AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I pay attention.” Kai laughs.
“Well, you’re right. She was beyond pissed. I had to send Angela home. I won’t get into the dirty deets of it all, but I got some insight out of the whole debacle. I pushed her to the brink of insanity until she admitted what I already suspected. Not sure if it’s real, though. Maybe she has Stockholm syndrome or something. I’m the only man she has had extended contact with outside her family. But it’s real to her right now, so that’s all that matters.”
“Be careful, brother. That’s all I’ll say on the subject for now.”
I push off my desk. “Let’s grab breakfast. You might as well eat since you came all this way to annoy me. Besides, I think Oisín probably told the house staff to make me a full Irish breakfast for my hangover.”
“You don’t have to ask twice. I’m starving.”
When we arrive at the table, Aurora is already sitting in her usual spot. She pushes the eggs around her plate when my brother sits opposite her. She startles but is sure to slip her mask of unfazed back on.
“Morning, sunshine,” Kai greets.
Aurora rolls her eyes at him before looking over at me as I take my seat. “It’s rude not to speak when someone addresses you, little bird. Where are your manners?”
“I must have left them upstairs in my room,” she deadpans. “He’s being condescending.”
“Aurora!”
She huffs, but thinks better of whatever she is about to say next. “Good morning,” she says begrudgingly.
“See. What’s that so hard? I see my brother has his hands full with you. “You do know that men have died for less?”
“Kai. Stop antagonizing her so she can eat.”
At this moment, Fiona and Bridget arrives with my peanut butter sandwich and the full breakfast for Kai. Fiona places Kai’s food in front of him but goes out of her way to avoid eye contact with me. I’m guessing she’s still pissed about finding me in Aurora’s bed a short bit ago. I don’t do the jealousy. Don’t understand it, actually. It’s a waste of time.
“What the hell are you eating, man?” Kai asks, oblivious to the jealousy still radiating off Fiona.
“Are you blind? It’s a peanut butter sandwich.”
“Okay, wrong question. Why are you eating it when we have this feast of a spread in front of us. Is that supposed to be some unknown cure for a hangover?”
Aurora’s ears perk up. She’s not even hiding her curiosity. She’s tried to ask me about the peanut butter before.
“It’s my penance.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Aurora
Idon’t care much about Lennon’s condescending, jerk face brother, but I’m glad he asked the question I’ve been dying to know. What is his penance and what does it have to do with peanut butter sandwiches?
Lennon looks particularly perturbed, but he answers his brother anyway. “It’s my sacrifice for all the bad shit I partake in. I forgo some of life’s simple pleasures to make it fair. Not right because I can never make it right, but if these sacrifices can weigh in just a tad on the forgiveness scale of my sins, then I’ll take it.”
He takes a bite of his sandwich like he hasn’t just said a mouth full. “But you hate fucking peanut butter. You always have since we were kids,” Kai points out.
“It wouldn’t be a penance if I sacrificed with things I enjoyed,” Lennon deadpans, taking a sip of his milk.
The pieces finally fit, and my mouth shoots off before my brain catches up to logic. “That’s why you do the waterboarding thing and why you hate allowing yourself to come. It’s all for your self-induced penance,” I practically shout, enthusiastic that I figured it out. It’s not until I see the incredulous look on his brother’s face that I realize I’ve said too much.
“What the fuck is she talking about, Lennon? What waterboarding thing?”
Lennon dabs the napkin at the corner of his mouth, not the least bit fazed by my untimely outburst. “What? Not interested in the details of my choice to edge, brother— my cum or lack thereof?”
“Don’t change the subject. I know all about edging and don’t need any additional information on the subject. I’m more interested in what Aurora means about your waterboarding thing.”
Bridget hesitantly intervenes to ask if we need anything else. “Bring me a large glass of water and the ibuprofen from Oisín that he never brought to me,” Lennon says. “I need something to combat this hangover and my brother isn’t helping.” She nods and hurries off.
