19. Kiera
KIERA
I moved to the kitchen table to give Spencer some space to arrange the plates, but the seat was far less comfortable.
Dom sulked directly across from me, refusing to even make eye contact as she waited for our little roommate meeting to start.
But I couldn’t be bothered to put up a stink about her shitty attitude through all of my racing thoughts.
Does she know that Spencer and Leo know about us? Should I tell her?
We’d never explicitly discussed keeping it a secret, but it clearly wasn’t something either of us were proud of.
The thought was broken as the back door swung open to unleash an 80-pound ball of fluff upon the kitchen. Panting and slobbering, Lady charged right for me, crashing her heavy skull into my thigh.
“Jesus, Lady,” I groaned, rubbing my sore leg. “Gonna give yourself a concussion.”
“She’s excited to see you,” Leo crooned from the doorway. “Can’t say I blame her.”
I rolled my eyes, cupping Lady’s big head in both hands and giving her a scratch behind her ear. “Your daddy is very silly.”
“I thought I was Lady’s dad,” Spencer protested, spooning fluffy scrambled eggs onto a plate.
“She can have multiple dads. We’re a modern family, isn’t that right little girl?” I cooed, planting a little kiss on her forehead.
“I’m not that thing’s dad.” Dom grumbled.
Leo sighed, taking a seat beside me and scratching Lady’s haunches. “Makes sense. She’s too sweet to have come from you.”
Dom rolled her eyes. “Ha-ha-ha, very funny Sergeant Chucklehead. Can we talk now, or do you need to test some more material?”
“We can’t meet without something to eat!” Spencer called over her shoulder.
“How fucking long does it take to plate scrambled eggs?” Dom growled.
“Can’t rush art!”
Glancing at the back door, I furrowed my brow at Leo. “Is Viv…?”
“Finishing up some pruning in the garden.” She nodded before calling back to Spencer. “Set aside a plate for Viv?”
“Already on it,” she nodded before wheeling around with four plates stacked across her arms in an expert waiter's carry. It was a more decadent version of the breakfast I’d planned for everyone — toast with butter and raspberry jam, herby scrambled eggs, and an assortment of fresh cut fruit.
“Thank you,” I murmured. My stomach was already growling as she set a plate down in front of me. Once everyone was settled in, Spence dished Lady a small helping of eggs and fruit, before taking her seat on my left.
“Alright,” Dom grumbled, not even bothering to touch her utensils. “Enough bullshit. I’ve got an update from The Oracle.”
“Really?” Spence sat up straight. “Why didn’t you lead with that?”
Ignoring her, Dom turned her gaze to Leo.
“We can’t head home just yet thanks to the looky-loos Zeus has circling the house.
But we can’t hide here forever. Too many assets in one location, too far from Valemont to be of much use.
So The Oracle is seeking out a safehouse closer to home.
Somewhere we can be safe from Zeus’ reach while we put our plan in motion. ”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I swallowed, poking at my eggs with my fork.
I half expected her to ignore the question, but apparently, this was the one context where she could suspend her irritation with my existence.
“It’s the only idea,” she sighed. “Every day I’m away from Zeus’ offices is an extra bit of power Isaac and Gabe are able to claw away in silence. We need to keep the pressure on them.
“Plus, there’s no better way to get them off the house than to have me coming in to work from a different location. They’ll waste time and resources chasing their own tail, and once they move on from the house, we can finally go home.”
Hope warmed my chest at the thought, catching me off guard. Viv’s house was lovely, but at some point, that old mansion had become a home to me, and I was surprised to find that I missed it.
“Thank god,” Spencer sighed. “When can I let the kids know?”
Seeing her relief made me smile. She’d been relatively good-spirited about the extended stay, but I could tell deep down that it made her anxious to be so far away from Abi and Caleb. She’d been texting them constantly, jumping every time her phone pinged unexpectedly.
I knew Caleb’s birthday was coming up, but it wasn’t just that. It was clear that she was worried that they might need something back in New York, and that she wouldn’t be there to help them.
My mind drifted back to the black eye Bill had given Caleb all those months ago. I hated to think of what else Spencer might have seen that had kept her so on edge.
I wonder if she’s ever been this far away from them.
“You can let them know once we reach the safehouse. But you can’t tell them where we are. Zeus should have no idea who you are, but until this is over, I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Spencer nodded, already typing up a message to Caleb checking in on how his night was.
But across from Spencer, Leo frowned thoughtfully. “I hate to ask this, but… are we sure that Kiera’s not safer here?”
The question was a shock to my system. “What do you—?”
“I’m not leaving her here,” Dom barked before clearing her throat. “We need her in New York for the plan to work. We’ll be able to protect her just fine.”
A beat of silence followed as Dom shoved her first bite of eggs into her mouth, swallowing hard.
“My mother already has the paperwork sorted. We’ll fly out once the safehouse is arranged.
When the Oracle gives their clearance, Kiera will file with one of their lawyers in New York to claim her shares.
And then, her involvement is out in the open.
Zeus will know that their days are numbered. ”
The weight of that reverberated through the group like a dropped boulder. It had been easy to fall into a routine here, to pretend that we had normal lives, or something close to it. But back home, what waited for us wasn’t just chaos; it was total carnage.
Every day brought us closer to a reckoning. But only time would tell if it was ours or theirs.