Page 80 of Storm

“Apparently.” She pauses, so I give her time to decide to say whatever she wants. If she asks me to not come over there tonight, I’ll give her that much. “Christian said you laid into my dad pretty hard.”

I don’t say anything because she knows I did. Then, there’s a loud sigh from her end.

“You should have told me you were going over there. I’m annoyed by that, by the way. But thank you. All of my brothers are already apologizing for monopolizing my time and some of them are already begging for rides to come visit. You started a shitstorm, you know that, right?”

Both of my brows hit my forehead. I wasn’t expecting that from her. Not one bit and now I don’t know what to say. “I, uhh… You’re welcome?”

She laughs softly. “I’m just saying, I appreciate the white knight routine. I could have handled them, but it feels nice to have them all sucking up, even if it doesn’t last long.”

“You’re welcome,” I say again, more firmly this time. “Do you, umm, do you need anything else before I get back?”

“No, Richard. Thank you, though. I’ll see you when you get here.” She must have handed back the phone to Tatum, because his next words have me rolling my eyes.

“Damn, I was about to get popcorn to listen to the ass chewing. Hey! That hurts, woman!” I chuckle, listening to him tease her. “Alright, man. Drive safely, and we’ll see you when you get here. Kev ordered pizza for dinner. We’ve decided it’s going to be a cheat night.”

I press on the gas so I can get back to the house a bit quicker. “Sounds like a plan. See you in a bit.”

Hanging up the phone, I relax into my seat and let my smile take over for the remainder of the drive, feeling as though I’ve maybefinallydone something right.

CHAPTER 37

MIRIAM

Sitting on the couch, I keep peeking at the door every time I hear the slightest sound. I’d love to go out there and walk around, but this damn bed rest is really fucking up my sense of body autonomy.

Finally, there’s a soft door slam followed by Tatum and Ezra immediately heading out the front door. Kevin is at the station for the evening, so it’s just been those two with me all afternoon.

More uneasy feelings of guilt fill me when everyone but Kevin strolls back in with hands full of bags and a couple of suitcases. Standing, I barely have a chance to say, “Let me help,” before Richard glares.

“Miriam.” His censure annoys me, but I decide to meet them halfway.

“I won’t go out and carry stuff in, but I can at least sit on the bed and unpack everything.”

He considers it, then gives in. “I think that would be fine.”

Smiling happily, I take my time heading into the room so I can enjoy being on my feet and stretching my legs for a bit. Being restricted is making me more tired than the pregnancy and I feel as though all I do is sleep now.

They leave me alone for a few to grab the last load and I balk when it hits me that Richard went through all my things. I panic before remembering there’s nothing he would have found. “Ezra!” I shout, biting back a laugh as he practically falls through the door in a rush, dropping a small box on the floor.

“What?” he asks, glancing around the room to see what I’d need him for.

Holding up my hairbrush, I point it at him. “You still have something of mine and I want it back.”

The concern he was wearing immediately flips to one full of mischief. “I won’t. Doctor’s orders, remember?”

Richard enters the room as I hiss, “I wasn’t going to use it,pendejo!”

“Ezra, what’d you do?” Richard asks, clearly used to my bouts of anger as he nonchalantly sets his load next to me and looks around. “I’ll stay in here while you sort through this and put away where you want it.”

“Stop!” My order freezes Ezra as he was attempting to sneak out of my room. “I want it back, Ez.”

He shakes his head slowly, denying me. “I can’t. I’ll get you something better.” Then he spins and races from the room, only to slam into Tatum. “Sorry, bud. I’ll be back!”

“I’ll go sort him out,” Tatum says with a laugh, then leaves to follow Ezra outside.

I’m chuckling softly as I turn and find Richard watching me. “What was that about?”

With a sigh, I fight the blush heating my face and fail miserably. “Ezra took something from my apartment a while back. Would you put these in the top drawer over there?”

---