Damien (Slater Brothers #5)(87)

I narrowed my eyes a little before I looked forward.

“What was that look for?”

“Damien and Aideen looked away when they told me you were runnin’ errands, and I wanted to see if you’d do the same.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to see if you were going to lie to me like they did.”

I felt Kane’s eyes drill a hole into the side of my face.

“What do you think they lied to you about?”

“I’ve no clue, and I’m not gonna press the issue because what you do is none of me business.”

Silence.

“I’ll tell you if you want to know.”

“It’s okay,” I said with a shake of my head. “I’m not supposed to know; Damien and Aideen wouldn’t have lied to me otherwise.”

“You aren’t starting off your relationship with my brother with a stupid lie lingering in the back of your mind. My lie.”

“Me relationship with your brother is with him,” I said, feeling a little irritated. “As I said, what you do isn’t me business. Forget I said anythin’.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Suit yourself.”

More silence.

“None of the girls have ever been this closed off with me.”

I swallowed. “None of the other girls were interrogated by you when they were just shy of eighteen and had no backbone.”

I didn’t mention that I still didn’t have much of a backbone, but Kane didn’t need to know that I was sweating having this confrontation with him.

“No backbone, my ass,” he quipped. “You put me in my place and don’t think I’ve forgotten it, because I haven’t.”

I didn’t know what to say, so I remained mute.

“You’re good for my brother, and you’re as good an addition to our family as when you were eighteen,” Kane said after a long pause. “I’m not social, I know that, but please don’t think that because I’m reserved it means that I don’t care about you.”

I felt my lips part with shock.

“I’m not sure what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Kane said. “This is the most we’ve talked since that first conversation, and I feel like I’ve overwhelmed you because this space is starting to close in on me for sure.”

I surprised us both when I chuckled.

“Your apartment will close in on you when you speak to Aideen.”

“And why is that?”

“Because when she laughed at me when Alec was chasin’ me, I told ’er I was never babysittin’ again.”

Kane appeared to almost choke on air as the elevator stopped on my floor. The doors opened, and I stepped out into the corridor and turned to face Kane.

“Now, Alannah. Wait just a second,” he began. “You don’t need to make any rash decisions when you’re—”

The doors of the elevator closed before Kane could finish, and I heard his ‘fuck’ being shouted as the elevator brought him up to his floor, and it made me laugh. With a little spring in my step, I turned and walked down the corridor and into my apartment.

“I’m back.”

The next hour and a half consisted of finishing dinner, then eating it. After we were full and content, Damien and I sat on the settee in my sitting room and turned on a film on Netflix. I leaned against him and sighed.

“I love this.”

“Love what?”

“Just bein’ ’ere with you.”

Damien kissed the crown of my head. “Me too, freckles.”

I leaned my head back on his shoulder and said, “I wanna learn you.”

“You want to learn me?” he repeated. “Is this a language barrier thing because of your accent, or did you purposely mean to word it that way?”

I chuckled. “I meant to word it that way.”

“You want to learn me?”

I nodded. “I wanna learn what makes you, you.”

“That’s cute, but I have no idea what you mean.”

I snuggled against his side.

“Does it not bother you that we have this whole history together, but we don’t really know each other?”

“We do know each other,” Damien lightly protested. “I know every curve of your face and body, your every laugh, and how much you love tea.”

I playfully rolled my eyes.

“That’s lovely, but I want to know the deep stuff.”

Damien stilled, and the slight tension that filled his body was enough to make me take notice.

“What do you want to know?”

“Everythin’,” I answered. “I don’t know anythin’ about your past or your family outside of your brothers. I don’t know about your homeland because you guys never talk about it.”

Damien was silent.

“I mean, seriously, none of you ever talk about your life before Ireland, and it’s all sort of been in the back of me head. Ireland is a part of who I am; you see and hear me country when you talk to me, but apart from an accent, I don’t get America from you, and I think that’s sad.”

Damien cleared his throat.

“There’s nothing to tell, really. The five of us grew up in upstate New York, nowhere near the city. We lived in a small community where everyone knew everyone else’s business. My parents died when I was fifteen in a car accident—”