Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79244 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79244 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Damen, however, pulls me close and weaves his fingers into the hair at the back of my head. “I happen to like him exactly as he is, so his things aren’t going anywhere, not even a single stud. And if you try to sabotage our luggage, you can say goodbye to your wardrobe of designer dresses.”
I pick up the bottle of whisky, because this conversation calls for something stronger than wine.
Titus’s eyes bulge in a way I find a little concerning. “Did you just threaten our mother?” he yells.
Juliana shakes her head with a deep, long-suffering inhale. “It’s fine, Titus, of course Damen would think the worst of me…”
The buzz of alcohol is helping me find my voice. “I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it. He just knows I express myself a lot with my clothes—”
The dad raises his arms in the air. “Oh look! It speaks. I didn’t even get an introduction.”
Oh now he’s just pissing me off. He might be some big shot mafioso, but Damen’s proximity gives me (probably unreasonable) confidence. “It’s Killian,” I say and take a big a gulp of whisky. I don’t know what point I’m trying to make with this display, but the expensive booze I didn’t have to pay for tastes fucking good.
“Well, Killian, I’m Karl, Damen’s father and the owner of this fine home, so please, enjoy the drinks, help yourself to the food while your very presence insults me. But since I don’t have a say in the matter and you’re staying, please, do give me your breakfast order too. Gluten-free? Vegan? We will make something especially for you.”
Why do I sense a sinister undertone buried under the open hostility?
I’m frozen in indecision, but Damen comes to my aid and presses a kiss to my cheekbone. “Sounds perfect. My husband and I share everything, even the meals we eat.”
Is that passive-aggressive speak for don’t poison my husband?
No? Yes?
I refill my glass and taste the impossibly smooth whisky.
If I end up dying, it might have been worth it. Maybe.
Juliana gives a shrill laugh. “Maybe it’s just a matter of us still being unfamiliar. Killian, would you like to join Bree and me for some morning yoga before breakfast?”
Titus huffs. “My wife won’t—”
He falls silent when the statuesque presence at his side wipes her lips with a napkin and glances at her mother-in-law. “The yoga class is a female-only space.”
“Oh, but he’s like one of the girls. Yaas?” Juliana asks, focusing on me as she makes that embarrassing attempt at relating to me as a gay man.
While I do appreciate that she’s on my side… what the fuck?
“I am definitely not ‘one of the girls’.” And I’m not even very bendy, so I’m not about to humiliate myself in front of Bree who looks like a yoga goddess. I bet she runs that class.
Uncle Roger chuckles. “The makeup would have fooled me.”
Damen sighs. “Weren’t you in your twenties when the hottest singers all looked like him?”
Roger gets flustered and grumbles. “Oh, well, times have changed.”
“Exactly. Times have changed, and you can’t go around spewing homophobic shit pretending it’s just jokes.”
I smirk and have an even bigger sip from my glass than before. It’s new to me that I don’t have to fight every single one of my battles myself until I’m bruised and battered. I stroke Damen’s thigh in appreciation under the table. Is it just me, or did he lean closer?
It feels so good to be appreciated.
Karl swirls wine in his glass, eyes like two shards of ice. “I don’t think you have any right to chastise your uncle, Damen, when you hid your sexuality from all of us and only choose to come out with it now. You knew very well Roger invited Samantha here, because we all approve of her and her family. This situation is not only embarrassing, but a waste of her precious time. You always have to create drama!”
Like he’s not the one yelling and stirring the pot.
Juliana shrugs as if her sole job is to oppose her own husband. “Oh, Karl. Lighten up. If the marriage does come to an end for some reason, at least there will be no children to worry about.”
Bree smirks and for the first time looks straight into my eyes. “Unless of course there’s something else we don’t know about.”
The insinuation comes out of nowhere, and what upsets me most is that she’s clearly trying to insult me with something that’s not an insult. I lose my cool.
“What? Are you asking whether I have a vagina? Because me being trans would have been so awful?” I spread my arms so fast I spill some of my drink. “Guess you’ll just never know. Maybe I do. Maybe I’ll pop out babies every year.”
Samantha chuckles with her eyes pinned to the piece of cake on her plate. “Sounds perfect. You wouldn’t even need a surrogate.”