It was all a lie. Well, it wasn't, but it was less than fifty percent of what she thought it should be. Our lives together were based on routine, rote... and unfeeling expectations.She'd bought me a present. That was nice, no denying it. But what she'd bought me had zero thought put into it – I already had a tracker for my bike – my iPhone. Deanna had been with me when I'd bought the mount for it. She hadn't been paying attention and was on the phone in the store, but she was there, and I had been. Just enough to pay for a meal, a mug of ale or two or whatever small trinkets happen to take his fancy at the market they were passing through at the time. If he had cause to purchase anything expensive William would instruct them to seek payment from Tristan The Merchant who he had arranged to handle his accounts in exchange for all his best cargo while in port.It was a short but bumpy ride up to the governor's residence. The mansion itself wasnestled in amongst the wooded hills that. After getting dressed in pajama shorts and a sweater, Stacey trotted down the stairs to the kitchen where her step mother was loading the dish washer before bed. “Daryl tried to peek at me naked again,” she complained.“Really?” Lauren was not all that concerned, or perhaps she was not convinced.“You don’t believe me?” Stacey crossed her arms. “What if I get Dad to kick him out?”“Why are you doing this?” Lauren groaned. “Even if he was looking at you, he’s not going to do anything. You two hate. He walked round the vehicle and retrieved his own gun from the foot well on the passenger side. Now he was ready to try to show Gavin that he wasn't a kid who needed looking after. A flaw in his plan now became apparent however. There was no sign of Gavin in the darkness and James' only clue as to where he might have gone was the gate they had passed earlier. He decided to set off in that direction.Finding the gate unlocked, James slipped through it and tried to follow the path that ran beyond..