Page 64 of Claimed By Ruin

“So he’s gone?” I said.

“Left this morning,” Asia said.

“You don’t find it strange that Dante didn’t say good-bye?” I asked.

She moved around the shed where Dante slept. It was cleaner than it was when he got here, the small cot neatly made, and the jar of green beans Lourdes no doubt gave him sat at the edge. Her gaze swept the room one last time, and then she put the rag she held into her pocket. “He doesn’t strike me as a formal kind of guy.”

“And you think he won’t come back?”

She shrugged, and I couldn’t help but stare at her.

“Maybe, maybe not. But hopefully he’ll remember the hospitality,” she said. She grabbed a broom and steadily swept the floor of the shed. “I’m just glad we have the space back. I think it’d be good to spread out some more of the supplies, making sure things aren’t all in one place.”

“Asia, he knows where we are,” I said.

“I’m aware, Jackson. Lots of people know where we are. If there’s a problem, we’ll deal with it.”

It took everything I had not to rip the broom out of her hands.

Or better yet, bend her over my knees and spank her juicy ass until it was covered in my handprints and she begged me to fuck her.

I left the shed.

“What the fuck?” I muttered, spotting a cloud of dust on the horizon that told me a vehicle was approaching.

“Company,” I said to Asia.

She appeared almost instantaneously, the broom still gripped tight in her hand.

“I’m assuming Christopher,” she said.

“Assume, Counselor, that maybe it’s your new best friend, Dante, with reinforcements.”

“Everyone knows what to do. Let’s go see what this is about.”

She sounded resigned and not at all nervous. That bothered me.

By the time the truck rolled to a stop, Lourdes and Miles were out of sight, and I spotted the glint of Elliot’s binoculars from the perch.

A man got out, but it wasn’t Christopher. I recognized him from before.

“Hello,” Asia said.

“Hi, Miss Newman. You know the routine,” he said.

“But I don’t,” I interjected.

Asia stiffened but stayed still.

“No. You don’t. Why don’t you let him show me around, Miss Newman?” the man said.

“I didn’t catch your name,” I said, before Asia could speak.

“Because I didn’t throw it,” he said.

“It’s fine. Steven, I’ll show you around, and you can get back to all the important business that I’m sure you need to take care of,” Asia said.

“No. I think he should,” the man, apparently Steven, said.