Page 39 of The Hangman's Rope

“Sounds like you won,” I said and my phone buzzed in my back pocket. I took it out and checked the message.

Let ‘em in… fucking Christ.

“Yep, you won,” I said putting my phone back and taking out my keys.

“We’re here now,” Mini-Syn said. “You can take your ass to the clubhouse and get your testosterone fix now if you want to.”

“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger,” I said with a laugh and she looked a cross between annoyed and very tired.

“Sorry,” she said glumly. “You’re right.”

“It’s okay – I’ve known Syn a long time. He’s fuckin’ bullheaded,” I told her as I unlocked the person’s gate.

“Ain’t that the truth,” she said with a sigh, slipping through the gate, shoving her shopping bags before her. Lainey and Valory followed up and they waited for me as I locked things back up.

“It’s all good,” I said. This complicated things, for sure – but in a way that I liked. Kind of hard to kill a woman thatyourwoman has taken a shine to. I was pretty sure that was off the table from pretty much the word go, but this certainly took out insurance that it was completely off –thank you Madisyn for being a pernicious little kitty and knocking things off.I thought and yeah, I admit it, I couldn’t help it. I pictured her in almost a Playboy bunny outfit only with cat ears instead of bunny sittingatop Syn’s polished desk, shoving all manner of things from pen cups to papers to the floor in front of him while not breaking eye contact.

Hopefully Syn would see it the same way and would just fuck the shit out of her for the trouble she caused him.

With a sense of relief I hadn’t expected, I took the girls up to see my Sweetpea and found her on the couch where she’d pretty much been all day, the remote in her hand and some movie or show paused on the screen while she chatted with Requiem. He was finishing up installing the final camera in here, in the living room, as I stepped in.

“Got company,” I said as Lorelai took in the girls following up behind me with all of their shopping bags.

“Lorelai, meet Synister’s woman Madisyn, her friend Valory, and this is my brother Fear’s woman, Lainey – you haven’t met Fear yet, I don’t think but at this point I’m pretty sure it’s just a matter of time.”

“Hi,” Lorelai said faintly.

“Oh, honey,” Valory said, beaming. “You’rebeautiful. I can’t wait to forage around these bags and put some things together for your frame.”

Lorelai blinked, “I’m sorry?” she said.

“Valory is a regular fashionista,” Lainey said. “I’m a writer, and Madisyn paints.”

“Oh,” Lorelai looked taken aback, her silvery eyes drifting from me to the girls.

I shrugged. “They work fast.”

“Never underestimate a woman on a mission when it comes to shopping,” Requiem quipped.

Lainey rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. Valory and Madisyn exchanged a look and I could all but hear it vocalize, “Men” in that tone – you know the one. Weallknow the one.

“I’m all done,” Requiem said, stepping down off the chair from the dining room that he’d commandeered to put things up around the apartment.

“Live and everything?” I asked.

“Yup, light glows green camera is on and recording. Light glows red, no one is watching,” he said.

“Light better be fucking glowing red in the bedroom when I’m fuckin’ home.”

“That one will come down before long, I suspect,” he said.

“Surprised he didn’t have you put one up in the bathroom,” Madisyn said rolling her eyes.

“Why that would be illegal,” Requiem said with a wink.

“Right,” Lainey said.

“Like that’s ever stopped any one of you before,” Valory teased scrunching her cute button nose at us.

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