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He grinned a sleepy smile. “That was really good. But for fuck’s sake. Go running. He won’t shut up until you do, and I want my blanket back.”
“Traitor,” I mumbled, taking Kian’s offered hand and letting him pull me up off the floor. I glared at them both, hating that my phone said it was only six in the morning. “I’m sleeping in Fang’s room tonight.”
Vaughn sniggered as he rolled over onto his stomach and tucked his hands beneath his pillow. “We’ll see you in there for group activity time around eleven then?”
I hated that I had no comeback.
Because I wanted that.
“When I get back all sweaty and gross, I’m wiping it all over you,” I promised him.
But he was already asleep again, his breathing deep and even.
Annoying man. Shame I loved his stupid handsome face.
Kian pushed me toward the closet I’d unpacked all my things into, and a few minutes later we were both decked out in running gear. Kian bounced down the hallway, already warming up with side-to-side steps and fast little runs on the spot.
I dragged my feet, feeling anything but chirpy. This hour of the day was never going to be my friend. Neither was exercise. But I’d been making more of an effort ever since the incident outside the concert. I’d won that day, but it had only reinforced that Caleb wasn’t a man who gave up.
He would try again.
When he did, I’d be ready.
Right now, he seemed focused on getting custody of Hayley Jade. But I never left the house without my knuckle-dusters in my pocket. I’d asked Scythe to get rid of my gun, explaining I didn’t want to have it on me if Hugh’s body was ever found. I wanted zero evidence that could be tied back to me.
Scythe, of course, had found that insulting, claiming his bodies were never found and neither would Hugh’s.
I hated he was buried beneath my mother. But I had to hand it to Scythe, it did seem like the ideal place to get rid of a body.
“Five-minute warm-up jog, fifteen minutes of running, five-minute walk, then we go again for the last fifteen. Yeah? After that, we can do a weights session.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “You saying my muscles aren’t huge already? We’ve been training for weeks.”
He eyed my chicken legs and untoned arms. “I’m not saying that, but your muscle mass is about on par with Hayley Jade’s.”
I slapped his arm. “Hilarious. Come on. Let’s get the torture over with.”
For all my complaining and my dislike of the hour, these training sessions were helping. Each day we ran it felt a bit easier. Each time he made me lift heavy things; I felt a little stronger.
It was all I had while we waited for Caleb to show his slimy face again.
At the top of the stairs, I paused at Riva’s bedroom door. It was open a crack, but no sound came from the other side.
Kian gave me a sad look. “I heard her crying again last night. It went on for hours.”
“Again?”
He nodded.
My heart clenched for the woman who’d lost everything. Her partner. Her best friend. Vaughn was here, but he and Riva hadn’t really talked much since Karmichael had been escorted from the house. I’d tried assuring her it wasn’t her he was mad at. That he was finally processing his grief, so he was kind of just mad at the world.
But I could see the way he held her at bay was hurting her.
So I’d been doing everything I could to keep her busy. I’d asked her to teach me how to cook, and I’d made all sorts of things with her hovering over my shoulder, watching me measure out ingredients.
But there was really nothing more I could do, other than let time heal the wounds and try to be a good daughter-in-law. That was something I never thought I’d care about, but it was kind of an ‘eff you’ to Brooke, who I was still holding a grudge against for all the shit she’d brought on us.
It was kind of nice to have a mother figure in my life. Even before my mom had died, it was something I’d been severely lacking.
