Page 31 of Griz's Edge

“We’ve already had this discussion. I ain’t leavin’, Marley. When it comes to you, sweets, what that shit is in that box, it’s my business.”

The way her eyes seem to flare and her body tenses, I wait for what she might say next. I’m not about to let her piss me off. Not after we’ve established some of the bullshit between us. I won’t let her go backward on any of it.

Marley opens and closes her mouth several times before clamping it shut once more. Stomping forward, she grabs her coffee mug and again and stomps off toward the kitchen.

It’s all I can do not to laugh at the tantrum she seems to be having and yet controlling herself from saying something. Something she probably knows will get her in trouble. Not in trouble with me, well it could, but who the fuck knows.

I wait for her to come back into the room, the coffee mug still in her hands. It seems my woman really likes her coffee. I wonder what else she likes besides that. I want to know moreand more about her. Learning her favorite foods, shows, movies, all of it. I want to know.

Slowly, Marley comes to sit next to me, not looking at me directly but at the little box.

“Grandma Ryan gave me the box a while ago. It was my mom’s. Seems my mom had a stalker years ago. I’ve been going over them to figure out any clues as to who it might have been or if I could find the person responsible for them.”

“Did you ask your mom about them?”

“She refused to answer me about them. Honestly, she was furious I even brought them up and that I had them. My dad, he’s protective over my mom, he lost it. I’d never seen them like that, especially toward me. I’d come back home, and though they’ve called and texted, I haven’t really talked to them much since going home and asking them about them.”

“And you didn’t think you looking into those letters that the person who broke in was associated?”

“They can’t be related because I hadn’t fully started looking into them,” she denies and shakes her head. “I was going to start looking into records this week.”

“Why would you want to look into something that obviously freaks your parents out?” It doesn’t make sense to me.

“Because my mom had a stalker and because of this person, Mom rarely ever comes here. It’s why she wants my grandma to move closer to her, so she doesn’t have to come here. Whoever it was, was never caught.”

“Did she say it was her stalker?”

“She didn’t have to. What’s in that box is more than enough to prove it. On top of that, the way she reacted when I asked about them. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to come up with the logic for it. I know my parents. Whoever it was, had been and probably is still dangerous enough to keep them from coming back to where my mom’s from.”

That was as good an explanation as any.

“What did your friends have to say on the phone?” I ask, changing the topic.

“That Montrell was dead.”

I don’t miss the sigh of relief that the man was dead.

Cocking a brow, I shift to face her. “Dead?”

“Yep.” She nods, sets her mug down, and faces me. “Grail reported Montrell bought a bullet to the head from a rival, and his little band of misfits has dispersed. Without the head of the snake, they were lost and went separate ways.”

“Guess that’s good,” I grumble and reach for her.Grabbing Marley’s hips, I drag her over my lap until she’s straddling me. “We’ll figure out who it was that broke in, sweets. Until we do, though, I want to get Keys to set up a security system.”

“I already have one. I don’t?—”

“The one Keys will set up is top of the line, better than anything on the market,” I interrupt her, not letting her finish her little protest. “You gotta stay safe, and this is one way to do it.”

Marley watches me for a long moment before nodding. “I take it Keys is some electronic guru who is also the same guy you had look into me.”

“Yeah,” I confirm, giving her a grin. “The one and the same. But don’t call him an electronic guru to his face. He’s got enough of a boosted ego he doesn’t need more.”

Laughing, Marley relaxes into me and leans forward to rest her head against my shoulder. “I guess I can let Keys put in a new system.”

“Good.” I kiss the side of her head and give her a squeeze.

“You know it’s kinda weird you’ve got a friend you call Keys, and that’s my last name. Keys isn’t his last name, is it? That would be a bit freaky.”

“Nah, he’s called Keys cause of how fast the fucker can type.” I snort, leaning my head back.

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