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“Your temporary residence, that’s what it is, given the current state of your house.”
As soon as we’re back inside the truck, my shoulders droop, and my head falls back as exhaustion swamps me.
The last thing I want to think about is how my house now matches my love life and life overall, which is to say it’s totally fucked up.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Wilder
“So, are you going to tell me what actually happened inside my house, or do I have to drag it out of you?” Maven stares at me with a curious yet relentless expression on her face.
I lean back on the chair inside her temporary residence and smile. “I don’t know. What does dragging it out of me entail?”
“You won’t like it, I promise.” She points her disposable chopsticks in my direction. “Promise,” she repeats with a teasing grin.
Knowing I won’t get out of this conversation, I figure out how to tell her as much of the truth as possible. “There were a couple of Kings inside, but they didn’t exactly tell me what they were looking for.”
“Was Cyrus with them?”
I nod.
“Did he say anything?”
I can’t figure out if she wants that or not, so I shrug it off. “He said a lot of shit, Maven, most of it not fit for a lady.” I run my hand over my face and sigh. “I shot at him.”
She gasps, chopsticks frozen between her box of fried rice and her mouth. “You shot him? Is he dead?”
I know in this moment that I can’t put this information on her. Not now. “I said I shotathim. He ran like a coward out the back door while I gave his boys a beat down,” I lie, hating myself for it.
“So he’s still alive?”
I nod. “Happy?” Another lie.
She shakes her head. “I don’t know, Wilder. I mean, I don’t exactly want him dead. What I know of his transgressions doesn’t warrant death. But alive means he’s still trouble for me, and that doesn’t feel like a victory.”
Her honesty is refreshing, and dammit if it doesn’t make me like her even more. “That makes sense.”
She blinks. “It does?”
I nod. “Yeah. It makes a lot of sense. You’re a good woman, Maven, and you don’t deserve any of this, but you’re handling it like a champ. Being good doesn’t mean you don’t want bad shit for bad people who deserve it.” Her hazel eyes grow wide and disbelieving. “And just so you know, next time, I won’t miss.”
Her lips slowly tug into a wide grin as she scrapes her eggroll through that disgusting duck sauce. “I’m sure you won’t.”
“Got that much faith in me?”
“Not faith, confidence. You have proven yourself a capable scrapper, and I assume the military made you an excellent shot.”
I shrug at her unintentional compliment. “Shooting is kind of a requirement.”
“Even for a government computer super spy?”
I laugh. “I think I’ll let you write my Army bio, Maven. You make me sound cool.”
She rolls her eyes and laughs. “Like you don’t know you’re cool, Wilder. I’ll bet everything came to you so effortlessly in the Army. You’re justthatguy.”
I like the guy she sees in me, as even if it’s nowhere near the truth. “I wish that was true, babe.”
Her eyes go wide. “It’s not?”
