Sighing, Maris returned to the counter to finish putting away her makeup. “For over a year after his release, he wouldn’t let anyone touch him at all. Not even his own sister, and Darling has always adored Lise. If a man came anywhere near him, he literally ran away, and he refused to be alone with anyone. Even me. It was two full years before he’d even look another person in the eye, male or female. So no, he’s never experimented. Until you, I’ve never known him to voluntarily be naked with anyone.”

Her heart ached for Darling and what his uncle had put him through. It was so wrong.

But it left her with one question. “How did Darling pull off being gay if he was so repulsed by men?”

Maris smiled sheepishly. “I taught him how to use men he knew were safe to keep up the ruse—like I did with the women I dated. Men who wouldn’t touch him or beat him over it. It took a lot of patience, but I got him to the point that he’d let me hug him again. He knew I wasn’t going to make a move on him. And once he was used to me, we took smaller steps. First with his friend Caillen, who is rabidly heterosexual, and yet completely at ease with homosexuals. I taught Darling how to stand close to Caillen, and lean in to him so that other people would misinterpret his actions. If anyone asked him if he had a crush on someone, we chose Nykyrian because we knew Nyk would never hurt Darling for it. And once I came out, it was a lot easier. I was the one person he could be openly affectionate with who wouldn’t be offended or expect anything else from him.”

It was actually a brilliant plan. “So you’ve protected him all this time?”

“More he protected me. Until I came out, he took the heat for a lot of things I had.”

“Such as?”

He gave her a duh stare. “I’m gay, Zarya. I’ve been that way as far back as I have memories. Obviously, I like to look at men, and read about men being together. I didn’t dare do that at home where my brothers or parents might find it. So Darling kept… items for me, and I kept things for him.”

That made sense, but it also made her feel stupid that he had to be so explicit. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be dense.”

“It’s okay. We’re all dense from time to time.” He let out a bitter laugh. “I still can’t get over the shock on my parents’ faces when I told them the truth about me. And all I could think was, Are you people totally blind? Did none of you ever really look at me? Even though I’d tried to hide it, I don’t see how they missed it. Any more than I’ve ever understood how someone couldn’t tell Darling was straight.”