Page 34 of Ruin
“And what might you have been talking about?”
She shrugs. “About how Lily is ready to make some changes.”
Lily shifts uncomfortably beside her, and I wonder how she managed to talk to Annika about anything with how much she’s struggling to look at me right now.
“I see. What kind of changes?” I lean back against the bench and cross my arms.
Lily tracks the movement with her gaze, before snapping her eyes upwards to mine and quickly looking away again.
“Lily would like to start dancing again. I told her we’d help her find a class nearby, and she’s going to use the room off the gym with all the mirrors. And she’d like to resume her studies.”
Raising a brow, I run my thumb along my lower lip while I take this information in. It certainly wasn’t how I expected the conversation to go with how Annika was grinning like the Cheshire Cat when she walked in.
“We can definitely make those things happen,” I say with a nod, feeling some of the tension in my shoulders loosen.
Annika nods, and for a fraction of a second, I think maybe last night’s problems are behind us.
But then the giant pain in the arse turns her wicked grin on me and I know I’m not going to like the next thing that comes out of her mouth.
“Oh, and she’d also like to discover what she enjoys sexually.”
Yep, I knew it was too much to hope that this would not be painfully uncomfortable.
I glower at Annika for a moment, but eventually I have tolook at Lily. I’d expected to find her hiding behind her hair once again. Or turning bright red with embarrassment.
What I certainly hadn’t expected was to find her standing there with her arms crossed and her eyes blazing with determination while she waits for me to speak.
I hesitate before replying, looking from one woman to the other. “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say here,” I say after a moment.
Annika smirks, enjoying all of this far too much.
“Well, given Lily and I discussed what she saw last night, I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to help her with that, too.”
Needing a moment to compose myself, I lift the glass to my lips again and drain the last of the whiskey. There isn’t enough alcohol in this entire mansion right now to help me deal with this turn of events.
The two women remain silent, one grinning away while the other looks between the two of us, no doubt trying to work out what the hell is going on.
“And why do you think that, Annika? Surely you have the skills to help Lily.”
She shrugs. “Oh, I plan to help, too. I’ve already procured her very first vibrator from the new shipment that came in earlier.” She holds up the box for one of the clit sucking vibrators that both she and Imogen favour, before tossing it onto the couch. “But you and I both know that you are the best choice when it comes to assisting people with exploring their limits.”
I pause, slowly lifting my brow once again. “Just how much detail did you go into during this conversation?” I ask, anger simmering within me.
Annika keeps on smiling. “Well, Lily had questions. And given that honesty is the best policy…” she trails off, but I can put two and two together.
Fucking hell, she’s told her everything.
Lily clears her throat. “I think it’s my turn to speak.”
Fabulous.
“By all means,” I say, my exasperation showing in my tone. “The floor’s all yours, Lily.” I wave my hand through the space between us all.
She looks at Annika. “I can take it from here.”
Annika cocks her head to the side, studying Lily for a few moments. “You sure?”
Lily nods. “Yeah. It’s okay. I don’t need a chaperone while I speak to Sebastian.”
