Page 30 of Dragonfly

I try to explain anyway. “You heard Vin and I talking about the woman who gave him a ride the other day?” When she doesn’t deny it, I’m not surprised. I’ve learned that anything discussed in the manor is overheard by my sister, whether I want it to be or not. “That’s her.”

“Wait.” She blinks, and the sadness turns to disbelief in a heartbeat. “Her? That’s the woman who’s been following you? Didn’t you only just learn her name?”

“Yes.”

“And now she’s your wife? Without, like, dating her first?”

I nod. “That is accurate.”

Genevieve bites down on her bottom lip, a slight furrow to her brow. She opens her mouth, probably to call me out on my bullshit, when she suddenly pauses for a moment. Lifting her hand, she points at my side.

“Damien. What’s that?”

Fuck. I ran after Genevieve to make sure she was alright, but the only thing I stopped to do was pull up my pants. I’d left my bloody shirt and my suit jacket on one of my chairs. I didn’t bother grabbing either, and I completely forgot about the bandage on my side.

“It’s nothing,” I begin, but when Gen reaches for the bandage, I step away before she can see the extent of the two-inch slice and all of my stitches. Instead, I try to soothe her curiosity by saying, “Just a little cut.”

I don’t mean to coddle her, and I know how much it pisses her off, but I like to protect my sister from the violence in the life—and that very rarely works because, like other Libellulas, she is very perceptive.

A glance at the gauze, a glance at the door, a glance at the stiletto in my holster that I would normally remove before I was being intimate with a date…

She’s perceptive, and she’s smart, and she guesses it in one.

“She stabbed you?” Genevieve squeals.

I don’t even have a chance to come up with an alternate explanation to my knife wound before she’s marching in front of me, hands perched on her hips.

“What did you do to her?”

TEN

FAMILY

DAMIEN

“Me?”

“Of course,” Gen snaps. “Don’t you play innocent with me, Damien. I know what kind of man you are, even if you’d rather pretend I didn’t. If that woman stabbed you, I’m pretty sure you deserved it.” She gasps, her fingers covering her mouth. “And then not only did you marry her, but you…” Dropping her hands again, they go right back to her hips as she glares up at me. “Do you want her to smother you in your sleep?”

Genevieve’s thoughts always go a mile a minute. Normally, I find that charming. But, normally, she didn’t burst in on me as my new wife was sucking my cock. I love my sister, but if I hadn’t stuck around to finish in Savannah’s mouth, I don’t think I’d have the patience for this conversation.

“She won’t?—”

“You forced her to suck your dick!”

I did not. Not… necessarily. “I assure you, she went to her knees willingly.”

“Oh?” Stepping away from me, holding out her arms as if she’s pretending she’s as muscular as I am instead of a dainty slip of a ballerina, she plants her feet on the hallway tile. Then she thrusts out her pelvis, and in a voice that’s a mockery of mine, says, “I’m Damien Libellula. All powerful head of the East End. You’ll never suck a more magnificent dick than mine. You should be grateful for the privilege, woman.”

I cast my eyes toward the ceiling. Instead of denying that her imitation might have… a little merit, I ask God, “Where is my sweet baby sister?”

Genevieve straightens up, moving closer so she can slap me in my bicep. “She’s right here, wondering when my big brother became such a perv!”

“Excuse me?”

“What? Look, I didn’t expect you to be a virgin at your big age. I know about your ‘late nights’. Your dates. I want you to find someone to make you happy—but I’m not so sure this is the way to do it. You said she tried to kill you, right? How do you know she won’t try again? Remember? Pillow-smothering? Even pervs don’t deserve to be murdered in their sleep.” Gen pauses, then taps her chin as if she’s reconsidering her point. “Except pedos. Fuck them. They can die. But your wife… she’s not a minor, is she?”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. I cannot believe I’m having this conversation with Genevieve right now, and I finally understand why Savannah might have been a little ashamed to be caught in such a compromising position when Gen goes on to add, “With her face full of dick, I couldn’t get that great of look at her.”

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