Page 64 of Bitter Prince

Athena came back with a banana and handed it to me. “Good luck.”

I had a banana and a sticky condom in my hand like I was back in sex-ed class.

“You know we covered this back in high school. Or maybe middle school,” I muttered as I rolled the condom down the length of the banana.

“That was ages ago,” Phoenix claimed.

“Again,” Isla demanded. “You have to ensure you do it right so there are no babies in nine months.”

“There won’t be any babies,” I groaned. “I’ll be on birth control.”

“And we don’t want any STDs coming for you either. It’s our job to take care of you,” Raven chimed in. Being the youngest one in the group sucked big-time.

“Put that condom on again,” Phoenix instructed with a worried expression on her face. “We can’t have any accidents.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but Athena interrupted me. “And the most important rule: never let the man put the condom on. You have to do it yourself.”

My brows knitted together. “Why?”

“Because men are hopeless and might not put it on right,” Raven answered. “And then whose problem is it? Always the woman’s.”

I rolled my eyes, but I could see her point. “Okay, fine. I’ll always be the one to roll it onto a man’s dick. Happy?”

“Reina!” the girls exclaimed as if they’d caught their child saying a vulgar word for the first time.

“What? Y’all say dick all the time,” I justified.

“She’s not wrong,” Raven pointed out. “And did you hear that ‘y’all’ drawl out of our little cowgirl’s mouth?”

“Hardly a cowgirl.” I threw the condom-covered banana at her. “Here, dick all covered up. Did I pass?”

Phoenix sighed. “Yes, you passed, but I don’t like it.”

“What, you want me to demonstrate on a real dick?”

“Please stop saying dick,” Isla commented exasperatedly. “I feel like my baby sister is being corrupted.”

“I don’t like the way he looks at you,” Phoenix signed, her brows furrowed as she studied me.

My heart fluttered. “How does he look at me?”

“Like he’s unable to look away,” Athena commented.

“Like he wants to devour every inch of you,” Raven added.

“Like he’s going to break your heart.”Phoenix’s eyes told me the story of her own heartbreak. The question was by whom. I had a feeling that was the secret she kept from me.

My throat constricted, hating that I didn’t protect her from it. The promise I made to Mamma hung in the air like a ghost, along with my failure in keeping it.

It wouldn’t be the last thing I’d fail to protect my sister from.

28

AMON

“Ican’t deal with him today,” Hiroshi said, his Japanese coming out rushed as his usually calm demeanor incinerated with fury. I had never seen him lose his cool—not even get frazzled—and that was saying something.

And me… My father had driven displays of emotion out of me a long time ago. I'd controlled my reactions and my emotions since I was a child. Dante was no different.