“Sit down girl and stop standing there snarling. We want to eat,” Kiro said flippantly and Nan’s eyes flashed angrily. She looked at the other seat beside Kiro and then walked past it to sit down on the other side of Dean. The little girl in her was still afraid of rejection. She knew my dad wasn’t going to reject her.

“I didn’t know you’d brought her,” Nan snapped.

Blaire was so tense beside me I wanted to pull her up against me until she relaxed. “Of course I did. She goes where I go.”

Nan rolled her eyes. “I miss the old Rush.”

“I don’t,” I replied.

“This is a family matter. You think you could handle just a few moments away from him or are you planning on smothering him the rest of his life?” Nan’s hurt was turning into bitterness fast. She wasn’t going to take it out on Blaire, though.

I leaned forward on the table and leveled her with my steady gaze. “Do not ever speak to her that way again. If she hadn’t agreed to come with me I wouldn’t have come. Don’t underestimate her importance. She’s mine. Respect that.”

Nan bristled and sat back in her chair. I hated talking to her this way when I knew she was hurting. But Blaire came first. Always.

“I’m starving. Where’s the damn food?” Kiro called out loudly. Two women in their early twenties came hurrying out with trays. Normally there weren’t waiters for meals around here. Dean and Kiro weren’t big on formal meals. But Dean had called in a catering company to handle tonight’s meal. The women had a star-struck look in their eyes as they set about putting the appetizers on the table and taking drink orders.

“Look at you,” Kiro said as he slid a hand up one of the women’s leg.

“Daddy, don’t,” Harlow whispered.

Kiro let out a hard laugh and winked at the server. “Later.”

“God. I can’t believe my mother slept with that man,” Nan said a little too loudly.

“Don’t go there, Nannette,” Dean warned her. It was too late. I could see the annoyed amusement in Kiro’s eyes.

“Why ever not? I’m a fucking rock god, little girl. A fucking. Rock. God.” He took a sip of his drink then smiled. “All women want a taste. Your momma was no different.”

“Daddy, please,” Harlow said, reaching over and touching his arm lightly.

“My mother was too young to know better,” Nan shot back.

“She wasn’t that young. She was just trying her damnedest to sleep with every one of us. I think she can officially claim the record of ‘has fucked all of Slacker Demon’ and that’s not an easy feat. Dean is pickier than most.”

Nan’s face paled and I knew I needed to step in before this got out of hand. “Thanks Kiro for making sure we were aware of our mother’s sexual habits when she was younger. Now, could we move on from that and try to all get along?”

Kiro nodded. “Of course. Let’s eat some of this shit.”

The servers quickly started walking around the table with the trays of food and asking us what we wanted. Blaire turned down most all of the appetizers. She only took a slice of bread.

“Why aren’t you eating more than that?” I asked, concerned.

She leaned into me so no one would hear her. “Because I can’t eat raw meats or cheeses with unpasteurized milk while I’m pregnant.”

Shit. Something else I didn’t know. I pushed my chair back and headed for the kitchen. They were going to make her something she could eat.

BLAIRE

I didn’t have to ask Rush what he was doing. I already knew. He would be back with food I could eat. If I wasn’t so hungry I would try and stop him but I really did want to eat more than bread.

“You’ve turned my brother into your bitch. It’s pathetic,” Nan hissed across the table.

“Claws in Nan. Blaire is pregnant and needs to eat. Rush is taking care of what’s his,” Dean replied before throwing back a raw oyster off its shell into his open mouth.

“Do you not understand what birth control is? Or was that your plan all along? Hook him with a baby?”

It was very likely that the rest of my life I would have to deal with this kind of attitude from Nan. Getting upset and backing away from it wasn’t going to be a life choice for me. Granted, I didn’t intend to stick a gun in her face again but I wasn’t going to let her talk to me like that just because she was Rush’s sister.

“I realize you’re hurt and angry. But I’ve done nothing to you. So, please, back off.”

Dean chuckled beside me. Nan’s eyes only shone brighter. Great. I’d done nothing but piss her off more.

“You listen to me, you little bitch. No matter what you think you have, you don’t. I’m his sister. I’m his blood. He will choose me if it comes down to it. So don’t you dare threaten me.”

As much as I wanted to go back upstairs to Rush’s room and hide away from all this I knew it would only make her worse. I had to show her I wasn’t backing down.

“This isn’t a competition. You’re his sister. I’m the mother of his child. He doesn’t have to just love one of us, Nan. That’s childish and insecure to think that way. Rush is here because he loves you and he wants to help you. Don’t slap him in the face by treating me this way.”

Nan opened her mouth and snapped it closed again. Her jaw was flexing from all the teeth grinding she was doing.

“Thata girl, Blaire,” Kiro called out and the pain that flashed in Nan’s eyes made me feel sorry for her. I knew what it felt like to have a father not want you. But I also knew what it felt like to have a father who adored you. She didn’t.

“I don’t know why I even try. No one accepts me here. Rush was all I had and now he has attached himself to you and you hate me,” she screeched as she stood up and threw her napkin on the table.

“You took Rush,” she pointed a finger at me then she swung her attention to Harlow. “And you, you have my father’s love. I have nothing.” She spun around and ran from the room.

Rush walked in just as her heels clacked loudly on the floor and he looked at Kiro. The anger on his face was evident. “What did you do? I was only gone for five minutes.”

Kiro shrugged and pointed at me. “Don’t look at me. It was your woman who sent her running.”

Rush’s anger turned to confusion as he shifted his gaze to me. “Blaire? What happened?”

I shook my head. “She was accusing me of things and I just told her the truth.”

Rush let out a sigh and took off after his sister.

I sat there wondering if I should leave too. Or if I was supposed to stay here. My bread was forgotten on my plate and my stomach was now in knots.

“This family dinner is slowly dwindling. Anyone else want to run off before we have our salad?” Kiro asked in a jovial tone. How he could be making jokes after what had just happened I didn’t understand.

Dean reached over and squeezed my arm. “He’ll be back. Sometimes Nan just needs Rush. He knows that.”

Unfortunately, I knew that too.

Rush wasn’t back by the time dinner was over. Kiro was now completely groping the server’s bottom underneath her dress. Harlow was ignoring it and finishing her wine silently. Dean had his attention on the other server. I was more than positive the two women were on the menu for both men. The one Dean was looking at kept giggling and finding reasons to walk over to him. Luckily, he wasn’t going for any body parts yet. I was more than ready to get up and leave.

“I think it might be time for you and Blaire to go on up to bed,” Kiro said to Harlow without looking at her. He was focused on the server’s boobs and his hand was still up her skirt.

“I completely agree,” Harlow replied, standing up and looking over at me with an apologetic smile.

I stood up and started to thank Kiro and Dean for dinner when I noticed Dean’s hand was now between the other server’s legs. I decided to hurry out behind Harlow.

“I’m sorry you had to witness that. Dad’s drinking more now that Nan is raising hell. When he drinks he… uh… requires a lot of women.”