Page 11 of Nest Of Lies

I let out another hysterical laugh and get behind a big tree. I turn to face him but keep the tree between us, firing whenever he tries to get around.

Ranger howls with every hit, dramatically letting loose a series of exaggerated roars that have me crying in laughter.

These are the high moments of my life.

So many long stretches where the seconds turn into forevers, those painfully lonely moments where I stare at walls and fall slowly and irrevocably into a maze of dark thoughts. And then these. Light. Laughter. Fun. They blaze into my world like comets of starlight.

How could I possibly not fall in love with them?

Ianto calls Ranger, and the laughing alpha stops, glancing at me. My laughter fades away, and I’m swept into the black hold of my thoughts once more.

Don’t go,I want to plead.

Stay with me a while longer.

I don’t say any of those thoughts; instead, I watch as Ranger lifts a hand and then turns and jogs back the way he came.

A young man with a leather jacket jogs onto my property a few minutes later, bobbing his head in a polite greeting as he picks up the jello throwing machine. I stand there with my water gun hanging by the tips of my fingers and watch as they disappear back from where they came.

Alone in my tower once more.

Chapter four

Mills

“Look, I’m just saying,why can’t she come over here? Why can’t she come visit? Listen to some music. Dance.”

“You just want to get her drunk, Ranger, so you can kiss her again.” I keep putting the finishing touches on the cupcakes and stand back to admire my work.

It’s Ianto’s birthday, and the boys are here. Most of them are drunk already, but not us. Ianto will appreciate the effort I’ve gone to. The cupcakes are chocolate covered in green icing with a white chocolate corpse, lots of raspberry blood, and a dark chocolate knife. They are cute as fuck.

The music is thumping through the house, and I can hear the boys having a great time.

Ranger climbs up on the bench, glaring at me. “It’s not that I want to get her drunk. I just hate seeing her sad, and she never has any fun.”

“She has fun,” I say absently, checking the cupcakes with the skull designs. Perfect. We both know I’m lying. There is nothing more heartbreaking than Aurelia Raines.

“She lives in that fucking mansion alone, Mills. No staff, no family, no friends. No one visits her.”

“You spend a lot of time watching her when you should be minding your own business. We have problems in house,” I hiss.

Ranger snarls and brushes his auburn hair back. “It’s not right, Mills, and you know it. The bond goes both ways, ‘brother’.” The way he snarls that word at me draws my attention. “I can feel how much you want her.”

I sigh and stomp over to him, leaning against his side so my mouth is by his ear. “You’re going to want to shut the fuck up. If Zaden hears you, it’s not goingto be good.”

“Admit it, then,” Ranger snarls. “Admit you hate seeing her like that. Tell me every time we have one of these parties, you don’t think of her and wish you were there instead of here.”

“We are an outlaw motorcycle gang. We are a pack on top of that. She needs someone who is going to take her to fancy restaurants. She doesn’t need a bunch of thugs who drink too much, party hard, and ride harder. Lia is something special, Ranger.” I pause. “Besides, after what happened last week, with Peter Lucy letting us know we have a leak and needing to shift our entire base of operations, I don’t think it’s a good time. Whoever ratted out our business to the cops was someone on the inside.”

“You sound like Zaden. That was really good. You had all his inflections down perfectly. The thing is, Mills, I’m getting sick of hearing it. She needs us.”

I open my mouth to argue, but the feelings I’ve developed for our mysterious neighbour have woven throughout my entire being, and I can’t find any words to argue.

With a growl, I step back and return to my cakes, but my eyes turn to the window. Lia’s mansion is a black, shadowy shape. Only three lights are on, the downstairs and two upstairs.

There is no sound coming from her home. No sign of anyone at all.

She is all alone. Achingly alone.

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