Page 25 of Dead Woman Walking

Kyler fills the space next to me, pulling me close to him. Jax hops back into the driver seat, and Evander gets in the passenger side.

With a look in the rear mirror at me, Jax pulls out and begins our long drive home. Kyler keeps his hands on me, and Evander reaches back to touch my thigh. Their hands rubbed me, reminding me that I was there with them. The sun is peeking by the time we pull up to our home.

Our home…

I thought I would never have a home ever again, but I quickly found that being with them was the only real home I have.

The moment Jax pulls into the garage, he hops out of his car and rounds it to the trunk. My head follows. “What is he doing?”

“Bonfire,” Kyler smirks, getting out and pulling me with him.

We all follow Jax through the house and move to the backyard. He throws the bag of clothes and doses the stuff with lighter fluid. Lighting a match, he freezes before he looks over at me. Then he jerks his sharp tattooed chin at me.

Slowly, I move forward, eyes locked on the last of the evidence that could connect us to what we did. Our fingers brush as I grab the matches then strike one. The smell of the powder burns my nose a bit. I throw it right onto the wet bag. Instantly it catches on fire, the heat blazing my body.

I stare for a moment before I feel hands on my hips. I can tell by the length of his fingers, it is Evander. “I’m going to cook.”

“I’m just tired, not hungry,” I mutter.

“Can I at least bring you something, just in case?” he asks.

I nod before pulling back from him. “I’m going to go to bed.” I desperately want to look up at him and give him a kiss, but I feel exhausted. I don’t want them to push about why I’m not feeling good.

Evander pulls me back to him, kissing my lips before I can stop him. I melt, tilting back to kiss him back. He pulls back with a small smirk. “Good night, Artemis.”

“Thank you for everything… all of you,” I announce to them.

Jax watches the fire, lighting a blunt off it. He just nods.

Kyler moves to me from the back patio, pulling me into a hug. “We are here for you, even Jax, who will probably just slap you around and be mean.”

I chuckle.

He kisses my lips briefly before pushing my curls from my face.

Without another thought, I move to Jax who is inhaling his smoke, and kiss his cheek. I doubt he wanted to be all affectionate after today. His dark eyes watch me as I trot back to the house, pushing the double glass doors open.

A few days later

The last few nights have been extremely rough for me. I could barely eat or think or do anything. To the point where Jax forced me to shower and watched me the whole time so I didn’t just sit there and wallow. Part of me was guilty that I didn’t feel guilt for killing my rapists. Part of me just felt emotionally drained and needed a moment to heal again.

But today, I finally woke up and went down the stairs. From the loft areas, I can see Evander eating in the beautiful open kitchen. It took him a while to remodel it the way he wanted. He is the chef of the house, despite working with computers. Kyler turns from the huge sofa, seeing me at the bottom of the steps. He is playing games on the flat screen, and instantly, a smile is on his face.

“Hello, beautiful,” he chimes at me.

“Hi. Is Jax working?”

He nods before patting the open couch beside him. “Want to play with me?”

“I’ll watch. Let me get a drink first,” I tell him, shuffling to the kitchen with my head down.

Evander stares at me from the island, slowing his eating.

I open the fridge, grabbing a water bottle before turning. Jolting, I find Evander right behind me.

“The fact that you only said hello to Kyler, out of all people, hurts me, Goddess,” Evander states.

A smirk curls on my face as I look up at him. “Oops. Hello, Vander.”

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