His hand still cupping mine against his chest, he reaches for another folder and hands it to me. "This is me. This is me on paper. It's all there." He lets out a forced chuckle. "There are things in there I forgot about myself. But everything that's important about me, you already know. And everything else will come with time. I'm not hiding from you, Luna. Not anymore. I promise. Ask me anything. I am an open book for you, Luna. It's not normal for me. So, please, just give me time. "
He leans over, brushing his lips over my damp cheek.
A silent plea, to give him another chance.
"I can ask you anything?"
"Anything."
An idea forms in my head, and I look up at him with a hopeful smile.
"Prove it."
Thirty-Eight
Kingsley
She looks up atme with her big brown eyes, shiny with tears, but with a flicker of hope that gently warms the block of ice in my stomach.
"Prove it," she says again.
"How am I supposed to prove it?" I ask nervously dropping a soft kiss on her hand on my chest
"I get to ask you twenty questions, and you have to answer them all."
The purity of her "plan" releases the first laugh I've had since I stepped into my office and she wasn't there. "Moonshine, I told you, you can ask me anything. You don't need to limit it to twenty."
She grins through the tears. "Okay then, so which one of your brothers is your favorite?"
Oooof, she's not playing around. "Right. So, I see I shouldn't have come here without my lawyer."
She laughs. Unrestrictedly, throws her head back, grabs her chest, laughs.
And when I die, that is the sound I want accompanying me into the afterlife.
"Want to take back your promise?"
I grip her hand and bring it to my mouth for another kiss, and then I reach around, gently tangling my hand in her hair, and lean in closer.
"Never," I whisper against her lips. "I am yours. And that includes all my secrets."
I give her the chance to close the gap between us, and after a breath, she lifts up on her tiptoes, and presses her lips to mine.
And if I could stay in that moment until the end of time, I would.
But she pulls away, looking down at the coffee table with interest.
"So... are you going to answer before or after you show me what's in the picnic basket?"
Still not letting go of her hand, I lead her over to the picnic table I have set out. She sinks to the floor, tucking her feet under her as she looks over the spread.
There's a charcuterie platter, crackers and pita bread and crudité and dips and cheeses and roasted peppers and her favorite sage and stilton sausage from the small butcher we found on one of her late night walks around Knightsbridge.
I wait for her to settle and then slide in behind her, pulling her back to rest against my chest, wrapping my arms around her front as I reach for the bottle of apple cider and pour her a glass.
"I don't have a favorite brother— wait... let me explain," I say as she starts to protest. "I have a different favorite brother for each thing. We are similar with some fundamental things - howhard we work, our work ethic, how much we love each other, our pithy humor, how much we abhor dangerous and unethical practices, and how we don't take shit from anyone. But, we probably have more differences than we do similarities. When I just want to sit back and relax, I talk to Kylian. He puts me at ease, and knows how to get me to take life a little less seriously. He's also the most intelligent, in an academic sense, out of all of us, and can see problems with a logical clarity better than anyone else. Matthias understands people. He's like my father in that way. He can sell anything to anyone and have them send him a profusive thank you note for selling it to them. He can see people's problems and frame a pitch into a solution. He makes it look like a literal artform, and I go to him for insights on people. He can sum up anyone in seconds… their weaknesses, their strengths, their motivations. And Damien is my anchor. He's the third youngest of us, but I've felt that he's the most grounded. He will always give it to me straight. The bad, and honestly, more importantly, the good. We spend so much time ragging on each other, sometimes we forget to mention the good. I think that's been especially true since he's been with his wife. But he is a leader, through and through. He runs Baxter Australia with the perfect balance of respect and admiration. I learn a lot from him and the way he is with his staff. So yeah... I don't have one favorite brother. That would be a waste. I got three amazing ones.'
She nods, popping a piece of brie into her mouth and follows it with a cracker, thinking as she munches. "Okay. Fine. Let me put it this way. If you were all stranded on an island, assuming you were all still alive, who would you all eat first?"
