Chapter Eleven #2
Kronos is a beautiful all-black Doberman whose head reaches my waist when he’s sitting .
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 a cat . 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 she doesn’t cash 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 then stayed .
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 he won’t be 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 the P and 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 her every day for three and a half years.
“For six months leading up to that fourth year, every other weekend I would pace or try to keep myself busy, but I would find myself sitting there, watching her sleep, play cello, draw, read … but it’s nothing like having her with me.” I admit, letting him know I understand his separation anxiety.
“You really had it bad, huh?”
I chuckle darkly. “You have no idea. The first weekend without her I watched her via camera for almost the entirety of her 72-hour visit. I barely slept or ate. I just had to make sure she was okay. At Lorne Wood it was easy for me to lie to myself and say I was just watching how she interacted with the general population but again, it was a lie.”
He stays quiet. "I had this girlfriend a few years ago. My first serious girlfriend. I thought I loved her. She did really bad things to me, and I forgave her a lot because I thought that was what love was, you know? Just kept thinking if I was a better boyfriend, or just a better man, she would get better at loving me, too.”
“But it didn’t get better?”
He shakes his head. “It got worse.” He swallows with a grimace.
“Raven… I think it’s so easy to love her because she’s so multifaceted.
Every day is different and even when we argue it’s so easy to find common ground.
I got so lucky. I got to fall in love with my best friend.
Even when she’s having a bad day, I feel lucky that I get to make it better for her…
Maverick is an asshole, but so are we. It seems all of our common ground is her.
I just hope he doesn’t fuck up again. Or me.
Or You. We can’t afford any more mistakes and Riordan and that fucking detective aren’t making this easier. ”
“Riordan?”
“He was at Inferno last night with his uncle. I thought you saw him?”
This is news to me. I shake my head. “What’s he doing back?”
“He was only on house arrest for thirty days.”
Ah, the privilege of being wealthy. I can’t exactly talk but then again, after Maddie was murdered, I never truly did anything that warranted my parents to worry about me until I was in college.
Even then, everything I did that was considered “rebellious” was done within reason. I was sensible with my stupidity.
I’m pulled out of my thoughts by Jonas’ phone ringing. He stars at the screen, the name Axehole popping up.
“You should answer.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Could be important.”
He sighs, answers but puts it on speakerphone. “Yeah?”
“Hey Jonas. My mom just wants to know if… you’ll be joining us for the Monroe holiday party since you’re… dating Raven.”
“No.” He answers sternly. His ability to keep his boundaries is astounding and it makes me proud.
“Jonas-“
“We’re spending it out of state. We’ll be gone till campus opens back up.”
“I… you can’t keep her from us.”
“Well, seeing as she’s not a dog or a child and she doesn’t want to be around Sofia, and I don’t want to be around Sofia or John or you, plus the Prescott’s will most likely be there since they were last year and all the years before we were allowed to attend, there’s no reason for us to attend.”
“What’s going on with the Prescott’s? ”
“Riordan is off house arrest, and I don’t want him anywhere near Raven.”
“I didn’t know that. I’ll try to get him off the guest list.”
“If you do, then we can talk.” He says, hanging up without a second thought. His knee bounces and soon he's pulling the tracker app back up. “Looks like they’re finally leaving.”
The rest of the car ride back is quiet, with Jonas baby talking to both Kronos and Lucifer. When we get home, Mav's Navigator is gone but a silver car is waiting by the gate.
“That’s Charlotte. She helped raise me. She’ll tell you to call her Lottie if she likes you.”
“Alright,” I say, opening the door to let Kronos out of the backseat. He stretches, yawns and shakes his body dramatically as though the hour car ride was too long even though he slept for most of it. I roll my eyes.
“C’mon boy,” Jonas calls, and the horse-like dog trots to him.
He greets Charlotte, a waif of a woman with a grey puffy jacket that reaches her ankles, thick, carrot-colored hair, green eyes and a Scottish lilt.
He introduces us, then introduces her to both pets as we walk up the steps to the front porch.
“Dannae what yer thinkin’ takin’ on a dog as big as an ass, boy.”
“Ahh Lottie,” Jonas laughs. “He’s just a puppy. He’s only two. He’ll get bigger. Besides, I can always buy a bigger house.”
Lottie gasps. “Yer lying.”
Jonas grins. “Yeah, I am.”
Charlotte huffs at him as I open the door to the house.
We take off our coats, hanging them then make it to the foyer where I switch on the lights.
Jonas sets Lucifer down, letting him out of his cage as Kronos immediately begins to sniff out his new surroundings, settling to circle in front of the unlit fireplace and drops.
Luci mimics him and finds a place to circle beside Kronos before he too, decides to drop on the ground and take yet another nap.
How odd.
Granted, I studied human behaviors and not animals but all in all, odd .
“Okay Lots, this is for my girl. We have… two hours to make everything perfect and three before the storm starts rolling through. Mom said you have to be gone before then or she’ll worry.”
“What? Don’t want me to meet the woman I’ve already heard so much about?”
“You’ll meet her soon enough, Lots. I’m gonna marry her. I ask her every day to marry me, and she laughs me off.”
“Hmm. I like her already.” Jonas growls at this but Charlotte scoffs and waves him off, but I can see she holds him dear to her.
“As fer yer mother, it’s just a bit of snow.
It’ll be fine. ‘Sides, yer ma also sent a few decorations.” I decide I love the way she rolls her R’s.
“Go, boy. They’re in the boot of the car, tucked in.
Priceless, she said, so be careful. Don’t want them to go out of my wages. ”
“Yes ma’am.” He kisses her cheek. In a low voice he murmurs, "If they came out of your wages, you know I’d replace them, Lottie.” Before he leaves us alone.
She looks at him fondly but when we’re alone she stares me down, green eyes sparkling in the lighting.I have to admit, I'm a little afraid of the five-foot-nothing older woman. “Yer taking care of my boy?”
“Yes, Miss Charlotte.”
She inclines her chin in a curt nod once, turning to look at the space she’s been provided to decorate. “ Agh , four weeks till the holiday and naught one piece in sight.”
“We’ve been busy,” I defend as Jonas comes back in, setting down about six bags and a large container full of ornaments.
“Looks like all those muscles are finally good for something,” Lottie grumbles toward the Wide Receiver and I can’t help but laugh.
Jonas raises his arms and flexes in response.
She hmmphs with an eye roll, totally unimpressed, then claps her hands twice only to open her arms at the undecorated space. “Alright boys, let’s get to work.”
I decide I like Lottie. Er, Charlotte.