Page 77 of Veiled Vengeance

I raise my brow, handing out sass like it’s Halloween candy. “And?”

Zane places an arm behind me, along the back of the couch. “And this is our new living room. Not your bedroom.”

“Well, if you’re so concerned about it, then you can move it to the bedroom.”

Zane holds back a smile. “It’s possible I could be convinced to carry out that act of service.”

“Who’s being serviced?” Rio pokes his head into the room.

“Oh my God!” I laugh so hard that I swear I’m going to pee my pants.

Asher walks in carrying three boxes stacked on top of each other and sets them down. “What’s going on in here?”

“Apparently, there was going to be someservicing,” Rio speculates.

“I think we’ve all done our fair share of that last night and this morning. In fact, because of all the servicing going on around here, it’s taken us three days to move into our new house.” Asher places his hands on his hips as he scolds us.

I was ready to scream at all of them after a few days in my apartment, but I held it together. We were practically living on top of each other. I was able to handle it before, when I thought the living situation was temporary. I figured once everything was over, they’d go back to their brownstone. But instead, Rio declared that they were moving in. My response was to scream and threaten to throw all their things out the window and onto the street.

Yeah, that was me holding it together.

Thankfully, Asher had a solution: buy a new place big enough for all of us. We found the perfect place in the Bronx, close to Paloma. She always fills our fridge with an all-you-can-eat buffet. Unfortunately, it took us months to find our new home. But we’re here now and I love it.

Standing, I wave my hands defensively. “Hey, now, I’m not the one at fault here.”

Zane scoffs. “No need to lie. You’re the one who always incites it.”

“What! Not true!”

“You’re in denial, Mama. It’s not a pretty place to be.”

“Ha ha. Very funny,” I snap.

Zane stands and Rio joins him. Asher saunters over as well. They all cross their arms as they stare at me like I’m their every fantasy come to life.

“The first one to catch me gets to come first.” I wink and sprint for the staircase.

Laughter follows me, and I hear Rio exclaim, “We need to put a ring on it ASAP.”

EPILOGUE

DAHLIA

Reaching high above my head, I set the last mug in the cupboard. I look around at my new apartment while August plays with his toy trucks that Hayes bought him. In fact, Hayes purchased most of what we needed to furnish the apartment, much to my chagrin.

Unpacking is a bitch—not that we had much to begin with.

There’s a knock on the door, and I immediately pull out the gun I have hidden on the top shelf of the cupboard.

“Baby, take those to your room and play.”

“Okay, Mommy.” August struggles to gather the trucks in his chubby little arms.

I can’t believe he just turned three.

There’s another knock after August shuts the door to his room. I approach on quiet feet and squint, looking through the peephole.

“Open up, Dahlia. I know you’re in there.”

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