As they’d reentered the hell of their past in Argentina, she hadhelped him reduce his walls to nothing more than the posts buried deep within him. Posts he’d planted darkly and deeply to keep the monster in its prison. The things he’d done for his blood family, and afterward, that made him feel unworthy of a good life. Definitely unworthy of her. But if she was there in that lobby, he’d take it as a sign that she was able to help him uproot those posts and deal with whatever slime crawled out of the holes.
Time seemed to stretch as the elevator dinged, signaling they’d arrived at their destination, and the door opened into the lobby. All the men stepped back from Steel, leaving him by himself at the entrance.
Glancing out into the lobby, he saw all the women and children, huge smiles on their faces. A few of the kids held pictures they’d drawn or other things they had to give their fathers. A chorus of “Welcome home!” rang out. Midas’ girls, Shakira and Ona, with Gem’s help, had gotten into Nemo’s confetti cannon stash, and all three set them off at once, showering everyone with colorful paper pieces.
His brain registered the commotion, but his eyes were glued to the woman in the center of the line.
Daleyza.Belleza. She was here.
Someone gave him a gentle shove out of the elevator.
When he was standing by himself in the center of the lobby, all the children and women came up to him to hug him and welcome him home personally. As families were reunited, they got into the elevators and headed to their apartments here at Tribe.
Daleyza was the last to step up to him, her hand brushing over the laceration at his left temple. “Decided you needed a matching set to the one you got in Argentina?”
“You can thank Scheherazade for that. Rabbit looked like a terrorist, I guess, and she ran right in front of me. Knocked me into a metal pipe.”
“Okay, otherwise?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
The last few Tribe members entered the carriage and disappeared, but Steel and Daleyza still stood in the center of the lobby. He’d never been so nervous in all his life. No idea why. But she’d been here, waiting for him. Nothing felt more right in his world at this moment.
Someone had sent the elevator back down to them, and the ding of the bell broke their stare.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
“Just for the sight of you.”
A blush spread quickly across her cheeks, and she looked down at her hands in front of her.
A laugh hid behind his voice. “Are you embarrassed,belleza?”
“It’s just…”
“Just what?”
She rolled her eyes, gave a little huff, and transferred her weight to one foot as she crossed her arms. “The women. They had a bet going on how you’d react to your first official welcome home. They put it on Midas’ board and everything.”
He laughed in earnest now. “Kubrick’s doing, I’m guessing. I’m surprised they didn’t start betting on the men sooner.” He stepped up closer to her. “What were the options?”
“Kubrick said you’d carry me off to the shower.”
“Think that’s sort of a one-and-done thing for us.”
“Gem said we wouldn’t make it out of the elevator, and everyone should be prepared to walk several flights of stairs for the next twenty-four hours.”
“Has merit.” He put a hand behind her neck and pulled her close, snaking the other arm around her waist to anchor her in place. “Flame?”
“Handcuff me to the bed so I couldn’t run away.”
His forehead touched hers, as did the tip of his nose. “Lost the key. You’d be stuck there for quite a while. What did Cherry guess?”
“Something I can’t repeat.”
He turned his head, tapped his ear, and put it close to her mouth.
