But, you didn’t.”
“But, I could have.” He swallowed slowly and then pressed his hands out against the countertop, his biceps flexing like he was ready to rip apart the entire kitchen. “I could have.”
I reached for him then, pulled him against my chest, and hugged him tight. “I’m here, I’m right here, and you’ll have to kill me to get me away from you.”
He clung to me so tight it stole the air from my lungs. “All I ever wanted was for you to know how much you’re loved-to find a love like I did, a love that rescues you from this sick pit of despair, and you just had to fucking fall for the one person that was off-limits.”
I grinned and pulled back. “My heart couldn’t help it.”
“Neither could your dick.” He rolled his eyes and then finally smiled. “Maybe I was the one that needed the talk.”
“Dad,” I put my hand on his shoulder. “It goes a little bit like this. When a boy likes a girl—”
“Little shit.” He kicked his foot out from under both my feet, sending me to the floor and then had a knife pointed at my still-bruised right eye before I could even finish teaching my sex ed class!
I grinned when I spotted him notice that I had a small dagger trained right next to his temple at what would be a very painful and deadly wound.
One side of his mouth quirked upward in a half-smile. “You’re learning.”
“It should be weird that you’re proud,” I grumbled, still not moving.
“And yet, I would have been disappointed had you not been quick enough.”
“Boys!” Mom came strolling into the kitchen and stopped; I could see the shadow of her hands on her hips and could almost imagine her look of irritation. “Did you get blood on the food?”
“Great, Ma, not even concerned about your only son!” I roared from the floor.
“Did you get blood on the food?” she asked again with a bit more force. Another shadow fell, a small gun.
“Why the hell did you arm her again?” I gave Dad a shove. “You know she has shit aim!”
“Watch it!” Mom said.
I sighed and let my head fall back against the kitchen floor at about the same time I saw a flash of black spiky stiletto heel. “Aw, you guys having family game night?”
I moaned into my hands.
She laughed. “Just give me a minute, and I’ll grab my knife too. Dibs on Junior. I like to see him bleed.”
Dad shook his head again at me. “Just had to be Serena…”
“Hey, I heard that!”
He got up to his feet. “Yeah, you were meant to.” He walked over and kissed her gently on the cheek and then. “No weapons at the table.”
Serena grumbled.
I grumbled.
Mom shoved her gun in her apron pocket. I mean really, the fact that she was even wearing an apron was hilarious, she could cook around ten things well, everything else was… shall we say, not very Italian, but dad never complained, so I never complained.
I just went to Chase’s.
Now that was food.
They were like professional chefs over there!
Dad sat at the head of the table and reached for my hand. And slowly, as we all joined hands, I looked up at Serena and winked.
Family dinner.
With my soul mate.
Alive.
I kept my eyes open during the prayer; something about closing them seemed wrong when I wanted to spend every waking moment drinking her beauty in. Some of Serena’s dark roots were starting to show, and I realized I liked it, I liked that around me she didn’t care.
She was wearing lip gloss I’d lick off later.
And mascara she didn’t really need.
But other than that, the armor had been lifted, maybe because the dragon had been defeated.