Page 92 of Kylie

I understood that.

I was curious what prompted the changes. Not because I didn’t like it. I simply wanted to know what had been going through their minds these past couple of years, what had happened while I wasn’t there.

But those were questions I would hold for a little while longer. Rather than rapid-fire them at Travis and Gage, I opted to process what they’d told me, what was going on around me, and let it simmer for a while.

Now, as I sat on the couch with my babies, watching Despicable Me and listening to their giggles, some of the stress of the day had eased. I still felt like a live wire, but for the moment, I wasn’t sparking. I was sure that the anxiety would return soon enough. Until that time, I was content to sit with Kate and Avery, both girls cuddled up to my sides, while Kade, Haden, and Maddox sat on the blankets they’d spread out on the floor, their attention laser-focused on the television.

This was nice. It brought back memories of before the unspeakable happened, before I died. Good memories. The ones that I had clung to when I’d been chained to the floor in that house, melting in that room, starving⁠—

“Mommy? You okay?”

Kate’s voice pulled me from those thoughts, and it was then that I realized I was shaking.

“I’m good, baby,” I lied, willing it to be true.

She cuddled closer, and I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. God, how I’d missed this. Spending quiet time with my babies. Sure, it had been a rare occurrence back then, considering their ages, but there had been moments like this.

It would’ve been easy to dismiss what Martin had done, to shove aside my need for vengeance. After all, I had this, so it had worked out in the end. Or it would. I needed time to acclimate, but deep down, I had hope that we could create a new path together.

That was the old me, though: The hopeful optimist always looking at the bright side.

The new me … the one who’d somehow survived these past two years was not going to sit back and let Martin get away with what he did. I would find that bastard—with or without Travis and Gage’s help—and I would make sure he paid for what he’d stolen from me.

And them.

Travis

“What’re you workin’ on?”

I looked up from my desk as Gage walked into my home office. I sat up and turned my laptop screen so he could see.

“We’ve got to get Kylie some clothes and shit. She said she doesn’t want to go shoppin’ right now, so I figured I’d order some stuff online.”

“Yeah … about that…”

The odd tone had me looking up at him. “What?”

Gage pursed his lips and walked away, heading for the window that overlooked the front yard. The sun had set already, so it was dark, but the front porch light highlighted a portion of the flowerbeds. It wasn’t impressive, so I knew this was Gage’s way of preparing to tell me something he didn’t think I would like.

And wasn’t this an interesting turn of events? I was usually the one staring into space, trying to come up with a logical explanation for something I’d done. It was kinda nice that I wasn’t in the hot seat for once.

Figuring he would get to it soon enough, I leaned back in my chair and watched him.

Less than a minute later, he turned to face me. “I … uh … I might’ve kept some of Kylie’s things.”

Frowning, I waited for him to elaborate.

“Back when we were cleanin’ it out, you had me take it all to Goodwill.”

“And?”

His expression was a mix of pain and … embarrassment, maybe. “And I couldn’t do it, so I rented a storage unit and put it in there.”

I sat up straight. “You said some things. How much?”

“All of it.”

“Everything?”