Page 15 of Unholy Bonds

My head pounded. I rubbed my temple, grinding my teeth. Never in my life had I felt so inexplicably trapped, exposed.

“Can you, though? Wait?” Enzo asked.

“Well, I have nothing. I think even her blonde hair is a… wig.”

“Who the hell is this woman?” Enzo grunted, shaking his head. “It was like she came prepared for something like this. Why? How?”

“I don’t know.”

“I hate it,” Enzo said, punctuating his words with a punch to the wall.

“I can go back to the pub and ask the bartender. She might have used her card to pay.”

Enzo grunted. “A woman that careful, I don’t think you’ll find her there.”

“Fuck. I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do.”

When Matthew became nothing but bone and dust, Enzo quickly swept the remains into the tray and went through the rest of the process, softly muttering about what a fucking idiot I was. I had to concede. He put the bone pieces into the cremulator. The machine whirred, the sound strangely soothing, pulverizing the bone shards into fine ash.

Poof, and Matthew was gone. Enzo collected the ash, bottled it, and handed it to me. “Here’s to the Earth that has one less asshole.”

We walked back to the funeral home and sat down on the bench.

“Now, the woman…”

“My head’s killing me. I can’t think about her right now.” Every nerve in my body was strung tight and ready to snap.

“Go home. Go to that woman of yours—I mean, Vanessa, and stay away from trouble for a while,” Enzo said as he pierced me with a look that said how unimpressed he was with me getting caught.

“Vanessa isn’t my woman.” She’d never be. I wasn’t made for relationships; they’d only ever be a distraction, and I didn’t like distractions. I loved the simple arrangement I had with her. She called me when she needed the itch scratched, and I called her when I needed it.

“I wonder why she isn’t,” he said with a huff. I chuckled and shook my head. “She’s good for you, Ryden.”

“She may be good for me, but I’m not good for her.”

7

SPIDERS AND WEBS

RYDEN

Iwoke up with a curse. My bedside clock showed I was late for work. Cursing again, I got up and marched to the bathroom. After a quick shower and an equally quick breakfast, I was off for work. I parked my car in my usual spot and walked into the massive building, rubbing a finger against my head.

Sleep came later than usual last night, and now my eyes were burning like the bottom of hell. The woman was becoming more than a bother.

My phone pinged. My chief editor must have smelled me from the tenth floor.

Nat: Meet me as soon as you come in.

Sending her a quick reply, I walked into the waiting elevator. The woman next to me was drinking a steaming hot cup of coffee that smelled heavenly. I’d give anything to have that coffee. As if she could feel the hole I was staring into her coffee cup, she turned to me and smiled, pushing the coffee in my direction.

“You look like you need it more.”

“I should say no, but my head’s killing me, and I need that coffee. I can pay you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to.” She smiled kindly.

“Thank you. I work on the tenth floor. If you ever need something—”

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