Page 75 of Lumi

“Damian!” Lumi chided me.

“Don’t ‘Damian’ me. Tell me the truth, wasn’t the sex better with me?”

“I’m not answering that question.”

“I’ll prove it to ye, right now.”

Lumi wrinkled her forehead. “What are you on about?”

Stepping close to her, I bent down and cupped her pretty face. I was just about to kiss her when she pushed me back and gaped at me.

“Damian, what are you doing?”

“I’m serious,” I insisted and stroked her arm, but she brushed me off.

“You come here to warn me against marrying Spencer, but it feels as if all you’re doing right now is projecting your marriage problems onto me. Be honest for a moment; isn’t your concern for me coming from your regret over marrying Siobhan? You don’t want me to make the same mistake. Is that it?”

“No. Well… maybe.”

“If you regret it so much, why not divorce her?”

I looked down at her blue rug and tried to clear my thoughts. “I think about it all the time, but Siobhan is already depressed, and I worry about what she might do to herself if I leave her.”

Lumi tapped the seat next to her, and I plunked down with a sigh.

“You’re a good man, Damian, but Liv always says that we’re not responsible for others’ happiness. Siobhan has to find that for herself.”

“But how? She hardly leaves the house anymore.”

“It’s obvious that she never got over the loss of your baby. It’s been almost three years. Can’t you help her move on?”

“I tried. We talked about adoptin’ a child. Or using an egg donor. Siobhan talked to River about donatin’.”

“I heard. Didn’t River agree?”

“Yes, but the clinic says that she has to be twenty-one, so there are still a few years and…” I shrugged with resignation. “Siobhan is stuck being a victim. She cries a lot and says that everythin’ happens for a reason and that it’s a sign that God doesn’t want her to be a mother.”

“Auch.”

“She also thinks River parties too much and that her eggs are lower-quality because of it.”

Lumi crossed her arms. “Wow. I hope you didn’t tell River that.”

“I would never. It’s all just excuses for Siobhan to feel sorry for herself.”

“Damian.”

I looked into Lumi’s large brown eyes. “Mhmm?”

“How come you never asked for my eggs?”

I closed my eyes for a second.

“Damian, I asked you a question.”

Sighing, I felt dizzy from the alcohol I’d consumed and the weight of my emotions. “Ye know why, princess.”

“Is it because Siobhan doesn’t like me?”