Charmed: A Masters and Mercenar - Lexi Blake Page 0,53
I think in the beginning Damon had this huge building and he didn’t want to be all alone in it. When he transitioned from MI6 to working with Tag, it made sense to let some of his employees live in the flats.”
“I know a little about that. When you work on a rig, you sleep, work, eat all in the same spaces for months at a time. It can build a strong team. It can also make you want to murder some of the fuckers.” At first those rigs had given him an odd sense of freedom. He still felt it a bit, though the older he got the more stability he wanted.
“It’s not so bad where we are. There’s more room, I suspect, and the accommodations are more luxurious,” she said with a chuckle. “My flat is far larger than my place in Lyon was. It’s also nice to have someone to eat dinner with. Someone’s always on their own and looking for company. At least they used to be.”
“Things are changing?” He knew how that felt. When everyone else was getting their lives in order and pairing off and starting families, it could make a man feel like he was getting left behind.
“Aren’t they always?” she asked with a wistful air. “Damon and Penny split their time between The Garden and their home in the countryside. They’re about to have another baby. I suspect Penny will start staying out there quite a bit. My friend Hayley and her husband Nick recently had a little girl. They’re looking for a place close to The Garden. Last week Owen and Rebecca announced they’re pregnant, too. There aren’t many singletons left in our group. Certainly not since the lads got their freedom back. Is it odd to be surrounded by these lovely people who treat you like family and still feel so outside? Like they’ve all invited me in, but I can’t quite make it through the door.”
“Why do you think that is? You said you weren’t close to your sister. How about your parents?” He was going to keep her talking. He hated the wistfulness in her tone, like she wanted something so badly but couldn’t reach out and grab it. He understood that, too.
She thought about it for a moment before answering. “My family wasn’t like yours. My dad was pretty distant, and I don’t think my mum ever really understood me. She was closer to my sister, who definitely never understood me.”
“My brother…I thought he did,” he admitted. “And maybe he did, but I didn’t try enough to understand him. I’m fully aware there’s blame in here for me. I thought because I was happy that he was, too. The whole twin psychic connection thing might be true for some, but not me and Mike. Did you only have the one sister?”
She nodded. “Yes. She’s five years younger than I am. It should have made us close, but we never were. We never had that sibling relationship for some reason. I think we were just far enough apart that we didn’t spend much time together.”
“You wouldn’t have been in the same schools. Mike and I were obviously always in the same class.”
“Yes, we just missed each other, though I don’t know if it would have mattered. We’re quite different personality-wise and in what we want out of life,” she said. “It was like we lived in the same house but completely different lives. And then we didn’t live in the same house at all. After university I lived in France for a long time, and it was a demanding job. At least that’s what I told myself. My parents divorced while I was in my teens, and my father got remarried very quickly. His new wife didn’t want to have anything to do with us, so he didn’t. I haven’t seen my father in ten years. When I moved back to London I spent a bit of time with my mum, but I found I couldn’t take the comparisons to my sister’s perfect life.”
“I doubt it’s perfect.”
“It looks that way on social media, and that’s all that matters to my mum and sister.” She was quiet for a moment. “I’m surprised you’re not on social media more often.”
“I can’t stand it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got a page to keep up with people I was friendly with in high school and college, but I almost never post. Half the time I don’t have Internet access. I don’t