Page 41 of Their Property
“Yeah, and look where it got you,” I scoffed, straightening.
Kyrie smiled into her drink. “I don’t think T-boning a truck will be going on my bucket list.”
“What is on that list?” I wanted to know everything. Her hopes, dreams, fears, and all that she wanted to accomplish in her lifetime. “What’s the number one thing you want to do before you leave this earth?”
Kyrie stared intently at her beer. “You don’t want to know. It’s silly.”
“Have you met our stupid asses?” T-Bone spread his arms wide. “We are nothing if not silly.”
Grudge made a face, crossing his eyes and screwing up his features until Kyrie snorted with laughter.
“Tell us,” I urged when she composed herself. “I promise you, it’s nothing worse than anything we’ve done or said.”
She took a deep drink of her beer and set it down before speaking. “I want to make decisions. Important ones, whether they’re for me or other people. And I want that feeling ofknowingit was the right thing to do. ThatIdecided this and not someone whispering in my ear, trying to influence me for their own gain.” Her expression wobbled, embarrassment creeping into her features. “Does that make any sense? It’s hard to put into words.”
“We get it, little lady,” T-Bone told her gently. “It’s a beautiful thing, being able to throw yourself completely behind what you stand for. It’s scary as fuck too. Takes a whole lot of gonads sometimes.”
She wants the freedom to be her own person,I realized but couldn’t bring myself to say. Because I knew the next words out of my mouth would be,Stay with us. Don’t go back to the capitol, it’s a viper’s den. They want to use you, but we would only free you.
Of course, the rational part of me remembered that she would have to make that choice on her own too. And choosing us was definitely the wrong one.
TWELVE
KYRIE
“The governor would like to see you in his office first thing this morning.”
Anita wore a tight-lipped frown and seemed even more uptight than usual. The Sons and I were enjoying our breakfast spread in our loft the next morning, after getting home from the bar much later than I had anticipated.
"Thank you, Anita." I suppressed a yawn and swallowed another gulp of tea.
"Someone's been a bad girl." T-Bone smirked at me from where he was casually draped in an armchair, finishing off another cinnamon roll.
He started acting like his old self last night, and it thankfully continued this morning. Flirtatious and crass, but in a harmless, endearing way.
"What else is new?" I said with a melodramatic sigh.
He chuckled but didn't comment further. I had a feeling he was still holding back, but at least he wasn't completely icing me out like before.
Something between the four of us had definitely shifted last night. We talked in the underground bar for hours, but it felt like no time passed at all. I wasn't an ambassador while out with them, and they weren't my bodyguards. We were just spending time together, like friends.
Or lovers.
T-Bone had fed me French fries and wiped crumbs from my mouth. Dyno talked to me like no one else existed. And it could have been the beer I drank but I swore both of them almost kissed me.
Their attention seemed split equally between me and Grudge, who I wished I could have gotten to know better last night. I never did find out how he got his road name, or why he didn't know his exact date of birth.
No amount of time with these men ever seemed to be enough. And I couldn't ignore the feeling that some people didn't seem too happy about that. I’d bet my big toe that was exactly what this “urgent meeting” with the governor was about.
"Shall we get this over with?" I finished my tea and stood, with T-Bone right behind me.
"After you, little lady."
The soft words were like a caress in my ear, making me stop in my tracks just so I could absorb them.Tell me more. Touch me for real, I thought.
He did touch me, but barely. A light brush of his hand against the back of my arm. All of them had touched me in some small manner like this, and it was the worst kind of foreplay. It wasn't enough. I ached for a kiss, the press of a body, or even a possessive hold that said,you're ours.
"You alright, Kyrie?" T-Bone hovered behind me, his voice near my ear but nowhere close enough.
