Page 53 of Twisted Kings

Thea shuffled on the spot. “Thank you,” she breathed, as Dario picked up his espresso. “Those gifts meant a lot to her.”

“I’m glad.” He nodded and then left the kitchen. Thea watched him go with a conflicted expression on her face, her usual mask of indifference nowhere to be seen. Had the wall between them finally cracked?

I hoped so. Dario had behaved abysmally, but he’d also played a crucial part in Thea’s rescue. Without his intel, I doubted we’d all be here, in this house, together.

Personally speaking, I didn’t mind his presence. Now he’d stopped throwing shit at Thea all the time, he seemed like a decent enough guy. And he was definitely good for Verity.

Thea seemed lost when my attention moved back to her. I wondered if maybe I ought to offer her some sort of comfort. Would she expect a hug? The idea of hugging her was less scary than I expected. It might even feel nice.

I’d become accustomed to hugging her at night, in her bed. Mostly she was asleep, but if she woke, she never seemed to mind. I liked holding her, feeling her body touch mine, her soft curves against my more angular planes.

“Quit staring at me, Milo,” she muttered.

“I wasn’t staring.”Was I?

“Yeah, you were.”Oh.

“Is he being creepy again?” Landon quipped from the doorway. “Say the word and I’ll remove him from your presence, wifey.”

Thea pursed her lips. “I’m your wifey again, am I? I thought I’d been downgraded to slut after destroying your family name.”

“Well it’s fair to say Dad isn’t a fan, but since he’s disinherited me, what he thinks has no bearing anymore.”

“What the fuck, Lan?” I choked. How did I not know this?

“You’re joking, right?” Thea looked shocked. Landon’s revelation explained why he’d been in such a foul mood since we left Scotland. No wonder he hadn’t stopped moping around. My parents barely noticed I existed most of the time, but they’d never threatened to cut me off financially. Not even after the Haley incident.

“Nope. Not joking. I’m officially no longer a Rothmore, heir to the most prestigious whiskey distillery in Scotland.” He threw us a crooked smile, which faded almost immediately.

“Shit, that’s awful.”

“It’s not great, but I’ll survive. I have marketable talents.”

I finished slicing the carrots and pushed them to one side. “You do have some marketable talents,” I agreed.

“Exactly. Content creation is where it’s at. I’m going to try my hand at becoming an influencer.”

“Yes, that might work, although attractive females tend to do much better.” I pulled some leeks from the string bag on the kitchen island. Leeks pan-fried in butter with bacon would work well with my Irish stew. “There’s always OnlyFans. You could make decent money on there, particularly if you branch out into couples’ content or niche stuff.”

“He’s not doing OnlyFans!” Thea snapped.

Landon beamed. “Does the idea of me making raunchy videos for thirsty women upset you, baby?”

She huffed with annoyance and then backtracked. “No, not at all.” But from the way she refused to look at Lan, it was obviously a lie. “It’s none of my business what you do with your…dick.”

I watched with fascination as her gaze dipped down, lingering on Lan’s crotch, nicely showcased in a pair of tight jeans. Despite doing a fine job of pushing him away since we arrived, it was pretty fucking obvious she was still hot for him.

“Like what you see, pretty girl?” he cooed while pushing her against the counter.

“Nope,” she hissed, biting her lip.

The heat sizzling between them burned hot enough to raze the house to the ground. I hoped Declan had the place insured.

Leeks lay half-sliced in a pile in front of me, but I no longer gave a shit about food prep.

“Liar, liar, I bet your pretty little panties are on fire, wifey,” Lan taunted.

“I’m not your wifey, fuckface!” She glared up at him, but my friend just grinned. I hoped they decided to make couples’ content for OnlyFans. If they did, I’d be their number one subscriber. My dick was hard just soaking up the sexual tension between them. Cooking had slipped down my to-do list.

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