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That Penmayne charisma...
“It’s nice to see you, too.”
“Last time I saw you it seemed like things didn’t end very well,” August says. “You disappeared suddenly from that restaurant, and Damon went running after you. He kind of told me what happened next, but not enough to understand fully. There was some kind of altercation, is that so? Something about ex-boyfriend troubles?”
I shoot a glance at Damon. “Yeah, it’s a long story,” I reply. “But Damon helped.”
“I came to her rescue,” Damon says. “She really needed me.”
“He likes to exaggerate his involvement,” I say with a laugh. “But yes. It’s a long story, all that’s happened recently.”
“I’d love to hear it,” August replies in that smooth Penmayne way I’ve come to familiarize with all the brothers. “In detail, please.”
“So Damon didn’t give you the full run-down of what’s happened?” I ask. “The knife wound? Everything that’s happened?”
Damon growls. August shakes his head.
“We’ve heard nothing,” he says. “Knife wound? The only thing we know is that he’s been out of contact forweeks.”
“I hope Damon can talk to you about it,” I say.
“I certainly hope he will,” Damon’s brother replies.
“Waylen was just saying that Damon hasn’t said a word about me,” I say. “So, Damon doesn’t tell you guys a thing, then? Nothing?”
“Nope. Never. His lips have been firmly shut since being a teenager,” August says, speaking like his brother isn’t standing in front of him. “The man likes to pretend to be an enigma. We would love to hear him say his own story,though. For once. We hate having to hear it through Father’s spies...”
“That’s enough, August,” Damon says.
August raises his hands in mock surrender. “Sure. Sure.”
And then a woman appears. She approaches us with a graceful and dignified swoop across the floor like she’s floating on air. Without even needing an introduction, I can already tell that she’s the matriarch of the Penmayne family.
My heart skips a beat.
Here we really fucking go...
And, as if to confirm my suspicions, both Damon and August turn to the woman reverently.
And, inside, I am freaking out.
“Mother,” Damon utters to the approaching woman, almost bowing.
Ha. Never seen him do that before.
The two brothers give their mum an air kiss on both cheeks.
It’s all so very...European.
So very refined.
It’s kind of terrifying for a small-town American cheerleader like me with none of that cultural finesse. I don’t know how to act. I feel so very uncivilized.
“Hello, boys,” Mother Penmayne purrs. Like her husband, her voice is dripping with wealth.
She is a woman who takes her time with everything she does. She is a woman who expects the world to bend around her and her will.
And it clearly does.
