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“Looks like Cash already has a system.” He points to the bed frame.

Brown rope encircles each leg of the frame, with the excess stuffed under the bed. Attie must have seen a piece of it poking out from underneath.

“I know he does,” I say as I lower my chin. Shame burns through me, and I keep my eyes on the ground. I don’t want Attie to look at me.

“Lyric…” Attie reaches for me, and I pull away.

“Can we just focus on my mother, please? We’re running out of time.”

He looks at me as if I’ve offended him. That’s not my intention, and I feel bad if I hurt him, but this isn’t a therapy session, and I don’t want to talk about it right now.

We roll my mother into the middle of the bed. We each take a side and begin cinching rope around her fleshy wrists and ankles. When we’re done, my mom stirs and mutters something incoherently. I look over to see the tops of pill bottles poking out of her bedside table drawer. Sifting through them, I find a bottle of Xanax. I take a pill and pop it into her mouth. She groans and eventually swallows.

I can’t keep the smile off my face as I think about how I’m going to kill my mother today.

CHAPTER 36

ATTICUS

This version of Lyr is so different from who she was when we were in the room with Jake. My girl is strong—physically and mentally. Watching her help me move and restrain her mother is a sight all on its own. She’s decisive, and it turns me on to hear her tell me what she wants to do and how she wants to do it. I shift, quickly reaching down to adjust my boner before she notices.

“Saw that.”

She eyeballs me up and down, stopping her gaze at my raging hard-on before giving me a wink.

I can feel my face flush, and I jerk my attention to a stain on the wall.

“You see nothing. Stop looking at my dick and pay attention.”

She smiles proudly. “It’s not my fault he’s so happy to see me. I’m just greeting our newest guest.”

She smirks and finishes tying the rope.

I roll my eyes at her, even though all I want to do is take her—right here, right now. I just want her and this… whatever this is. Confidence? All I know is that it’s hot.

I turn around to get a better look at our surroundings when I feel like I’m being watched. I peer over my shoulder at Lyr, who is now staring at a distinct part of my body.

“Don’t touch my butt,” I say playfully and resume my search. I feel a hand cup my ass cheek, and I reach back, grab a wrist, and spin around to find that I’ve caught myself a Lyr. I pull my phone out of my pocket, hold Lyr’s arm in the air, and snap a picture.

“What was that all about?” she’s confused. I’m amused.

It’s the perfect combo.

“Oh, I just wanted picture proof that I caught the human version of Nemo. I obviously had to pose like I was holding a fish, because duh.” She scoffs at my explanation.

“Well, I told you not to touch the butt, and you did it anyway. If that doesn’t scream naughty fish, I don’t know what does.” I hold back a laugh as her face morphs into one of pure shock and audacity.

“Kristine is sedated and bound. Where are you steering this ship to next, Cap’n?” I love playing with her, but we’re in a time crunch with the medication, which means it’s time to cut the banter short.

“Didn’t Cash say something about the air conditioner being busted?” She points to the A/C still sticking out of the window. Didn’t he say it broke over a year ago?

I take a few long strides toward it and begin inspecting the damage. “Looks like there’s something wrong with the grate.”

Her eyes grow wide, and the smile that spreads across her face reminds me of the Cheshire Cat from that one book.

“Cash,” we chime out together.

Now that that’s settled, we need to figure out what to do with Kristine. Lyric’s mood changes suddenly.