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Breathing out a sigh, I look between Lion and Papa. “Now what were you saying?”
A look passes between the two of them before Papa leans back in his chair and flexes his fist on his knee. “You remember much from when you were a little girl?” I blink, running the edge of my thumb over the bottom of my lip. I pretend that it’s to check my blood-red lipstick, but really it’s to form a long enough pause to decide how to answer.
“A bit. Why?”
The skin on the corner of Papa’s eyes wrinkles as his smile softens and his hand rests on my knee. His tattoos are old now, faded from sun and aging, but he still looks like a badass. “How much?”
I shake my head, looking back into the house until I catch Jade’s eyes. “I think it’s time for a drink.”
“Principessa!” Papa says, his hand coming to my arm.
“No!” I snap, spinning back around to look down on him. “You left, Papa. You left Mama and me to pick up the mess you left behind. I thought you were dead, so everything I did, I did in your honor. To make you proud, and all along? You were alive. And now you want to talk aboutmychildhood? About some vague note that was inside a parcel that fucking Wicked gave me after he goddamn kidnapped me and traumatized me inside a maze with a bunch of hillbilly fucking weirdos that sit around campfires and burn people on upside-down crosses? Hmm? Fuck you.” I yank my arm out of his grip. “Fuck both of you. I’m having a drink, and then maybe—maybe—I won’t accidentally kill you both for the shit you’ve put me through throughout the years.” I continue toward where Jade stands, holding a bottle of tequila in one hand and two glasses in the other.
Her green eyes are wide. “I get the feeling you’re a tequila girl…”
I take the glass from her and trail behind as she takes us down steps that lead to the area downstairs. “You guessed right.” This is a clubhouse I definitely expected. There’s a bar at the back with a flag hanging above the liquor cabinets. Couches are against one side of the room, where a billiards table is in the middle. A stripper pole opposite the other side, and more lazy seating. The main door is rolled open, so you can see directly out the front to where the parking is and where bikes are lined, separating the entry to the front area, and around the back of the bar, there’s an identical door that’s open with more tables and seating and where the bar wraps around to be mirrored. That side is widened out to see the mountains in the back and greenery. Unfortunately for me, I also know that a few yards back from there, there’s a stack of bodies on a mountain of one another. I wonder how the hell they’re going to get rid of that. Fucking Gio. I know he had his hands in helping Papa.
“So…” Jade directs us to the other side of the bar, sitting on a swing chair hanging from the overhead pillars. She pats the spot beside her. “This is my favorite spot since being here. At least I can look out at the mountains and pretend my man isn’t a complete psychopath.”
I snicker, rolling my lips behind my teeth to stop my laugh. “I don’t know what the fuck is happening.”
“You don’t know me,” Jade says, turning her body to face me. Music is blaring off behind us, and I can hear more bikes rumbling into the entrance. “But I think I have a feeling of what is going on between you and Wicked.” I take the first sip, hissing when the tequila burns its way down my throat before settling in my belly. “You and he?”
It’s a question, and one I don’t mind answering because it’s too obvious to ignore even if I wanted to. “It has happened. Continues to happen.”
“Really…” Jade smiles proudly. “He’s so secretive and—”
“—annoying?” I add, and we both laugh. For the first time in years, with the exception of Betty, I feel my age. Like the world and life I was thrust into can fucking wait. Also knowing Papa is still alive has taken a load off my shoulders, even for just a few moments.
Jade’s laughter dies out and she looks out into the far distance. “I knew Wicked when he was younger too. I heard your little spew to your dad inside, and I feel like it may be the same place I met him.” I shift around to face her while running my fingers through my hair. It’s dark, but not as dark as Jade’s. Her black strands offset her light eyes, though, a little similar to mine. Maybe he has a fucking type.
“You knew him?” I flex my fingers, watching as the sun hits the diamond rock on my finger. It was a gift from me to me.
“Well, I knew him to an extent. I guess you could put it that way.”
I leave the words between us. I’m familiar with old skeletons and not wanting to resurrect them.
“What’s happening?” Poppy comes in with the other girl in tow. She has silver blonde hair and tattoos all over her skin. They both drop down on the sofa opposite us.
My cheeks sting as my smile widens on Poppy, watching as the sun sets in the background behind her. “I can’t believe you are alive.”
“Ditto! I thought for sure you and Wicked would have killed each other.”
“Oh…” I chuckle, taking a sip of my drink and moving my hair to the side. “Trust me, we almost did.”
Poppy’s smile widens. “You look amazing. I loved you as a blonde, but I’m digging the brunette vixen.”
Sighing, I swirl the drink around in my glass.
“That bad, huh?” Poppy adds, and my eyes slowly meet hers. It’s the first time I feel sadness creep into my bones and chill meto the core. I spent years keeping a wall in front of my emotions whenever I left my house. It was a ritual.
I nod slowly. “Yeah.”
Poppy shuffles her body forward, resting her hand on my knee. “We can talk about this later.” She leans back on her elbows, wiggling her brows. “But update me! You married?” I drift off into the distance, tracing the outlines of the high peaked mountains behind the trees where the barn is. Little do they know, the kind of ugliness that lies deep inside.
“No!” I whisper. “Not married.”
“Ahhh, but she does other things!” Val kneels down beside me.
