Page 134 of Insidious Heart
“Why don’t you take the boys and go home?” Giving her one last kiss, I straighten to look around the yard. “I’m going to be a while but you three don’t need to hang around for it.”
My little dove sighs. “Where’shome, though, Victor? I have nowhere to go, and they aren’t going to want to go back to their house.”
“My house.”Where the fuck is Pope?That unholy son of a gorilla was supposed to be here by now. “Well, Little John’s house until I get back. Then we’ll go to my RV. There’s plenty of room for the four of us.”
“You have an RV?”
“Twenty-seven footer. It’s a few years old but it has all the creature comforts, right down to indoor plumbing and electricity. It’s on John’s property in Birch Creek, been there for a while now.”
“How have you not mentioned this before?”
I glance at her with a grin as I turn in a slow circle to look for the walking blasphemy. “You never asked.”
Stevie sighs. “Figures. I keep forgetting who I’m dealing with.”
“Now you know. There’s room for all of us but it’s a bit of a mess. Well, not amess, exactly.”
“Because you wouldn’t allow that.”
“Right.” I chuckle. “But there’s stuff laying around the boys probably shouldn’t see, so I’ll have someone take you to John’s house first and you can get cleaned up there and rest for a bit.” With a frown, I face Stevie again.Where the hell is he?“I’ll swing by…” Thinking better of usingCal’s place,I give my girl a soft smile. “I’ll stop and get some stuff for King and Prince, just text me what they want, then I’ll pick up a few things for you before heading home to make it presentable.”
“You’re always saying how I constantly amaze you, Tor, but you have no idea how amazingyouare.” Stevie beams at me for a second before her smile turns into a frown. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for Pope.”
“Why?”
“So he can take the three of you home.”
Stevie glances around the yard too. “He’s not here.”
“He should be,” I huff. “I texted him to get his wholesome ass here about twenty minutes ago.”
“It’s fine.” My baby dove reaches into my hoodie pocket and pulls out her new phone. “I’ll just call Linnie.” I frown and she rolls her eyes. “I don’t know any of the Kings, not really, and after everything that just happened, I could use a friendly face.”
My frown deepens as I point to my mug. “I’m a friendly face. I’m a fucking gorgeous face, and I’m a friend. Dare I say, yourbest friendat this point, since you know, I’ve killed for you more than once, would do it again in a heartbeat, and I deliver orgasms at will. I think that makes mebest friendmaterial.”
Stevie giggles and nods. “And you manage to cheer me up and forget everything going on around me, even when we’ve been through hell and are standing in front of a crime scene. You are definitely my best friend, Gizmo, but I don’t really want to ride around with a stranger right now. Especially one that grunts his words and looks like he can see into people’s souls before sucking them out of their bodies just so he can add them to his collection.”
“Pope does look rather demonic behind that clean-cut exterior, doesn’t he?” I chuckle as she nods, then let out a long suffering sigh. “Ok, baby dove. If you want your friend Linnie to pick you up, I’ll allow it, but put Little John’s address in your GPS right now. I’ll text you his cell number, too.”
My girl gives me a beautiful, albeit exhausted, smile as she listens to my instructions: no stops, straight to John’s, Linnie is welcome to stay so she’s more comfortable sitting with the grizzly old fart, and so I can vet her when I get back. I’ve done a ton of research on the people my sweet little dove associates with and Linnie is no exception, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to grill her anyway.
I watch from a distance—having already said my good byes and been dragged away by Withers—as a little Corola speeds up to the house and comes to a screeching halt after hopping the curb about fifteen minutes later. Linnie bails out of the idling car, leaving the door open as she rushes to Stevie and hugs her tightly, both women crying a little before the blonde turns and is introduced to my girl’s brothers. Which surprises Linnie based on the wide hazel eyes and the way they move between all three of them.
But it doesn’t slow her down.
No, my girl’s friend says something about getting McDonald’s breakfast on the way to John’s, then piles them into her car still chattering away. And I watch as Linnie back off the curb with a thud before Stevie looks at me through the windshield, giving me a shrug and a small smile before pointing to her phone and blowing me a kiss.
BABY DOVE: We won’t stop for breakfast. I’m not hungry.
BABY DOVE: But maybe stop on your way home. Prince is going to get hungry pretty soon, even if he is still upset.
BABY DOVE: Straight to John’s though. Promise. Just hurry back. I love you.
My fingers itch towrite the words, to send back the sentiment and phrase that barely captures the amount of emotions this woman has pulled from the darkest parts of me, the three little words that could convey what Stevie truly means to me.
But for some fucking reason, I can’t.
