Page 102 of Heart of Frost and Scars

I’m still stuck on the part where no one fucks her but him.

The walls close in. My chest pushes out. An animalistic sound rumbles in my throat, a warning of the bloodshed to come.

“Breathe.” Kody stands behind me in the narrow hall and hooks an arm around my waist, holding me back.

“I know you’re fucking her.” Monty slams his hand against the wall beside my face, a loud cracking echo. “I can’t stop you. I can’t…” He sucks in a breath, his fingers clenching around the glass of bourbon. “But I do not want to see it, hear it, or have it flaunted in my face. Give me that much.”

“Two versions?” Kody pushes me to the side, squeezing past me. “What does that mean?”

“When we’re discussing business and planning your dreams, you get the brother. When we’re working out, dealing with Frankie’s therapist, or taking driving lessons, you get the brother. But right here, right now, I’m the husband. The husband in love with his wife. If I find you fucking her in my goddamn bed—” he stabs a finger at his suite “—you get the husband, not the brother. Understand?”

“Yeah.” Kody pushes back against me, stopping me from slipping around him. “We get you.”

“I need to hear it from Leo.”

He’s not demanding his wife back. He’s asking us not to be cruel.

“Yeah.” I drag a hand down my face and rein in my temper. “I get you.”

“Good.” He straightens, cracks his neck, and continues down the corridor like nothing happened.

I trail behind, my mind swimming. “So Dr. Jekyll is the brother, and Mr. Hyde is the murderous husband?”

He pauses and pivots to face us. “Put yourself in my shoes. How would you deal with it? What would you do?”

If I was married to Frankie and she loved two other men? I would steal her back, force her to be with me, whatever it took. I guess that makes him a better man than me.

“That’s what I thought.” He clicks his tongue.

“Am I talking to the brother or the husband? Because I’m a little confused.”

“The brother. Try to keep up.” He turns away, striding across the deck toward her.

“Good and evil are so close as to be chained together in the soul.” I shudder.

Kody grunts. He knows the classic lore of Jekyll and Hyde too well. Denver used to read it to us during the long, monotonous months of darkness.

Monty delivers the bourbon to her and heads in the direction of the galley.

The midday sun hovers, casting a glow over everything, especially Frankie.

I prowl toward her.

She was my only source of light in the hills of shivers and shadows. In the halo of sunlight, she shines even brighter, glistening with warmth and luminescence, her expression serene, a rare and precious kind of peace.

As I press in behind her, she reaches back, her hand slipping into mine. The touch of her skin calms me, centers me. I squeeze her fingers, grateful for her presence.

“What happened?” She glances at Kody, who follows Monty to help him with the food.

“Ask Mr. Hyde.”

“Uh oh. That sounds ominous.”

I tell her about the conversation at the bar and his offer to help us. Then I recount the confrontation outside his suite and his warning about his dual personalities.

She loosens a breath. “Why can’t he just move on?”

“Impossible.” With my arms around her from behind, I drag my nose through her hair, inhaling her cherry scent. “No one can move on from you. You’re the ultimate destination.”

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