Page 70 of Pen Me

Henny knew?

For years he knew I fucked his baby momma; that I lived with her and his daughter as a family while he was in prison and my niece too young to recall?

How long had my brother been looking at me as the world’s biggest traitor? How the fuck had he not killed me?

Chapter Thirty-Four

The Truth at Last

Sammy

Menace went into a frenzy after Octavia left. I knew he didn’t like her being dishonest with Rumi, but I didn’t know how to defuse him. He got rid of sticker bushes around the edge of the property, finished splitting a log someone had left near the wood pile, and just would not sit still in general.

Sometime around noon, he came back in and disappeared into the bathroom. I heard the shower turn on and the curtain zip across the rod. He hadn’t even said two words to me when he walked through the kitchen. I wanted to join him, but that felt too confrontational. I gave him his space and his shower and poked around the cabinets until I found some soup in a can. I heated it in the microwave and made us some cheese sandwiches to dunk in it.

His brow had less tension when he stepped out, and he paused, looking at the table I had set for us.

“Thanks,” he murmured, wandering over.

“You’re welcome. I didn’t hear much from you, I figured you were working, might be hungry.”

He stared at me, not touching his food.

I knew I hadn’t done anything to upset him, so I chalked it up to the trauma, and tried to spoon a bit of soup in a normal fashion.

“How much of that did you hear?”

I finished blowing on my soup and popped it in my mouth, before casting a glance his way, and mumbling, “Hm?”

I picked up the sandwich, and his hand blanketed mine, preventing its path to my mouth.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t hear anything but you thumping on that damn timber and cussing while you were plucking sticker bushes and weeds away.” I laughed at his dramatics.

He let go of my hand, but now I was curious. “What was I not supposed to hear?”

My brain rapidly fired through the events of the day before I quizzically narrowed my gaze on him, “Did something happen upstairs?”

He groaned and shifted in his seat.

“When Rumi was a baby— I thought Henny didn’t know. It doesn’t matter. I just didn’t want you hearing pieces and– Never mind.”

He focused on his soup while I stared at him.

“You and Octavia–” I couldn’t keep the disbelief from my tone.

It made sense, Auggie had arrived while he was upstairs. She gave me the stink face after Rumi explained who I was and promptly took the girl to her car rather than waiting inside for Octavia to finish readying herself.

The animosity she had for Menace meant it must have been a juicy story.

“That why Auggie hates you?”

He bleated with unchecked laughter, “No. Auggie hates me because I grabbed her ass and came onto her the first time we met.”

“Guess she wasn’t charmed.” I flashed a tight, unamused smile.

“No. She wasn’t. She wasn’t charmed, and I couldn’t read the signs with a bucket of glasses back then. Auggie don’t fuck men.”

I raised my brows, not overly surprised by that either. Auggie was broad shouldered for a lady and stood like she was holding down a block. She’d worn baggy camo pants and a hoodie, so I really didn’t get much look at her shape otherwise.

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