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What more could I possibly offer her beyond good sex and material comfort? I’m hollow. Most of me has been dead for years.
“Hi, Athanasios,” Madison greets me. “Are you staying for dinner? Zeus is arriving with his brothers soon.”
I look at the woman standing with her back to me. Brooklyn seems to be in the clouds now that her kids are around.
She’s happy. She’s not the kind of woman I usually get involved with—someone who knows the rules of the game of seduction.
“No. I need to go,” I say.
Brooklyn turns around, and I notice how confused she looks. For the first time, I’m the one who looks away.
Silas comes closer and tugs at my pants. I ruffle his hair, then run the back of my hand across Soraya’s cheek before stepping away to grab their mother’s luggage from my trunk. After that, I say my goodbyes. “Good night, everyone.”
“Wait,” Brooklyn calls out just as I start down the stairs. “Why are you leaving?”
“I’ll leave you to enjoy your family.”
She looks like she wants to say something, but at the last minute, her posture stiffens. “Good night,” she says, and then she turns her back on me.
I walk away without looking back.
Anyway, today is my night to have dinner with my partners, so after confirming via text, I head to the restaurant we usually go to.
Fifty minutes later, I down my first glass of whiskey—my favorite, from Duke Rodrick MacQuoid’s distillery.
“Rough day?” L.J. asks, sitting across from me.
“Brooklyn was discharged.”
“I heard. Isn’t that reason to celebrate?” William asks.
“I took her home. I saw her with her family.”
“And?”
“She wants love. I could see that when she reunited with her relatives. I don’t have what she needs.”
“You’re insecure about a woman?” William teases.
“No. I’m trying to put her needs ahead of mine. I’m sure I’ll find other candidates.”
“Holy shit! She really got to you.”
“She’s beautiful, and we have chemistry. It’s happened before. It’s nothing new,” I say simply, even though I know I’m lying to myself.
Neither of them says anything, and it irritates me.
“What are you two thinking?” I ask.
“Maybe you should take the time to build something with her, Athanasios,” LJ says.
“Why would I?”
“Brooklyn has managed what no other woman ever has: she’s taken priority in your life over yourself.”
Brooklyn
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN