Page 8 of The Syndicater (Dark Verse 6)

Zephyr turned to him, walking around the table to plop down on his lap as had become normal for them. None of his meneven bat an eyelash at it anymore. In fact, after the funeral, they had closed ranks around her even more protectively, somehow adopting her into their odd family. Zephyr had quit her job and stayed home, locked in with the dogs, for a few days. Her mother had wanted her to divorce him, and she had refused, causing a rift that took more toll on her. Everyone had seen her sink slowly into a depression. Alpha had tried to get her out of it, but it hadn't worked. And somehow, to his surprise, his men had stepped up. They had visited her just to check up on her and sneakily dropped the info about struggling with paperwork at the office. Hector and his allies being out had left the company in a lurch, that was true, but they could hire whatever help they needed. However, just to get her out and about, they had pretended to be helpless.

Knowing his struggle with reading, Zephyr hadn't even hesitated and began coming into the office daily.

And it had helped.

Working, getting out, interacting with others, it all had helped a little. She had taken over his entire paperwork, working with a few of his men to ensure everything ran smoothly, contacting clients and women alike, writing emails, and becoming the one all came to for trouble. He knew she was trying to distract herself with the new work, leaving her old life behind, and he didn't blame her for it. His men had moved a separate smaller desk and chair for her in the office, facing the windows and the endless vista outside. They brought her lunch from her favorite place down the street. They made sure her tumbler was always full of whatever beverage she wanted. If she wanted something, she just had to say the word, and she had it. His men, all the ones remaining out of loyalty to him, adored her. They had all suffered and seen the worst in life, and somehow, they'd collectively made it their mission to get her bright and happy again.

Alpha loved and hated it in equal measure. He loved that she was so loved and adored as she should be, but he hated all the male attention on her, even though they all treated her like a little sister more than anything. So, her sitting on his lap made his breathing easier.

He put a hand on her hip, caressing her softly in a way he knew she liked, feeling her relax into his body as he gentled her.

"Hector is dead," Alpha told her, feeling her stiffen. The man she had once considered a friend too had scarred her so deeply. He had made her lose the man she loved for ten years and then made her lose the sister she loved forever.

Her hazel eyes turned to him, a hardness in them he hadn't seen before. "Did he suffer?"

Alpha nodded, and she exhaled against him. "Good. Thank god for whoever killed him painfully."

The fact that she had wished a brutal death for him spoke volumes. He let her be and looked at Victor again. "Keep me updated with any new findings. I want to know everything."

Victor gave a crisp nod before spinning around and leaving the office.

Alpha relaxed slightly, focusing on the woman in his arms. "How you doing, rainbow?"

Zephyr shrugged.

"Talk to me, baby," he urged her softly, wanting her, needing her to communicate with him, to tell him what was happening because fuck, he wasn't a mind-reader, and he couldn't help her if he didn't know what was going on in her brain.

She looked down at the ring on her finger, a ring he had gotten her without much thought but had somehow been perfect for her. He looked at it as well, wondering if there were days she regretted marrying him. Though she had told him that her sister's death wasn't his fault, he knew her parents, her mother in particular, blamed him and his involvement in their lives.Zephyr had made it clear that she knew her past would have caught up to her sister regardless of whether Alpha was in their lives or not. And she had made it clear that she would've become involved in this dark world regardless because of her sister.

Alpha knew all that, but a part of him wondered if there was a part of her that had regrets. His presence in her life had brought her nothing but pain, not now, not ten years ago. She had mourned him first, though through no fault of his, and now she mourned a sister she had loved with all her heart. Alpha couldn't even imagine how that felt, never having had a sibling of his own. His relationship with Dante was good now, albeit a little complicated, and had happened too late for him to understand the depth of that bond growing up. But beyond that, his wife now mourned the loss of her old life and, possibly, her relationship with her parents because of her choice to be with him.

"I'll be okay," she spoke to their hands, holding his tightly, hers round, soft and small, his muscular, rough and large. Yet, she held his, squeezed it, reassuring him in a way the doubts cleared from his mind.

He watched her spin the ring idly, the different jewels casting colorful reflections on the wall with the sunlight hitting them.

She'd told him one night about how he'd promised it to her as a young man, and somehow, even without his memories, he had delivered it. Some days, he wished he could remember the large gap of nothingness. He had bits and pieces up until he was twenty-ish, but things were so fuzzy after that. What he wouldn't give to remember her, justher, if nothing else. He wanted to remember who he had been, what his dreams, his goals, his desires had been. He wanted to remember who he had been to her, how he had felt for her, if it had been pure with the innocence of youth or dark with the turbulence of circumstances. He wanted to remember her, how she had been, pages of their story together wiped from existence for him butnot for her, a burden she bore alone without being able to share, and it made him feel helpless. He wanted to share with her, to remember, reminisce, recreate.

He wondered some days. Were memories something he had or something he lost?

He touched her ring, bringing her hand up and pressing a kiss to it.

Zephyr needed physical validation. He didn't know why, but touch grounded her for some reason. He didn't question it; he just gave her free use of his body. Though, understandably, she'd not used it for weeks. While he had given her kisses and cuddles, and she had accepted them, she hadn't initiated any touching on her side for a while, let alone sex. Sex had always been incredible between them; it had helped them connect before anything, and they had been insatiable together. He knew if he initiated it, she would accept. But he didn't want her to accept; he wanted her to participate.

But he understood her hesitance, her reluctance, and he gave her the space she needed.

But his dick didn't understand. After being sated for months, it had become addicted to her. For his dick, her curves pressing against him meant a good time. Alpha would be as patient as needed, but he wished his dick could get with the program.

Fuck his dick.

Not literally.

Shit, he needed to stop thinking about it.

"Hubby?" Zephyr called softly, and he focused on her voice, trying to keep the blood from going south. Fuck, he loved it when she called him the silly names. He had missed that inherent playfulness she had.

"Yes, wifey?" He played along, hoping to cheer her up.

"I can feel your little monster poking my ass."

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