One Breath After Another (The After Another Trilogy Book 2) by Bethany-Kris

Author:Bethany-Kris [Bethany-Kris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mafia romance, Organized Crime Romance, assassin romance, Forbidden Romance, secret romance
Publisher: Bethany-Kris
Published: 2020-10-04T18:30:00+00:00

10.

Penny

EVENTUALLY, braiding bread turned into making tea while the stew did its thing in the large pot on the stove. The longer it stays on the heat, the better it is, Katya told her as they took their tea upstairs to drink. Penny didn’t know if that was true. Cooking wasn’t her thing when she was barely able to boil water without forgetting it on the burner. She had to admit there was something wonderful about the smell of freshly cooked bread wafting through the home, though.

And it had been ... calming.

The very act of kneading the bread to perfection, and then twisting braided strips before cutting precise slices in all the right spots was soothing in a way she hadn’t expected. It also kept her talking. Maybe too much, even. She hadn’t realized how much easier it would be to share her truth—and pain—with someone who had similar experiences.

Katya never told her to stop.

So, she didn’t.

Her therapist had suggested group therapy once. A meeting that she could attend once a week in place of one of the days she had to visit the doctor. Women of all ages, as long as they were seventeen or older, came to share stories of their sexual abuse in a therapeutic setting while finding support with others like them.

Penny said no.

Fast.

The very idea of sharing in an open setting had sent her anxiety skyrocketing. But one on one with Katya didn’t feel so bad or scary. Or maybe ... there was just something about her that Penny trusted. She didn’t know what it was, and she didn’t care as long as it was real.

Now, sitting in Roz’s piano room while the two women drank green tea, Katya admitted, “There was a time when I used this room as a place to escape. It was so much easier to be in here for hours a day listening to Roz play than it was anywhere else. I only had one thing to focus on in here, after all.”

Hot tea flooded Penny’s tongue while she took in those words and decided how she wanted to respond. “Is it still hard sometimes—wanting to hide away, I mean?”

“I won’t lie, sometimes it is.”

Penny sighed where she sat cross-legged on the piano bench. Lowering the cup between her legs, she said, “Today, a guy at school brought up my father and what he did to me. And maybe that wouldn’t have been so bad except he asked if it was still going on. Like, could he get in on the—”

“I’m sorry.”

She shrugged.

Katya wasn’t accepting that for a minute. “Don’t shrug it off, Penny. Don’t dismiss that kind of thing like it’s just something you should have expected. That makes your brain think you should also accept it. And you shouldn’t. Ever.”

“I didn’t. I punched him in the mouth. That’s not very accepting to me.”

The woman across from her grinned wide, not even ashamed. “Well, fair point, but still ... it hurt. It was triggering to you. And it’s perfectly fine to say so.

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