Page 89 of Their Property
I would have taken a defensive shootout over dealing with my son’s mother any day of the week. The spiteful bitch didn’t even let me see him, so the long ride wasn’t even worth it.
I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday, so T-Bone and Grudge filled me in while I wolfed down some breakfast. Guilt gnawed at my gut as they told me what happened. If I had been here instead of on the road with my tail between my legs, maybe I could have prevented Grudge’s eye injury.
“That wasn’t the only notable thing that happened.” T-Bone looked at Kyrie and gave her an encouraging nod.
I paused with a fork halfway to my mouth and set it down, watching the subtle tells between the three of them. Kyrie had been quiet, barely touching her food and stealing glances at me while sandwiched between the two guys. T-Bone took every opportunity to touch her and feed her small morsels. Even Grudge was sitting close to her, his hair and beard all nicely trimmed and signing to communicate, a rarity for him.
Seemed like a shootout wasn’t the only thing I missed out on, but I didn’t like the implication that Kyrie was somehow involved in the fight.
“What’s he talking about?” I asked her.
She swallowed heavily and set her plate to the side. “My valkyrie showed up and…I shielded everyone from getting shot.”
If there was food in my mouth, it would have fallen out. “You…what?”
I had seen my fair share of miraculous things, and I could see it play out vividly in my head as she described it to me. But, fuck, what I would give to see that happen in real time, knowing she didn’t get hurt.
The awe was clear in T-Bone’s face as he watched her speak. Even though Grudge’s eyes were wrapped up, his posture leaned toward her. The valkyrie on his arm even nudged against the woman who walked out into battle like a shield maiden of the old legends.
The shift since yesterday was clear. The signs were clear. This woman had been touched by gods,ourgods, and there was no letting her go.
But first, I had to swallow my pride and set things right.
“That’s incredible,” I said, at a loss for any other words. “But stopping bullets or not, I’m glad nothing worse happened.”
“Yeah, me too.” Kyrie looked down at her folded hands in her lap, and that tugged at my chest hard. I had to fix this now.
I shoved my plate away and stood. “Can I talk to you for a second, Kyrie?”
All three of them looked up at me—well, Grudge lifted his head in my direction. T-Bone stared me down with a look of warning, while Kyrie was visibly surprised.
“Sure, Dyno,” she said lightly. She accepted a cheek kiss and something murmured in her ear from T-Bone before sliding off the bed.
“Let’s go up to the roof,” I suggested, already bouncing on the balls of my feet with nervous energy.
“I’ll get my shoes. They’re in my room.”
T-Bone stood the moment she left our room, walking up to me until his chest brushed mine. “What’re you gonna talk about?” He sounded calm but the demand was clear in his expression.
“Everything.”
He rocked back, eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Yeah?”
“It’s not like I didn’t have time to think.” I hadn’t slept since we camped and rubbed my eyes, feeling the exhaustion settling in deep in my bones. This conversation needed to happen though, and I didn’t dare put it off even longer.
“Riding tends to do that.” T-Bone’s lips quirked up, his close stance no longer aggressively protective of hislittle lady. He knew what I meant byeverything,and proceeded to wrap an arm around my shoulders, pulling me in for a quick kiss. “We love you, you know.”
“I know,” I sighed against his mouth. “Thanks.”
The three of us were always more affectionate with actions than words. Love was a shared laugh over drinks, a rough kiss before a ride, or an emotionally charged fuck. But when he saidwe,the first person that popped into my mind was her.
“Ready when you are,” Kyrie said with forced cheer outside our door.
I turned, shooting her a smile that seemed to ease her nerves slightly. “Follow me.”
We took the stairs to the roof, which was little more than a barren platform now, but looked as though it could have been a bar or lounge before the Collapse. Rickety furniture, sun-damaged and caked in dust, had been shoved off to the side. Nothing was really comfortable to sit on, so I stood at the railing at the edge of the building, looking out at the surrounding desert.
Arizona, this place was once called.
