Awakening Her Racy Passion [Racy Nights 9] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Tara Rose Page B

don’t know what to say to her.”
    Trent was curious to know why Teresa was back and what had happened to her, but this wasn’t the time to ask. “Isn’t there an apartment above the new bar?”
    “Peppi lives there. It’s nice, too. Two bedrooms but they’re bigger, and there’s lots of storage space.”
    “Couldn’t you move back in with her? You lived with her over the old bar, right?”
    “Yes, I did. I suppose I could move in with her again. I never asked her. And I’d have to ask Luke’s permission, too. He owns the apartment as well as the bar. Peppi is working for Kari and Alexa in Tye Me Up. Did you know that?”
    He knew. Kari Tye was a sub to Noah Wells and Adison Kincaid. She and Alexa owned and ran Tye Me Up, Racy’s fetish shop on Lawnview Drive. “Yes, I know.”
    “She’s going to school, too, so she needs her privacy and time to study.”
    “You wouldn’t really be in her way, would you? You’d each have your own room, and you work different hours than she does.”
    “I suppose that’s true.”
    “Okay. Let’s put aside that issue for now and get back to Marisol. You said you feel ostracized by your brothers and by the BDSM community. Have you considered how difficult it was for both your brothers to tell your parents about their lifestyle choice?”
    “Yes. I know it was. And I know it’s hard for them now, being estranged from our family.”
    “How do the rest of your sisters feel about all this?”
    “They don’t care. I mean, they’re not judging Luke or Rafe. Rosa is the only one who sides with our parents, but not entirely. She says she thinks they’re being too stubborn and should try to accept Alexa and Marisol, as well as Chase and Ellis, but then in the next breath she condemns the entire BDSM lifestyle. She’s a sock puppet. She has no real opinions of her own.”
    “Have your other sisters encouraged your parents to accept Alexa and Marisol, and to make peace with their sons?”
    “Yes. Some Sundays, that’s all we talk about.”
    “And what have you told them?”
    “I keep my mouth shut.”
    “That sounds like a cop-out to me.”
    “You don’t understand. You don’t have Catholic Hispanic parents.”
    Even before he was able to rein in his reaction, she realized what she’d just said. She reached out to touch his shoulder and the gesture sent shock waves of desire up and down his spine. “I’m so sorry, Trent. I don’t know why I said that. It was just a knee-jerk reaction. Forgive me.”
    “No forgiveness necessary. I know you didn’t mean anything cruel by it. And you’re right, of course. They weren’t Catholic or Hispanic.”
    The pain on her face nearly broke his heart, but at least he’d been right about her. There was good in this woman. A lot of it. But why was she so afraid to let others see that?
    “I can’t imagine what you and Wyatt went through when they died.”
    “It wasn’t easy.”
    “They caught the driver of the truck, right? If I remember correctly? He’d been driving drunk.”
    Trent nodded, amazed still that after sixteen years, the memory of that night was as fresh as if it had happened last week. “They caught him, but he almost got away with it. That was the incident that sparked Wyatt’s decision to go to law school, and mine to become a paramedic.”
    Ria hugged herself, and he could almost see the shiver pass through her body. “Thank God you had each other. I’ve never had anyone close to me die tragically like that. All the people in my family who have died have done so because of old age.”
    “It’s a different kind of experience to go through. It changes you.”
    “Do you want to talk about it?”
    “Not really. And I’m not saying that to be callous. We’re here to talk about you and Marisol.”
    “I wasn’t trying to change the subject.”
    “I know. And thank you for the offer. But back to you and your parents. You do realize, don’t you, that until you confront them and tell them how you