Page 95 of River
CHAPTER 25
Celibacy
Noah
I met River in Dublin on Friday night. She brought me on a stroll through the city and showed me where she’d taken dance lessons as a child. She also pointed out where Lumi lived with her husband Damian and where Nathan used to live before he and Serena got married. Maximum had taken over Nathan’s apartment now, but with the lights out, we guessed he wasn’t home.
“He’s probably out with his friends,” River said as we walked past the building, hand in hand.
We ate in a traditional Irish restaurant, and I was beginning to notice how many people stared at River. Back in Bali, men had certainly checked her out when we walked around town, but here in Dublin, it was both genders.
“Is this normal for you?”
“What do you mean?”
“The way people recognize you.”
“It’s not so bad.”
“I’ve seen at least ten people stare at you.”
“They’ve probably seen me in magazines or on Instagram or YouTube. I’m used to it. A few years ago, it was a lot worse than it is now. Back when that whole scandal with Storm, Serena, and Nathan was in every newspaper.”
“You went to their wedding this summer. I saw pictures of you,” I said without mentioning how I’d felt heartsick from seeing River in a long elegant dress that showed off every gorgeous curve of her body.
“You saw that?”
“Yes, even in Norway, their wedding made headlines.”
“Hmm.” She shrugged.
I tried to hold back my next question, but it was burning on my tongue. “There were a lot of famous men with thick wallets at that wedding. Did you hook up with any of them?”
River poked her fork into a potato on her plate and looked thoughtful. “This is going to sound strange to you, but many of those A-listers looked too polished to me. Do you know Brendan Greenwell?”
“Of course. I love his movies.”
“He was there, and we danced. At one point, he made suggestions that I didn’t appreciate, so I wanted to break off the dance, but he held on to me. It was the most surreal thing when Nathan, Maximum, and Atlas all came to my rescue like we were back in the Victorian era where a woman’s reputation could be destroyed by a single scoundrel.” River tilted her head with an amused smile. “You should have seen the way my brothers pumped themselves up and asked him to walk away.”
“And did he? Walk away, I mean.”
“Yes, and Maximum stayed to talk to me for a while after. They’re very protective of me.”
“They should be. You’ve been through a lot.”
“Anyway, the thing about Brendan is that it was a mistake for me to dance with him in the first place. I have this sensor about men, and I always avoid the ones with a strong sexual energy. Everyone knows Brendan is a player, and men like that make me nervous.”
“What about me? Are you saying the reason you and I got together in Bali was because I didn’t have a strong sexual energy?”
“No, on the contrary. When I met you in the bazaar, I felt it straight away. That was one of the reasons I let you believe I was with Maximum.”
“And because of my poor clothing style.” I winked because it was something we had laughed about several times in Bali.
“You’re unique. I still don’t know what made me take a chance on you when you had such an obvious sexual interest in me. Especially given your ancestors’ reputation for raping and plundering.”
“Oh, come on, that was a thousand years ago.”
“I guess I trusted my instincts that you were a man of honor.”
