We began to eat.
Kenji cut into his Eggs Benedict with the focus of a man approaching something sacred. The moment the poached egg broke, golden yolk spilled across the English muffins and bacon.
“Mmm.” He took his first bite, closed his eyes, and made a pleasurable sound low in his throat. "Fuck, Tora."
I couldn’t help but smile.
He opened his eyes and looked at me. "This is incredible."
He tried the potatoes next, then reached for the extra container of hollandaise and poured more over everything. “I’m probably going to fire my chef.”
“You can’t do that.” I dipped one of my potatoes into the hollandaise sauce on my plate,
Kenji paused mid-bite and watched. Then he did the same, dragging a crispy potato through the rich, lemony sauce. Once he popped it into his mouth, the loud groan that came out of him was obscene. "That's. . .mmm. . .delicious, Tora."
“Yay. I’m glad you like it.”
He ate three more potatoes that way, each one followed by sounds of appreciation that made heat pool low in my belly.
Then he reached for his slice of banana bread—the biggest piece, as promised—and took a bite.
His expression shifted.
To my disappointment, he frowned.
I looked at him, shocked. "What? You don't like it?"
"My guards gotthis." He gestured toward the door with his fork, actually pouting as he took another bite. “So there won’t be any leftovers because of them?”
"Oh my God."
He chewed, swallowed, then looked at me with those dark, intense eyes. "They didn't deserve this."
"They did. They kept us safe last night."
"Ikept us safe last night."
"Oh myGod."
“Back to my brother. He cooked with you?"
“Yes, Kenji. For the hundredth time, and he's actually pretty good with a knife."
Kenji laughed—a real laugh that made my chest feel too full. "Hiro being good with a knife is anunderstatement. My brother is a master with any blade."
"I can tell." I took a bite of my eggs.
“How did you even end up seeing Hiro.”
"He was sleeping when I walked into the kitchen."
Kenji stopped eating. He set down his fork and looked at me. His expression shifted from amusement to dark terror.
"He was asleep? You. . ." His voice dropped. "Didn't get close to him, did you?"
I paused, fork halfway to my mouth.
Should I tell him?
