Page 42 of Stutter

He visibly tenses before taking a sip and then relaxes. “Or I can stay.”

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“Hey, Lisa!” Jonas greets.

“Jonas, hey.”Lisais a petite thing with too many nasal piercings and pink hair. “Thanks for coming all the way out here. As you can see, the transfer went smoothly but unfortunately, our generator has been faulty, and the property manager hasn’t exactly been around unless it’s to grab their check. The last thing we want is for your new best friend to freeze if the power goes out.”

Jonas grimaces when he hears that. Lisa kindly walks us to the back where the cages and kennels are mostly empty.

Kronos is a beautiful all-black Doberman whose head reaches my waist when he’ssitting. He has not a spot or speck of color anywhere except one chilling blue eye, the other a soft golden brown with a splash of blue in the corner. He looks scary as fuck, but as soon as the pup spots Jonas, his tail wags so hard his entire body shakes. It’s when he stands that I see he’s not alone.

Lisa turns around, clasping her little hands together, and gives a small shrug. “So this little guy came to us last week while you were gone… and… well… it seems they’ve become best friends.”

It’s acat. It’s a tiny, itty bitty black fur ball with big green eyes and white paws.

The hope in Lisa’s eyes makes me crinkle my nose. “His name is Luci, short for Lucifer. We put him in his cage, but he manages to slip through the bars and goes to Kronos every night.”

“We’ll take him,” Jonas says easily, bending to pick up the fur ball. “Hey, little guy.”

“Jonas-“ I warn.

“Damon they’re the only ones left. Plus the house is so big.” He argues with a whine.

Fucking hell. He’s learned how to pout like my Amourette, and I groan, waving a hand in resignation. These two will be the death of me.

We let Lisa lead us back to the front and Jonas signs the paperwork, Lisa informing us the cat –Lucifer– had been de-wormed, vaccinated, neutered, and is flea-free. She also gives us enough food to last the storm, toys, and kitty litter. He writes a check out to the animal rescue for forty thousand dollars and leaves with an “I hope you have a really great Christmas if that’s what you celebrate.”

“Happy Hanukah,” she replies with tears in her eyes, still staring at the check in disbelief. I pull out my own checkbook and write out a check to her, specifically, as a tip. When she says she can’t take it, that Jonas' donation was enough, I merely tell her it’s a gift for taking care of Kronos for us while we were away and if shedoesn’tcash it, I’ll feel terrible. When she tries to decline it again, I make sure she feels extremely guilty for not wanting to take my money.

And we leave, Kronos staying beside me on a leash as Jonas carries Luci’s kennel in his hands, covering it with a blanket. Unfazed, Kronos jumps into the back of my car, laying down on the leather seats.

“I think we should decorate the house before she gets home from whatever it is that Maverick has her doing.”

I shrug, looking through the windshield, watching the sky above us darken as I drive. “Check the app,” I reply as a light turns red and the first snowflakes begin to fall.

Jonas laughs and says “Oh, duh,” his ability to laugh at his mindless tendencies makes me smile inside. He’s so carefree and easygoing, yet when it comes to defending Raven he’s always so serious, fierce in protecting her. “They’re still home.”

“I’m sure they’re making up for lost time.”

He scoffs at that, and I understand his reluctance with Maverick. After all, Jonas was partially right when he accused him of throwing us away like trash. Mostly Raven. I’m sure his annoyance was more so towards Raven’s blatant acceptance, but we have no idea what transpired in that VIP room. All we know is he could’ve taken her to his home, but he chose to bring her to us and thenstayed.

Where he belongs – with us.

The reminder of how easily he fit in with us as he traipsed around my kitchen already knowing where everything was this morning as if no time had passed was a breath of fresh air. While still a bit awkward, the cloud that consistently shrouds him when it came to us seems to have disappeared. He hasn’t apologized to us, and hewon’tbe apologizing to us. Men like Maverick speak better with their actions than their words and on some level, I’ve aspired to do the same. To simply do and be better when it comes to her.

The last thing I want to do is lose her due to my own stupidity. I consistently have to remind myself of the bigger picture. That soon, all of this will be behind us, and I can’t help but hope Simon Hoover has the last remaining answers she’s looking for.

“I texted him to let him know we’ll be home in an hour or so, but to keep her away for a bit longer so we can put up all the holiday décor. Remind me why you don’t have a maid to help us, again? I’m pretty sure all of this would go a lot smoother if you did. Oh! I know!” He swipes at his phone quickly and it chimes with an incoming message not even a minute later. “Mom’s sending Lottie to our place, but she has to leave before the storm hits. She said her favorite weatherman is anticipating eighteen inches of snow.”

“Alright.”

He taps the kennel with his fingers, drumming them to a beat only he hears, then begins to tap his toes on the floorboard.

“Something wrong?” I ask.

“Nope…” He pops thePand looks out the window as we drive away from the storm and closer to Kingson. “Just get antsy being away from her too long.”

Isn’t that the fucking truth. I clear my throat, “When Raven gained bi-weekend visits home, I hated it. I used to count down the hours until she was in my ward again. I had a camera installed in her bedroom at Monroe mansion the day I went to inspect it and make sure it was safe before I could approve her visiting home again – asked Sofia for privacy while I inspected every square inch of the room. I mean, I saw herevery dayfor three and a half years.

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