Page 13 of Road to Redemption

Viv studied me for a second longer before nodding. “You don’t want to fall asleep until it gets dark here. It’ll only make the jetlag worse. Come, let me show you the wild asparagus growing over on the west side of the yard.”

As we followed her, I let Dom take the lead — on walking, on questions, on everything, really. I had gotten myself into enough trouble while barely opening my mouth. So maybe if I could just fade into the background for a little while longer, it would be fine.

Eventually, the two chicken-brains gave up on their ‘training exercises’ and joined us for the end of our tour.

Viv chuckled at the sight of them covered from head to toe in mud. “Catch any?”

“Not tonight,” Spencer smirked. “But give me a good night of sleep, and they’ll have no idea what hit ‘em.”

She raised her brow. “Just try not to hit ‘em too hard. And maybe hose off before you muddy up the guest room, yeah?”

With assurances that they’d clean up, Vivienne led the way back to the porch. My lovers flanked me as we followed behind Dom and Vivienne, providing a much needed barrier between my torturer and I.

“Whaddaya think, Bunny?” Spencer sidled up beside me with a grin. “Into the fieldhand musk?”

“Is musk what we’re calling that filth?” I smirked.

Leo looped her arm over my shoulders. “She’s only so ‘musky’ because she kept eating shit in the pen. Which means that I win.”

“Nuh-uh!” Spencer wheeled one Leo. “The deal was whoever caught one, and I got closer!”

“Closer to the ground, maybe,” Leo scoffed.

“What’s the prize?” I asked, surprised by the sudden disagreement.

“You, Princess,” Leo grumbled, squeezing me closer to her side. “Sharing the bed, I mean.”

“I’m not sleeping on the floor!” Spencer pouted. “I’ll rematch you right now.”

“Who said anything about sleeping on the floor?” Viv furrowed her brow, coming to a halt on the porch steps. Apparently, Spencer’s whining had drawn her attention.

“Sorry, ma’am. Spencer’s just feeling like a bit of a sore loser. Nothing to worry about.”

“The beds should be big enough to share if you double up, but if you’re not comfortable...”

“No, no, we’re okay.” Spencer scratched the back of her neck, scrambling to get Viv’s attention off of her. “We’ll work it out. Swap who shares with Kiera or something. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

No sooner had the words left her mouth than Dom’s expression crumpled into a pointed glare. And it didn’t take long for Viv to piece together exactly what was going on.

“Dom.” Viv turned to face her daughter. “Who is bunking in your room tonight?”

Dom glared at Spencer and Leo, but they quickly raised their hands in a clear gesture of your mom, your problem.

So with no way out of it, Dom cleared her throat and faced down her mother’s stern scowl. “The three of them wanted to share, so I’m… sleeping alone.”

10

KIERA

“Like hell you are!” All the easy-going air vanished from Viv’s face. Her perpetual smirk was quickly replaced by the stoney ire of a lawyer ready to decimate the opposition counsel.

Her strong brows furrowed into a deep rut, her lips flattened into a tightly pressed line, and her arms crossed over her chest. It was the most Dom-like she’d looked all day.

A step higher on the porch, she glared directly into Dom’s eyes as her voice hardened to ice. “You think you’re too good to share?”

Dom took a half-step back, ceding ground to Viv as she tried to reconcile the prosecutor across from her with the homely woman who’d been so eager to show off her garden. “That’s not what I —”

But before she could lodge a defense, Viv turned on her heel to face the rest of us. “No need to divvy up the floor. Kiera and Dom will share a room.”