Grace stepped forward. “Thank you to Alex for allowing us this brief indulgence. We’re grateful for the opportunity to share with friends and family this intimate project, inspired as Hazel mentioned by a show I did in university called The Art/Lit Project. It was a joy to work collaboratively with Hazel on these pieces. My sculptures hang on Alex’s wall behind Hazel. On the left is From Broken to Whole, and on the right is A Full Exploration of the Aftermath.”
My heart pounds in my chest as Hazel reads her poems. They’re beautiful and raw and vague enough they could be about anything. They’re in keeping with the style of Grace’s work in general, but I know what this really is.
It’s an opening for two stubborn brothers to share a little something.
Fucking hell.
When they finish, Sam and I both approach them, because of course we’re fucking proud. Of them. Not each other. Not anymore.
So I clap him on the shoulder, as we do, Preston style, and I jerk my head to the kitchen. “Let’s grab a beer.”
He clears his throat and follows. We each grab a bottle, then I head upstairs, looking for some quiet. I find it in a spare room.
“I owe you an apology—” I start, at the same time as he says, “Look, Grace really wants—”
He stops.
I start again.
“I’ve handled the firm stuff not that well, and it’s because of some relationship stuff Grace and I have been going through. I think tonight’s performance was their way of pushing us to talk.”
“Hazel sort of nudged me in that direction, yeah.” He frowns. “Is it addiction? Alex thought—we weren’t gossiping, but—”
“No. Not really.”
“It’s okay, you know. Grace once told me that recovering from trauma means that you need to come to terms with the ways you coped with the pain.”
A hot, searing pain slices across my chest. “This is different.”
“Is it?”
I don’t answer that.
And my silence speaks volumes—and maybe Sam has always seen that I am capable of the absolute worst.
His face pales. “You cheated on her.”
“Yeah. It’s done. In the past.”
“Fuck you. I should—” He drags in a breath. “And Hazel knew?”
“I don’t know what she knows. That’s between her and Grace. They need some secrets, maybe. It’s hard to be in love with Preston men.”
Sam shakes his head. “I spent the last year waiting for Grace to leave you because she had outgrown your relationship. And you’re telling me she was working on repairing it? In secret? To protect you? You don’t deserve her.”
“Of course I don’t. But I’m damn glad she doesn’t agree.”
“And we’re not fucking Preston men. Not really.”
“Well, yeah. Sure. But in nature versus nurture, at least in my case, nature didn’t do me any favours.”
“Mine either.” Sam growls. “You know what? I was so mad at you for so long. But it was really Dad.”
“Me, too. But I turned into him. That’s fair.”
Sam makes a face. “Do you ever think about the fact that we don’t know who our real fathers are? For sure?”
“Nope.” I grab him by the shoulder and squeeze. “It doesn’t matter. We have each other.”
“Grace make you go therapy?”
“I go willingly.”
“Took me a while.”
“It’s good, though, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Luke?”
“Yeah?”
Sam stands and shoves his hands in his pockets. “I love you.”
Ah, fuck it. I haul him in for a tight hug. “I love you, too. So fucking much.”
“And if you ever hurt Grace again, I’ll murder you in your sleep.”
“Never, brother. I promise you, that will never happen.”
He claps me on the shoulder and we go back downstairs.
As soon as I hit the bottom of the landing, Grace’s gaze is locked on my face. All good, I mouth.
I love you, she says back. And she says it with her whole body, lighting up.
I press my hand to my chest. I love you, too, little bird.
THE END
Thank you so much for reading Shame! If you would like a little more of Grace and Luke, I have a collection of bonus material available here! This is a collection of happy vignettes that take place over the next eighteen years.
And turn the page for two poems from the Art/Lit project
The Art/Lit Project
By Grace Dunn and Aibhlin Moon
Broken to Whole
by Aibhlin Moon
From broken to whole
Brittle to soft
This is her goal
His goal
And yet
The path between broken and whole
Is barbed
The journey from brittle to soft
Is treacherous
Soft is effort
Whole is precarious
So they must be careful
Together
A Full Exploration of the Aftermath
by Aibhlin Moon
A full exploration of the aftermath
Of an explosion
A fracture
A cut
Requires careful
Thorough
Relentless observation
And that painstaking process
Hurts
Also by Ainsley Booth
If you want more kinky, Canadian erotic romance…
Secrets and Lies
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Crave
Frisky Beavers
Prime Minister
Dr. Bad Boy
Full Mountie
Mr. Hat Trick
Page of Swords
Bull of the Woods
If you like intense, off-limits book boyfriends… Forbidden Bodyguards
Hate F*@k
Booty Call
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Wicked Sin
Filthy Liar
If you like silly, sexy, over the top fairy tale romances…
Billionaire Secrets
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Her Billionaire Best Friend
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Want to know more?
About the Author
Ainsley Booth a three-time USA Today bestselling author of erotic romance. Between her two pen names (she also writes contemporary romance as two-time New York Times bestseller Zoe York), she has published more than fifty books since 2013. Notable hits include Prime Minister and Hate F*@k.
Copyright Ainsley Booth, 2021.
All Rights Reserved.