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I stand on the other side of the island and suddenly don’t know what to say.
Fucking hell.
Feels like I can only find the right words when I’m taunting her—or fucking her. I turn my back and open the fridge just to have something to do. “Hungry?” I ask from behind the door.
She laughs. “Connor Maxwell knows how to cook?”
My mood sours instantly, glad my back is facing her so I can hide the small wince that off-handed comment just elicited. My mother was a great cook, all my favorite memories of her were in this very kitchen. I used to try to help, even at five years old, barely reaching the counter. But then she left. Disappeared out of my life. And the kitchen became unbearably empty and quiet.
Before closing the fridge, I shake off the unwanted memory and grab a few containers off the top shelf. I turn back to face Lenix, a smirk now firmly placed on my face. “I have a delivery service that comes every week,” I say while laying out some kind of fancy mushroom risotto and green salad between us on the counter. “Who has time for meal prep anyway?”
She lets out a small chuckle and scans the island as if assessing what I just took out from the fridge.
“Good enough for you, darling?” I tease.
Her eyes slide back over to mine, a smile curling her lips andshit, she’s so fucking beautiful when her guard is down.
“Sure,” she says, settling back into the small stool backrest, pushing her work shit off to the side and taking another sip of her wine.
Waiting for the oven to heat up, I take off my suit jacket and place it on the stool next to Lenix. I unbutton my wrist cuffs, and roll up my sleeves. All the while, she watches me as I do so. Her attention makes me hyper-aware of my actions, and I’m suddenly forgetting how to just move around in my own body.Great.
Shaking off my unwanted nerves, I reach over for the bottle of mezcal, uncorking it and pouring a healthy amount into a tumbler. Lenix is quiet, still observing me while I take a burning sip and settle back into my cocksure attitude.
“Why the Sin Eaters?” she finally says.
“Why what?”
She rolls her eyes as if her question was painfully obvious and I’m the idiot here. “Like, is there any meaning behind it?”
I place my palms wide on the counter, leaning into them and tilt my head with a grin. “Trying to get to know me, are you?”
“Oh my God, nevermind,” she huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. “Just trying to make conversation.”
I continue to stare at her, not bothering to acknowledge the small squeeze behind my chest from Lenix asking me a personal detail about my life.
“I’ll tell you what,” I say as I lean even closer, almost conspiratorially. “I’ll answer your question, if you answer one of mine.”
“You’re truly unbearable,” she bites out, her eyebrows dipping with a glare. Her walls are back up, doors shut and triple locked. “Why does everything have to be a negotiation with you?”
She’s irritated.Good.
This was getting uncomfortable anyway. At least this Lenix, I can handle. Knowing I won’t get anything out of her now—or she’ll just feed me another lie instead of the truth—I answer anyway.
“Sin Eaters were common back in the seventeenth century. Mostly in Wales.” I take a sip before continuing. “My father’s mother was Welsh, it’s where he got the name. They were social pariahs, shunned and most importantly, feared. They were only called upon for funerals, where they would consume the food left for them on the dead body.”
Lenix wrinkles her nose. “Ew.”
I chuckle softly. “It was meant to represent the sins of the deceased, the Sin Eater would eat the food and by doing so, absorb their sins and absolve their souls. They basically carried the sins of the dead inside of them, and because of it, were damned to spend eternity in hell with no chance of redemption.”
She blinks, a slight glint of fascination in her eyes, but there’s also something else there I can’t quite put my finger on.
“Sounds kind of… noble,” she finally says.
I laugh, grabbing the foil container and sliding it into the oven before turning back to face her. “Or they were irredeemable even before they ever became the local Sin Eater.” I wink, giving her a crooked grin. “Just like me, darling.”
Chapter 30
It’searlymorning.I’mslicing into green onions on the cutting board, getting ready to whisk up a quick omelet before heading to the office. Ewan wounds around my legs, purring loudly and letting out a small meow announcing his presence in case I forgot he was there. I’ve been letting him out of my bedroom lately and Connor hasn’t said anything, so I’m taking advantage.
