Alexi

I do not think I have ever seen Dad look that pissed. I could damn near see smoke coming out of his ears. He looked like he wanted to reach acoss this table and smack the both of us upside our heads. I was still trying to understand what happened. I closed my eyes and wished this whole thing was a nightmare, but it wasn’t. I watched Taelin walk out and I did nothing to stop her. I wasn’t sure she would listen to us if we tried to explain to her that what we said isn’t what we felt or meant. I am pretty sure if either Jayson and I tried to stop her she would slap us. We clearly deserved it.

“Um, I should go. Thank you for letting me come and the food was delicious.”  Zoe whispered.

“Zoe we are not upset with you. This fucking situation is the result of my sons not knowing when to shut their damn mouths. I will have Tom take you back to Colton’s place. He should be home by now if he isn't Tom will wait with you until Colton returns home. I am sorry you had to see our family drama.”  Dad said.

“Do not worry about it. This was nothing compared to the drama that my family is famous for. I will see the two of you later. I hope you two work everything out with Taelin. She seemed like such a sweet girl”  Zoe replied.

I watched as she walked out with Tom not far behind her. I looked back up and Dad was standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. Jayson and I stand up and follow him to his office with Janelle following behind us. We flop down onto the comfortable overstuffed couch in Dad’s office as Janelle closed the door.

“The two of you have better start fucking explaining, because if what she said is true shit is going to hit the fan. I do not understand why either of you would say shit like that.”  Dad says.

“Everything she said is true, but we said it to keep her safe and out of the firing range of all the other girls that would be jealous if they knew the truth. We did not want them spreading lies about her.”  I replied.

“We know that you two want her, which we have already talked about so why the hell would you say that?”  Janelle hisses.

“The only ones that know she is our stepsister are, Daymon, Lucas, Etta and Marnie. We told the others that so when we started dating her, they would not spread shit about her. We knew they would not say shit about us, but we did not want the other girls, mainly Shayla, to spread rumors of her being a whore and sleeping with her stepbrothers. We had no idea Taelin was even down near us when we were talking.

We hardly ever saw Taelin during school since most of her classes were on the second floor.”  I say.

“We would have fixed this right after it happened, but she would not talk to us. She was only around us when we had family events of dinner.  She has been avoiding us for close to two years,”  I added.

“I told you boys that I was all right with this, and I still am, but you need to fix this. Taelin was in advanced classes and that is why all her classes were on the second floor. Taelin’s father and I noticed that she started reading a few months after turning three. School has always been easy for her so when he was in fourth grade or so the teachers suggested having her tested. Taelin has an IQ of 150, but we did not want her skipping grades. The school placed her in advanced classes. These last two years all her classes have counted not only as high school credits but college credits. She might be a first-year student as far as this is her first year being there, but she will graduate when the two of you do.”  Janelle told us.

“We promise we are going to fix this. She is ours. I am not sure how we will fix this, but we will. We are sorry about this shit blowing up at dinner.”  I state.

“Do you know where her place is?”  I asked.

“No, until tonight we thought she was living with you boys. She moved up there when we were out of town. She had told us, as you heard, that she had told you two that she would be attending the same college, so I figured that she was living in the room that you two had designed for her along with the art studio. I do not like the idea of her living on her own.”  Dad explained.

Well shit, that is not what I wanted to hear. Jayson has a look of irritation on his face that matches mine. He is not thrilled that no one knows where she is. Our family is one of the three biggest mafia family's in the region. We are allied with the other two mafia families, one being Shayla’s. Her father is fine, but her mother and her are not worth the trouble they cause. Janelle has the kitchen staff pack up some of the food for us to take back to the house.

“Well how was dinner?”  Lucas asked.

“It started out fine until Taelin got there. Then it went to shit.”  Jayson grumbled.

I tell them everything that happened. Daymon and Lucas look just as guilty as Jayson and me. They were there that day and I know Lucas was laughing at the shit we were telling Shayla and her annoying friends. He was not laughing at Taelin, but she would not know that.

“That explains why we all got the cold shoulder not to mention that she has avoided us for the last two years along with the two of you.”  Daymon sighed.

The four of us are sitting there when the front door opens and in walk Etta and Marnie. I am not surprised they walked in without knocking. Jayson and I have known these two longer than we have known Daymon and Lucas. The four of us grew up together. Neither of them looked happy which makes me wonder who pissed in their coffee. Nick and Rich were close behind them. 

“Why do the two of you look like you are going to commit murder?”  I asked.

“Because we just might. We just ran into Taelin, who by the way is upset even if she is trying to act as if she is not, to find out that the family dinner she went home for turned into a shit show.”  Etta comments.

“Wait you knew Taelin was here on campus?”  I asked.

“Yes, we ran into her during her orientation, but she asked us not to say anything to the two of you. She is our friend and we are not going to break her trust like that.”  Marnie answered.

“We tried to tell her that there was a misunderstanding between the three of you that day, but she would not hear it. So, we come to find out that she heard what the two of you were telling whose gold-digging whores was a surprise. Yes, I know we were there, but we did not engage in the conversation. We tried to tell her that again there was a misunderstanding, but she shocked us when she told us that the two of you had found your queen and brought her home to meet the parents.”  Marnie added.

Shit, she thinks we want Zoe. Zoe is a pretty girl, but she is nothing compared to Taelin. Etta asks how we are going to clear this shit up, but truthfully, I have no idea. I tell her that Zoe is the one we took to dinner, and I can tell they realized that Taelin had read the room wrong. They know Zoe and why we are protecting her. 

“Do the two of you know where she lives?”  I asked.

“No, we tried to get that information, but she refused to tell us. I think she knew that we would tell you even if it was an accident. I do know it is here on campus, she did not tell us that much.”  Etta comments.

That is better than where I thought it might be. At least it is close which means that Jayson and I might have a chance of finding her. We need to talk with a few of the other guys who have her in their classes. I have no idea how to get her to talk with us but there must be a way. Now we must figure out what way that is.