Page 136 of Dark Surrender

“Whenever you’re ready.”

“And when’s that?”

“When I figure it out.”

“Are you worried about goin’ home?”

“Nope.”

I grunt at his bullshit. “Liar.”

Pops shoots me a sidelong glance. “You almost died. We’re gonna stay here however long it takes. A few months to get you right is better than burying my kid.”

Yeah. Yeah. I guess he’s right. It’s not like I’ve had any choice in any of this, anyhow.

I bump my shoulder into his. “Sounds like you might like me.”

Dad shoves the side of my leg and laughs. “Oh. Fuck off. Don’t make it weird. I love you.”

“None of this has anything to do with you marrying my Kali, does it?” I check.

“No. Why would it?”

“Extending the father-son bonding. Ya know. Sharing a room with me. It hasn’t been just us for what? Two decades, at least. We did a lot together when I was a kid. Then I joined the club. Things changed. I married Kali. Had kids. You were out cleaning up club messes. Disposing of bodies and shit. We haven’t exactly gotten to do this.” I wave around this magical place.

Tipping his head back, Pops stares at the clear blue sky. “Life does have a way of makin’ ya slow down, huh? It kicks ya in the nuts and makes ya stop to realize what matters.”

I hum in agreement. “Yeah. It does.”

“Even if our women end up pissed at us, I don’t regret doin’ this,” he adds, even though the jury is still out on how I feel about it.

“You’ve been collecting eggs,” I throw out to change the subject.

“I’ve made friends with a feral cat, too.”

That’s true. He did.

“You think she’d wanna come home with us? Lily wants a cat. Maybe a sassy furball will help cushion all this.” I gesture to my body, face, arm, all of it.

“She doesn’t need to be cushioned from that. You don’t look… that much different.”

Turning my face to the side, the good side, I pose. “Normal Dad.” Turning my head the other way, I caress the golf ball-sized, gnarled scar on my cheek that runs like a river to my eyebrow. “Two-Face Dad.”

Pops shoves my shoulder. “Shut up. It’s not that bad.”

“You’ve had time to adjust. They haven’t. It is that bad.”

“Whatever. It doesn’t matter. They won’t care.”

“Iris might.”

“She won’t.”

“What if she’s dating someone?” I ask, voicing the possibility for the first time. It would gut me. But it’s not like I could blame her.

“We kill him?” Dad deadpans.

I roll my eyes. “Ha. Ha. Old man.”