Page 108 of Martyr
“Okay, so we surprise her with an empty house and then hand over a credit card for buying shit?”
He nods emphatically. “That sounds great.”
I dust off my hands and laugh. “Sold.”
We lead a blindfoldedSaint and Artemis up the walkway. The stone is smooth under our feet. The house is lit up from within, and the glow spills out across the front. The sun has already disappeared behind the hills to our left, but the sky is brilliant shades of orange, pink, and midnight blue.
“This is ridiculous,” Tem murmurs. “Can I take this off?”
“Almost.” I kiss her cheek, just below the edge of the tie banded across her eyes. “It’s worth it, promise.”
A flutter of nerves lights up in my stomach. Ihopeit’s worth it.
Beside Tem, Saint shuffles along. We stop them, and they automatically reach for each other. Their hands thread.
Saint has to know where we are. We talked to him about it, so naturally he would remember… right?
Oh God, what if we asked him and he wasn’t really paying attention and he gave us a half-assedyesso we’d leave him alone, and he didn’t realize what he was signing up for, and Kade and I just spent all this time and money and sweat building this house for us when Saint is about to have a panic attack and refuse to step foot inside it?
Kade elbows me.
“Oof.” I shoot him a look.
“What happened?” Tem asks. “Are you okay?”
She cranes around to peek at me, even though she can’t see shit.
“All good.” I glare at Kade.
The bastard just smirks at me.
“Ready?” he asks.
“So ready,” Tem agrees.
He undoes the knot at the back of Saint’s head, and I do the same for Tem’s. I let the silk flutter away, then move around so I can see her reaction.
She blinks fast, her gaze down on the walkway. Then, slowly, it lifts to the house. She stares at it, then around. She takes in the ocean, the street at our backs…
Here it comes.
“I burned it down.”
Saint scoffs. But his expression is full of wonder, too. “You did us a favor with that. This is… better.”
“And that’s just the outside,” Kade rumbles. He gestures for the front door.
Tem leads the way. She doesn’t hesitate, although she does seem confused. Her brows remain furrowed. Saint trails after her, and Kade and I exchange a glance.
“You suddenly get nervous?” I whisper.
He nods quickly.
Great. Butterflies fully engaged, we follow them up the wide porch steps and in through the front door.
Tem spins in a slow circle in the middle of the living room, which is straight through the foyer and down a short hall. She bypassed the staircase and arched doorway to the formal dining room. The kitchen is on the left off the living room, all wide open with a huge island. For, uh, entertaining.
The chandelier our contractor hung in the living room earlier today makes her golden dress sparkle.
