Rowan grimaced. “I have a feeling that you are not being truthful, Miss Parker,” – oh he was on the ball, wasn’t he – “but, in any case, it is disgusting to talk of diseases at a dinner table.”
“No more disgusting than your attitude.”
Marcia placed a hand on her partner’s arm. “Should we expect anything more from a girl whose origins are like Miss Parker’s?”
Sam regarded her curiously. “Have you ever visited that website greatlyinneedofalife.com?”
Marcia bristled. “I have a life, thank you.”
“Really? You seem a little too fascinated with mine. I mean, really, are you capable of talking about something that isn’t related to my childhood or where I grew up?”
“Did you grow up?” quipped Rowan.
Sam simply looked at him with pity. “Aw, Rowan, didn’t anyone ever tell you that in order to be a smartarse, you need to be smart? If you’re not, it just makes you an arse.”
Even Ricardo laughed at that.
“I could tell you that I was raised by parents who were addicted to crack. I could tell you that I sampled the stuff myself at a very early age. I could also tell you that I’d had a boyfriend who was not only a drug dealer, but a pimp – my pimp. But that would merely be telling you what you want to hear. You want reasons to disapprove of me. The truth of my childhood is, in fact, quite different. Not great, but nothing like that. But, see, I don’t have to explain myself to any of you, and I won’t. I don’t crave the respect of people that I have no respect for.”
Marcia crossed her arms over her chest. “You cannot expect us to respect someone who dislikes us so very much.”
“In all honesty,” began Sam, cocking her head. “I don’t dislike any of you, you just piss me off. Still, you’re entitled to your opinions, and you’re clearly full of them. But like it or not, I’m going to Bind with Jared, and I’m going to one day be responsible for your protection.” She leaned forward, whispering, “So you might want to be nice to me, because I have a vengeful streak.”
Smiling, I kissed her temple. “I can vouch for that. I’ve been on the receiving end of it more than once.”
“You’re right about one thing, though,” Sam told Rowan. “I have ended up a little like my parents. A workaholic. Yes, my parents actually have jobs. In fact, they run their own business. It’s a small business and it doesn’t do very well, but they work hard for a living. What do all of you do again? Oh yeah. Absolutely nothing.”
It was at that moment that the waiter brought over the first course, effectively ending that conversation. I had noticed that Ricardo, Rowan, and Marcia appeared to be looking at Sam a little differently, as if considering her through fresh eyes. The problem was that even if they grew to like her, they wouldn’t fully accept her until they were confident that she could protect them. Thankfully they didn’t know that, at the present moment, she couldn’t properly protect herself, let alone others.
In spite of the awkwardness at the table, conversation came easy and no more insults were exchanged. In fact, the mood even improved when Harvey brought over his smartphone to show his snaps of the paintballing games – I tried to snatch it before anyone saw the ones of me wearing that damn mankini, but Harvey had too good a grip on it.
Of course Magda had to try to ruin the good mood, didn’t she?
Standing behind Marcia’s chair, Magda greeted everyone individually, leaving Sam until last. “Good evening. Enjoying your meal?” Her expression said that she sincerely hoped that the answer was no.
Sam fiddled with the chopstick in her hand. “Still a bit sour that everyone turned on you at the end of paintballing? Karma doesn’t taste all that nice, does it?”
I could understand why Magda snarled at the comment. Just the memory of her standing there, squealing, while a seemingly endless amount of paint pellets showered her…Ah, good times.
“That behaviour was uncall—”
“Oh Magda, Magda, Magda,” began Sam. “We all know that you’re only over here to insult me because you want Jared and you’re jealous – it’s old news. So why not just run along and nobody gets hurt. Okay?”
“You may think that you are clever, Sam. But all I see is an insecure, green-eyed, bitter, hot-headed individual.” Madga’s self-satisfied grin faded when Sam simply shrugged. I had to admit, I was surprised by her composure too.
“At least I don’t have a chopstick sticking out of my eye.” And then she lunged across the table, chopstick in hand. Yep, that was more like my Sam. If Magda hadn’t scampered so fast, she would have ended up in sheer agony. God, I loved this woman.
(Sam)
Taking some time to calm down after Magda’s little jibe, I’d gone out onto the empty veranda. I was actually enjoying the solitude, which was new for me. That peace and quiet didn’t last long, though. Hearing footsteps approach, I swivelled my head to see none other than Ricardo. “Hello there, Rick. Lovely night, isn’t it?”
A muscle in his jaw ticked. “My name is Ricardo.”
“Right, that’s what I said.”
“You are very rude.” He didn’t actually sound that annoyed about it.
“And you’re looking for reasons not to like or approve of me.”
“You’re a Sventé. That is reason enough.”
“It’s reason enough for you to worry that I might not be able to guarantee you’re protected,” I granted, “but it doesn’t give you reason to insult me. And you know it.”
His gaze skidded away, almost as if he was slightly ashamed of that. Nah. “Perhaps if you and Jared had been truly devoted to one another, I could accept you. But I know the truth of things. I know that you both sleep with others.”
“Let me guess who told you that…The tribute to Jessica Rabbit. Am I right?”
He peered down at me, frowning. “Yes.”
“It didn’t occur to you that she just might be talking tripe to cause problems?”
“I will admit that jealousy does funny things to people, but surely she would be too protective of one of her vampires to cause him any pain.”
I snickered. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But no. The fact is that Jared would never be unfaithful to me. That bloke is loyal to a fault. But, of course, you already know that. You simply want to justify your behaviour. And you need to justify it to those Master Vampires over there who you Sired, don’t you? You need to keep supplying them with reasons not to accept me.”