Oh my.
He doesn’t want to share.
“I felt like doing something different today and I love cooking,” I whisper, turning my head to the side to look back at him.
“Next time you can do it in our place,” he informs me.
Huh?
Our place?
I mean yeah, I have a house but we’d been staying here.
“Got a house, baby. You’ve been there, remember?” he grins.
Oh yeah.
He does have a nice place. It’s gorgeous and isolated. I like the idea of living in the middle of nowhere with no one around.
You can do so much without anyone around to complain.
“What about my place?” I ask.
“Do whatever you want with it, baby?” he shrugs. “It doesn’t matter to me. We’re staying at mine.”
“Hey, if you want, I’ll buy it from you,” Neo states having been listening to our conversation. “I would even rent it from you. It’s a kick-ass house and not too far away from the clubhouse.”
Blinking, I think about this for a moment while I let it sink in. I’m moving into Ranger’s, he didn’t ask but it’s a given. I’m not about to be too far from him. I don’t want to.
“Okay, if you want it, you can have it,” I say. “I mean it’s not like I’ve lived there in a while. I wasn’t even there before I’d been kidnapped by Ezra.” At the mention of Ezra, the room seemed to grow completely silent and I felt Ranger stiffen.
“Where were you living?” Ranger asks.
“A rundown apartment complex,” I say without hesitation. I don’t need to hide from him anymore.
“Anything you need to get from there?” This time it’s Stoney’s turn to ask me a question.
“Nope, everything of value is in a safe deposit box at the bank under Raven’s and Victoria’s names.”
“What?” Blaze demands, brows furrowed. “Do they know about this?”
“Ugh, no, they didn’t know about it. I put it in their names since what it holds would go to them anyway,” I shrug, placing the last of the dough on the cookie sheet. Stepping out of Ranger’s embrace, I lift the sheet, and move to the oven near where Neo was standing. Without thought, Neo even opens it for me. Sliding the biscuits into the oven, I check the time and set the timer before facing the room once again.
“What’s in the box?” Stoney gets to the question first.
“Several things really. Money mainly, there’s the deed to my house, my car, the cabin, as well as the house in Sandbridge,” I state, going over everything in my head that I had.
“Wait, you have a cabin and another house?” Nerd asks, shocked at this knowledge. “How come I’m not pulling anything up on those. I’ve run searches and didn’t find any of that. I even searched under Raven’s and Victoria’s names. I knew there was a safe deposit box. Figured it was theirs and didn’t bother asking about it. Wasn’t my business, since I thought their men would have known about it.”
“The cabin was transferred to Matthew’s name once he was born and the house is in Jamie’s name. No one’s going to look for infants owning property. I needed places to go and needed to be a ghost. The properties are still theirs regardless if I’m out of the game or not.”
“Hold on a minute,” Blaze mutters, stiffening. “You put a house in my son’s name?”
“Yes, because I knew if something happened to me, Raven would find out and this would give her and Victoria a chance to find a safe haven if need be. Especially for both of their kids. I’m not a complete emotionless bitch. I never was. I made sure to protect everyone by staying away as much as I could.” My eyes begin to burn with the need to cry.
“Baby, you’re good. No one’s mad at you. Blaze is just being defensive right now because of what happened to Raven and Mark,” Ranger mutters, reaching out to pull me into his chest.
“Agreed, it’s a good idea and appreciated. Now let’s hope we never have to use any of them besides for weekend getaways,” Blaze grumbles. “In fact, I need a key. Think me and Raven could use a weekend away. Long as one of the ol’ ladies will take the boys.”
“I’ll take them,” I murmur, speaking up without haste. I haven’t spent enough time with Matthew or Mark, and I want that chance. Besides, I know I could use the practice. I’m not pregnant but with as much as Ranger and I have been going at it, it’s going to happen sooner or later. Especially, since I’m not on any birth control and he’s not using condoms.
Glancing up to Ranger, I give him a smile and his eyes dilate. I know what that means. “Is it okay with you if they stay with us?” I ask him.
“Anything for you, baby,” he remarks.
With the way he says this, I know he means anything. God, I love this man. He’s my everything.
Nodding, I check the chili to find it is ready and begin scooping out bowls for everyone. When the biscuits are done, I pull them out and let the guys have at it. As they’re standing around eating, the door opens, and Rachel steps in looking freaked.
“What’s going on, doll?” Stoney asks the second he sees her as he puts his bowl down.
“I just received this,” she murmurs, holding her phone up with shaking hands.
“Fuck,” Stoney snarls, and throws the phone across the room and pulls his ol’ lady into his arms.
“What is it, Prez?” Ranger asks from next to me.
Everyone in the room goes on alert.
“Seems we’re not done with Spark and he’s making it known. Sent an image of my Corinne playing with Kayla and Mercy. Said they’re up next,” Stoney snarls.
“Who is this Spark guy?” I ask quietly.
“Bad guy, baby, he and his group kidnapped Cara and raped her,” Ranger tells me not missing a beat.
At the mere mention of it all a different
