A Very Venom Christmas - Kristine Allen Page 0,15

a sigh.

“Yes.” It was all I gave her, and I knew it wouldn’t satisfy her. As expected, she frowned.

“Why didn’t you just give it to her? It was only sitting there rusting away.”

“First of all, it wasn’t rusting away. They kept it in covered storage and started it regularly so it didn’t go to shit. Second, if I’d tried to give it to her, she would’ve refused.”

With pursed lips and narrowed eyes, she gave a snort. She knew I was right.

“Why did you hold on to it so long if you were just going to sell it for pennies on the dollar?”

The real reason was one I wouldn’t discuss with her. When I was younger, I’d planned to keep it for my first kid. It had been my old man’s truck, and he’d given it to me for my first vehicle. When my life went to shit after the army and I realized the issues of the gift I had, I had it stored away. That was easier than facing the fact that it would never get passed down.

“She’s your friend, and she needed a vehicle” was all I would say.

“Hmm” was her reply. “I’m a little worried about her. That’s why I was looking forward to seeing her.”

My attention was piqued, but I tried to play it cool. “Oh, yeah? Why’s that?” I took another drink of water and casually picked up my phone, acting like I was scrolling through something.

“Nothing specific. She mentioned that her back porch light was busted out after it got fixed. There were other things, but you’d have to know her to know it was… oh, I don’t know… off, I guess you’d say.” My grandmother’s forehead pinched as she tapped her fingertips nervously on the table.

“You want me to see if Snow can have his boys check on her? Or I can check on her when I get there. If you think you’ll be okay until Raptor gets here, I was thinking about heading out tonight, packing the rest of your stuff up early in the morning, and burning home.” I made the offer sound casual, and as if it was a favor to her—not personal.

Truth be told, I wanted to check on Loralei myself. Since our night together, she’d plagued my thoughts. Hell, she lived in my dreams. I did my damnedest to convince myself it was due to the strange fact that she hadn’t responded to my empathic abilities.

That was bullshit, though. It didn’t matter that she was an enigma. She was too fucking young, and I didn’t do goddamn relationships.

“No, Decker. Don’t send Luke by. I wouldn’t want her to think someone was following her or checking up on her that she didn’t know. I’m not sure she would appreciate that. She’s very private. If it was you, it would be like family was stopping to say hello. Right?”

My eyes narrowed at her overly innocent expression. Deciding maybe it was an incredibly bad idea to see her, I set my phone down. “Grams. They can be discreet, you know. She’d never have a clue. But if it set your mind at ease, I’d have them do it. The doc said you need to keep your stress down,” I countered. It was true, but also a conveniently applicable reply.

“Well, if you think they’d have time. It would actually make me feel better. As far as I know, the poor girl has no one. Though I’d really feel better if it was you,” she insisted on tacking on.

“I’ll call them.” I was texting Snow as we were talking, asking him to call me when he got a chance.

“Thank you. I appreciate it. Now get out of my house. I need to tidy up for my company.” She stood from the table and brushed me off with her hand.

“Grams…,” I drew out in warning.

“Oh, stop. You know I’m only teasing. I’m too damn old for him, but it doesn’t mean I don’t like to browse the buffet.”

With a groan and chuckle, I stood and gave her a hug. “Love you, Grams.”

“I love you too, boy.” If anyone else had called me boy when I was sure as hell a grown-ass man, I’d have been pissed. With her, I laughed with fondness.

“Goodnight.”

“Same to you. Now shoo! Get on the road and be safe.”

Her laughter followed me as I stepped out into the early evening and trudged through the cold to the main house. I’d no sooner stepped through the door when my phone rang.

“Snow,”