Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 80689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“To what do I owe this honor?” I ask, returning my attention to my book, though I’m not likely to progress on this page any more than I have for the past hour.
“Just wanted to check in and see if you’re finding Jonas an acceptable employee. From what I can make out, he seems to be an impressive addition to our little family.”
We exchange a look. Subtle as it may have been, he knows he stressed family just enough to grate on my nerves.
“Jonas has exceeded my expectations,” I say. “Now, are you ready to tell me why, of everyone in the world who could have helped us out, you selected him?”
Despite what I’ve learned, I have no intention of letting on that I know and fuck up things for Jonas, which means I need to continue pushing like I’m oblivious to any part of whatever messed-up plan my brother’s concocted.
His lips are still curled upward at the edges as he glances around, as though searching the bookcases for the best reply. “I thought you might like that he resembles Kieran. This house was very different when he was here. Full of life and vitality. Can you blame me for wanting to bring some of that back?”
I tighten my grip against the corner of my book, batting down words that threaten to spit out at him.
“Having some doppelgänger around isn’t going to bring him back,” is as much as I’m willing to say, and now he’s the one who’s pissed, his cheerful expression shifting into a frown as he stares me down.
“I’m fine with taking what I can get,” he says.
We stare at each other, as though both of us are searching for something, attempting to use what at one time felt like telepathy to probe the other’s thoughts, but once again, there’s just a wall. The one Simon constructed, and I’m certain he’s encountering the same obstacle.
We aren’t the boys we once were.
Simon walks closer, then settles on the sofa beside me. “Does Jonas bring up anything for you?”
I ignore his question, but he scoots closer and goes on.
“He brings up things for me. Remember when we used to talk about what a sexy man he’d grown into, when we first started to understand those lustful feelings? When we started exploring with each other?”
“I don’t want to talk about this.” I shift closer to the arm of the sofa.
I know why he’s bringing this up. After my chat with Jonas in the woods, once I knew Simon’s intentions, I was much more calculating about my next move. I spent more time around Kieran’s look-alike, openly admiring his ass, his nude torso. Standing just a little closer than I usually would. And when I gave him the second note, I made an obvious display of it in a spot in the yard where Simon has a mic and a camera—this I know because of previous conversations with him where he knew things he couldn’t have otherwise known.
His salacious remarks tell me what his face won’t: he’s been spying on me to see if Jonas was succeeding in executing their bizarre plan, and deduced that he was. A solid conclusion, but it doesn’t get me any closer to understanding Simon’s intentions.
“Come on, Ryan. As you look at Jonas now, he must make you twitch a little.”
My face flushes with heat, and as I turn to him, I doubt Simon has any trouble reading my expression now.
His smile returns, his eyes—the same blue as mine—sparkling under the gentle glow of the chandelier.
He pulls his gaze, looks out the window. “Anyway, I just came to say good night. I was planning on heading to bed a little early.” He moves closer. “Come on. Say good night the way we used to so I know you’re not mad.”
If I don’t, there’ll be a punishment, and he can always just keep talking about Kieran if he really wants to make me suffer.
I lean toward him, attempting a quick kiss on the cheek, and when he turns, I try to move as quickly as he does, but he still manages to kiss me on the lips, then punishes me with a quick lick.
“You’re disgusting,” I mutter, but it’s a defeat I’m willing to accept; besides, I already have my victory of the night by intercepting his plan.
He heads off, leaving me stewing in my rage. Some of it is just my head spinning, like it was after Jonas told me what Simon was paying him to do. But some of it is memories I beat down while Simon was in the room.
Kieran laughing, a big grin across his face as we all played Monopoly.
Straining during Mario Party, his hand gripping the controller as he aggressively moved the thumbstick to get his character paddling faster than ours.
Making all of us, even Father, laugh at the kitchen table.