Page 45 of Salvatore

I sometimes forget what Aedry does for a living, and this is one of those moments. Her stare softens so I know she’s listening and picking up on more than I’m telling her. “Why?”

Both my brothers have talked to her about our past. She knows a lot. But right then, she wants to hear it from me. Maybe I should keep my yap shut. It’s something I’m good at. But I don’t. Not this time.

“He ran around on her, made her cry, and then beat us to get back at her for rejecting him. But in his own sick way, he was committed to her and promised to love her forever.”

What I’m saying should have her running out of here. Instead, she moves her hands from where they’re clasped between her breasts and skims them over my chest. “How could he claim to love her when he’d leave her to be with other women?”

She’s not judging me. Her careful tone tells me she’s trying to understand the old man. I do my best to explain, although I’ve never understood him myself. At least not in a way that made sense or excused what he put us through. “In his mind, he remained faithful by loving only her. Those other women meant nothing, or so he’d tell her.”

“I see,” she says quietly.

“When she filed for divorce and left with me and my brothers, it made him do a one-eighty, or so we thought. He started courting her, or whatever that shit is called, and for a while we thought maybe he was changing. He’d take us out as a family and started acting like a real father. But he kept cheating. Ma found out and went through with the divorce.”

I quiet, remembering that time, but mostly realizing I’ve just spilled more about my father than I’ve ever told anyone. The old man and I weren’t close. We couldn’t be with the way he treated my mother. Except some things he taught me, I’ve hung onto, and keeping quiet about shit that goes on in your house is one of them. Family secrets. That’s what he called them. Is it a wonder I’m so tight-lipped and a good liar?

Aedry, being who she is, doesn’t let me stay quiet for long. She lures me back to those demons in a way no else would dare to. “What was he like, following the divorce?”

It surprises me how easily I answer. “Pathetic,” I tell her truthfully. “He’d show up, crying and begging her to come back to him. But it wasn’t until Ma started dating years later that something in him switched. My father, he couldn’t handle it. He . . .”

I can’t tell her he said he’d kill anyone he saw her with, or how no one else could have her. That shit’s too fucked up. What I do is allow her embrace, folding forward so she can link her arms around my neck.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers.

She told me not to kiss her, but when I turn to take in her face, that’s exactly what I do. My tongue sweeps over hers, going deep. She moans, but then quickly pulls away. I don’t let her get far, holding tightly to her hips.

“I don’t want to stop kiss kissing you,” I rasp.

She turns away, glancing toward the door. “I don’t want to stop either.”

I tilt her chin so she’ll look at me. “Then let’s not stop.”

I attack her mouth. She doesn’t fight me, pressing her body tight against mine.

“Oh, shit,” Apollo says, causing Aedry to jump and break our kiss.

“What the hell?” I say, keeping my hold on her.

“My peas melted,” he says tossing the bag into the sink. “I didn’t know I was going to walk in on this shit,” he adds, laughing.

Aedry waits until she hears his door shut before lifting her bright pink face. When I try to kiss her, she presses a hand against my chest, keeping me in place. “I’m sorry, but it’s hard to kiss you?”

“Didn’t seem that way just now.”

Her mouth twists. “I mean, knowing you already kissed another woman today.”

“I didn’t kiss her. She only spent the night?”

She holds her hand up. “I’m going to stop you right there, big guy.”

“She stayed in my bed, but I didn’t stay with her. I slept on the couch.”

It’s the truth, but she still seems hurt.

My lips brush over her forehead as I speak softly. “Look, Aedry. I don’t know what’s up with you and me. Like I said, dating women isn’t something I do. But I want to do it with you or at least try.”

“I want to try, too,” she admits.

I don’t say anything more. I’ve already said too much. But maybe it’s enough.

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