“Of course. I’ll wake you if I need anything.” He takes my hand in his. Within a few minutes I fall asleep. A few hours go by before Rascal is waking me up.
“Hey, Princess. Wake up, we’re almost there.” He lightly shakes my arm.
My eyes flutter open. I slowly lift the seat back up, glancing out the window as I do. “Where are we?”
“We’re driving through Memphis now. The safe house is just north of here,” he tells me.
Being in Tennessee is a first for me. We drive out of the city and the further out of the city we get, the more beautiful the scenery. Thirty minutes after I wake up, we’re pulling down a dirt drive surrounded by giant oak trees. A couple minutes later, we come to the most beautiful cabin I’ve ever seen.
“This is where we’re staying?” I stare in awe.
“Yup, what do you think?”
“It’s gorgeous. So peaceful.” I grin. A sense of calm washes over me. Being here, away from everything, will be good for my soul.
“Wait until you see the inside. You’ll want to stay here forever.” Rascal chuckles.
“Well what are we waiting for? Let’s go inside.”
23
Rascal
I knew as soon as everything went down last night, I would be bringing Marley here. Bull has had this house for years. He bought it in a fake name to make it harder for our enemies to find it. The house sits on ten acres of land completely surrounded by trees. If you don’t already know where it is, your chances of finding it are slim to none. You have to pay close attention or you’ll pass right by the dirt driveway.
I grab our bags out of the back seat before leading Marley up the porch to the front door with Raze and Minx close behind us. I unlock the door, letting them in first. Raze moves toward the keypad to disarm the alarm. The security system set up here is high tech. Tech set it up with the best of the best.
Marley’s eyes are wide as saucers as she takes in the interior of the house. When you first walk in, the dining room is to your left and to your right is a staircase that leads to two bedrooms and a bathroom. We walk straight ahead into the living room. The layout for the kitchen and living room are open.
“Why don’t y’all take the master bedroom and we’ll take one upstairs,” Minx suggests.
“Are you sure?” Marley gapes at her.
Minx smiles at her. “Of course! Make sure you take full advantage of the bathtub in the master bath. It’s the greatest bathtub ever!”
“It’s a good thing I brought some bath bombs.” Marley giggles. Minx and Raze disappear upstairs to put their bags away.
“Follow me, Princess. I’ll show you to your room.” I walk into the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. “The master bedroom is to the left, that’s where you’ll sleep. I’ll be in the room on the right, so if you need anything I’ll be close by.”
Her eyebrows pinch together. “You’re not going to stay in the master bedroom with me?”
“I figured you would want your own space.”
She nods her head and takes her bag from me. Walking into the room, she closes the door behind her. Something tells me I fucked up. I sigh and walk into my own room. Dropping my bag on the floor, I fall back onto the bed and stare at the ceiling. My eyelids become heavy. Before I fall asleep, I hop up and head to the kitchen.
“Get settled in okay,” Minx asks.
I shrug. “Yeah, I wanted to come check our kitchen status before I passed out.”
“Pops had someone stock everything up for us before we got here. There’s a shit ton of food here,” she tells me.
“Good. I really didn’t want to go buy groceries.”
“Where’s Marley?”
“In her room,” I say.
“Her room? Y’all aren’t sharing a room,” she asks.
“No, I didn’t think she would want to.” If she were anyone else, I wouldn’t be talking about this shit. I’ve known Minx forever and she’s always been able to get me to talk. Hell, she can get anyone to open up to her. It’s a gift of hers.
“You’re an idiot, you know that?”
“What the fuck, Minx?”
“Truth hurts and it needed to be said,” she dead pans. “Do you really think she wants to stay in that room by herself?”
Before I can respond, Marley walks out of her room.
“Hey! How are you feeling,” Minx asks her.
“Better now that I’ve showered,” Marley replies.
“Did you see that bathtub?”
“It’s huge! I decided I’d save that for another day.” Marley giggles and it goes straight to my dick. “So, Romeo. What are you making us for dinner?”
“Oh, I like the sound of that.” Minx laughs. “You can wake Raze up to help you if you want.”
“What the hell? How did I get nominated for cook?”
Marley shrugs. “Sounded like a good idea.”
“And I second it so it’s settled,” Minx adds.
I shake my head. “There’s no getting out of it, is there?”
“Nope!” They say in unison.
“You’re lucky you’re cute.” I point at Marley. “Just know, I’m not taking requests. You eat what I make or you don’t eat at all.”
“Yes, sir.” Marley salutes me and I can’t help but laugh.
“Mar, would you like something to drink?” Minx offers.
“I’ll have some water. I’ve taken a couple hits of my pen and don’t like to mix drinking with smoking,” Marley says.
“You got it!” Minx goes to the cabinet for cups and fills them both up with water. The two of them move to the living room and collapse on the couch. I scour the cabinets and fridge to see exactly what we have and what I can cook. I decide on a meatloaf. My grandmother’s recipe to be exact. I begin gathering everything I’ll need for it.
I set the oven to preheat and get started mixing everything together. I watched and helped my grandma make this meal so many times, I don’t even need to follow a recipe. She always eyes her measurements when she makes it, and that’s how I learned, too. Once I have the seasonings mixed in with the hamburger, I form it into a loaf and place it into a casserole dish to bake. As I finish washing my hands, the oven dings, letting me know it’s ready. I slide the casserole dish into the oven and start to work on peeling potatoes.
“How’s it going over here?” Marley moves to the sink to fill up her water.
“Lonely. Wanna keep me company?” I wink at her.
“You sure you don’t want some space?” I deserved that. She walks away without another word. The corner of my mouth twitches as I fight a smile and I shake my head. The sass is strong with her. I have a lot of groveling to do to get back in her good graces. I have a few ideas up my sleeve.
Right before dinner is ready, Raze makes his way out of their room. He stops in the living room, giving Minx a kiss before coming to sit at the kitchen bar.
“Have a nice nap, Sleeping Beauty?”
He flips me off. “What smells so good? Did Minx make dinner?”
“No, asshole. I made dinner.”