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I follow him, reminding myself I’m an adult. Even if my parents don’t like my decisions, I’m not a child. And it’s not like they’ve agreed with all my life choices up to this point, anyway. What’s one more thing to add to the list?

We find Mom and Noah in the living room. One of them looks more uncomfortable than the other.

Mom sits in Grandpa’s old rocking chair, drinking a diet soda. She’s pleasantly plump, always on a diet, with shoulder-length brunette hair and what appears to be a slight vacation tan.

“Piper.” She rises, crossing the room to give me a hug. She smells like the raspberry vanilla hand cream she buys from the mall in Junction. “Dad thought he heard you pull up.”

“In a Lamborghini.” Dad gives her a pointed look.

Yep, he thinks I’ve gotten involved with a European drug lord.

Mom blinks at him, flummoxed. Then she gives Cassian a cautious smile. “It looks like you’ve already met my husband, Robert. I’m Elette.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Edwards,” Cassian says, as charming as I’ve ever seen him.

She turns back to me, smirking ever-so-slightly. “Are there any more men hanging around the house we should meet?”

Okay then.

“Just Noah and Cassian,” I answer dryly.

“So…” she begins, her eyes moving between them. “Noah says he’s renting a room from you. Is that right?”

She doesn’t believe it.

“Do you want me to show you our rental agreement?”

She rolls her eyes, her expression softening withpity.“Honey, if money was so tight you thought you needed to take on a tenant, I wish you would have let us know.”

And now they think my business is going under.

“It’s not that—” I cut myself off, realizing this is my best out. “Okay, it was a bad spring, and I didn’t get as much planted as I would have liked. I didn’t want to worry you.”

Dad practically glares at Cassian. “Are you renting a room, too?”

“No, I’m…” Cassian trails off, realizing he’s not sure how to answer. He can’t say he’s my conservator. The vampire meets my eyes, silently asking for help.

“Cassian is Noah’s friend,” I explain.

“You go for joy rides with your boarder’s friends?”

“He’s my friend now, too. And we were just out.”

“Out where?” Dad asks, being blatantly nosy now.

“Out.”

He glowers at me for a minute and then turns to Cassian. “What do you do for a living? You a trust fund kid?”

“Guilty,” Cassian lies before I can tell my dad to drop it. “But I also dabble in investments.”

“I can’t place your accent,” Mom says. “Where are you from?”

“I was born in France but spent my formative years in Romania.”

Mom blinks at him. “What brought you to the States?”

“I’m keenly interested in medical research.”