Page 37 of Lumi

Lumi kept her eyes closed and breathed, “Do you?”

I leaned my forehead against her hair. “No! I’ve thought about that night a thousand times. I feel guilty, but Ineverregretted it.”

Her hand squeezed mine, and she let me intertwine our fingers. I couldn’t stand the thought that Logan was somewhere wanking to the thought of Lumi. She was too sophisticated and precious for any man to reduce her to a sex symbol. And yet, if I was honest, she’d been in my sexual fantasies too many times to count.

I closed my eyes and indulged in the scent of her perfume while letting my mind take me back to the night I made love to Lumi.

Damian’s Thirtieth Birthday Party –

Nine Years Ago

“Why don’t ye just fecking admit that ye’re in love with her?”

“Because I’m not. Lumi is my friend, and I don’t need ye to make a scene.”

Siobhan stared at me with her hands planted on her hips. “Oh, so I’m the one makin’ a scene, am I? What about the holy show ye made of yerself two hours ago? Pushin’ Logan around like a jealous boyfriend, and then four men havin’ to pull ye two apart after she left.”

“Why the hell are we fightin’ about this? I already said that I’m sorry, but when it comes to the Robertson children, I’ll always be protective.”

“Liar.” Siobhan’s face was twisted with anger as she stabbed her finger through the air. “There’s the Robertson children, and then there’s Lumi. We can all see the way ye two look at each other.”

I pushed her finger away. “You’re as crazy as Megan was.”

Siobhan had a fierce temperament — she attacked me. Her brown hair was flying around her face as she hit my arms and shoulders like a four-year-old throwing a tantrum.

“Stop it.” I grabbed her hands to protect myself.

Siobhan was drunk and crying while screaming profanities at me.

“Calm down,” I roared back, but that only enraged her further.

“I’m gonna let ye go, but ye need to relax.”

The moment I released Siobhan, she reached for a plate and threw it at the wall. It splintered, and the loud noise made me fear that neighbors might make a report of possible domestic violence.

“I’m done feelin’ second toher.”

“Ye’re not.”

Siobhan’s face was red with tears springing from her eyes. “I’m thirty-two, Damian. I want to marry and start a family. I don’t want to feel like any day now, Lumi is goin’ to take ye away from me.”

“That would never happen. She’s twenty-years-old, for Christ’s sake.”

Siobhan hissed back, “She won’t stay twenty forever.”

I rolled my eyes. “This is a stupid argument. I told ye from the beginnin’ that Lumi is special to me.”

“Aye, ye said that ye share a bond with her and that Megan didn’t understand, but I don’t buy that shite anymore. Megan felt what I’m feelin’. Yer heart belongs to that girl.”

“Siobhan.” I walked after her when she picked up her things and threw them in a bag with abrupt movements.

“Don’t leave. How about we sleep on it and talk tomorrow?”

“There’s no need. We’re done!” She slammed the door hard enough to make the mirror on the wall shake.

I stared straight ahead without seeing anything, my brain too overwhelmed with the fight I’d been in with Logan after Lumi left, and now Siobhan’s breaking up with me.

Taking a few steps back, I plunked down on my couch and ran my hands through my hair.