Sweet Addiction

17

Lexi's POV:

"Stay away from me, demonio," Santiago grumbles as I sit on the other end of the couch.

I glare at him as I sit down with the peach mojito that Gale made for me. "There's a whole section of couch in between us," I comment. "Besides, the other couches are taken and I do not like to sit on the floor."

"Don't demons belong in Hell?"

"Hell is another realm, you dense fuck," I say as Gale joins the rest of us who are all spending time together and keeping an eye on Santiago. "It's not below the Earth's crust."

Amari sits beside me so he is in between myself and Santiago. "Play nice, Lex."

"Tell him not to be a whiny fuck."

"Tell that thing to go back to the hole he crawled out of!" Santiago argues.

I will not tolerate that disrespect, but before I can go fight the bitch, Amari grabs around my waist and holds me to his chest. His hands rub my stomach and my sides, effectively calming me down as he urges me to take deep breaths. Of course, I calm down with his hands on me, and I see a bit of envy in Santiago's eyes.

"Why do you look so jealous?" I ask, and Santiago tries to glare but he's a bit flushed.

Amari scoffs in my ear. "Stop teasing him, sweetheart. Drink your mojito," he tells me and I do so because Alastor gave us some of his brewed alcohol from Hell that works on demons.

"Found him!" Elijah exclaims, tapping away on his tablet. "Damn, your family is rich as fuck!"

Santiago seems a bit stunned. "Are you... stalking my family?"

"Yes... huh, you're not even listed as a family member. Weird," Elijah mumbles, and he's pretty good with tech, so I'm sure he'll figure out where Santiago's information online went soon here. "Wait a minute... you were disowned?!"

Amari and I share a look.

"Stop," Santiago says, but he sounds more desperate than angry. "Please, stop."

"Your father disowned you for coming out to them," Elijah says. "They tried to erase your existence."

Santiago is near tears. "Please, stop."

"Elijah, you heard him," Renato speaks up, taking the tablet from Elijah. "Do not delve into his past if he is uncomfortable with it."

Elijah shrugs. "Sorry."

"I'm sorry," I say, sighing at my own words, because I didn't feel that sorry until right now. "Santiago, I'm sorry. I didn't realize how fucked up your life is."

He glares at me, as if I'm playing some elaborate joke on him.

While that is a very Lexi-type thing to do, I'm not that much of an asshole. Especially now that I know that he's not a pampered brat and the reason he must have been working was because he needed money.

"How did you get those bruises?" Amari asks him, and Santiago looks down at his arms and shrugs.

"My night job," he mumbles. "Working in the restaurant will not pay all of my housing bills. Even though my dad does not want anything to do with me... I still use him as an excuse and say he will protect me even if he will never save me. It has gotten me out of some sticky situations."

We all sit in silence, letting his words sink in. He has a drink as well, but it has no alcohol in it because none of us want him really drunk. I'm feeling a little out of it but I sober up quick when Santiago inquires what we meant by soulmates.