Page 98 of Finding Lord Landry

“Why? Why didn’t you say something? Call the guy out? Burn his career to the ground!”

My little hellcat was practically vibrating with the urge to Wolverine his way through an Italian fashion house, and honestly, the sight couldn’t have made me happier.

I took his hand in mine and caressed it soothingly. “Because I didn’t deserve the hit to my reputation.”

“You were arrested for public intoxication and assault, Landry!”

I sighed. “Yeah, well.”

“Landry.”

I cut him off with a firm kiss before pulling back. “I love you. They couldn’t prove the intoxication, and the assault was pled down to disorderly conduct and probation. Remember?”

“Of course I remember! I thought you’d been in a fucking drunken fistfight with a colleague! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me the truth.”

I couldn’t keep my hands off him. With my fingers back in his hair, I murmured, “And what would you have done if you’d known? How would you have kept it quiet?”

This time, he was the one ticking things off with his fingers. “Homicide, for one. Kidnapping, for another. Bribery. And the most scathing and stealthy whisper campaign you can ever imagine. Which, by the way, has no statute of limitations, so I will be starting on my—mpfh!”

I tackled him onto the sheets and proceeded to distract him…thoroughly.

I sucked his cock until his threats turned to babbling nonsense, then flipped him over and ate his ass with my hand wrapped tight around his cock. As soon as his release hit, I moved behind him and jacked myself until hot spunk hit the crease of his ass and lower back.

We fell asleep empty and spent, and I woke up a short time later with a raging hangover—too much alcohol, not nearly enough water. I rolled out of bed in search of Kenji’s fancy water, only to find the bottle empty and Kenji gone.

I threw on a bathrobe and made my way downstairs. As I approached the kitchen, I heard Kenji’s voice.

“I heard she was a beautiful woman.”

“She was,” Dad said, “but so is my Nan, you know. Just don’t bring a lobster near the girl.”

Kenji sounded surprised. “Near Nan? I think you mean Landry.He’sthe one who doesn’t like lobsters. Thinks they have nefarious intentions.”

I grinned and stepped closer without entering the room. Was eavesdropping rude as hell? Yep. Was I going to do it anyway? Hundred percent.

Dad chuckled. “How do you think he acquired the shellfish bigotry, son? When he was little, we were in Padstow for a meeting at Prideaux Place. The lobster hatchery’s nearby, so Nan took him over as a bit of a day jaunt while I was tied up in my meeting.”

He continued to tell the story with impressive clarity… until he got to the punchline. “And wouldn’t you know, Olivia ended up with several lobsters attached to her dress, all to keep the poor boy from going for a swim in the tanks!”

I saw the flicker of confusion on Kenji’s face, saw him wonder if my mother had actually been there that day—she hadn’t—or if my father had gotten confused, but he rolled with it.

“If she saved him, why did he end up with a lobster phobia?” he asked gently.

“Oh, Liv only kept him from a solid dunking. The boy still fell partway in and was covered neck to knees in baby lobsters. If only someone had captured it with a cell phone camera. But this was before everyone had one of those things, you know.”

I decided to rescue them both. “And thank goodness for that,” I said, strolling into the kitchen as if I’d just walked up. I caught Kenji’s eye and winked. “Nan never wore that dress again, and shedefinitelydidn’t appreciate the donation we made to the hatchery in her honor that Christmas.”

Dad laughed. “Too right, son. Speaking of lobsters, you should tell Kenji about your phobia.” He turned back to Kenji. “We were in Padstow once. That’s in Cornwall. Lovely area. I believe I had a meeting at Prideaux Place. Can’t remember what it was about, but it wasn’t something a boy of ten would have much interest in. So Nan decided to take Landry…”

Dad launched into the story again. I moved over to the refrigerator to find something cold to drink while Kenji listened, patient as ever.

“Babylobsters?” Kenji laughed as if hearing it for the first time. “How did they end up traumatized if the lobsters were just babies?”

Dad chuckled, and for a moment, they shared a genuine laugh. I considered changing the subject to break him out of this memory loop but didn’t have the heart. There was no harm in leaving it be if he was happy.

Movement in the hallway caught my eye, and I saw Nan rushing toward us in her bathrobe, a worried look on her face. She stopped short when she saw them laughing, pressing her hand on her chest and closing her eyes in relief.

When the puzzle pieces finally snapped together, I felt like the most oblivious human on the planet.

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