Page 57 of Truths

“Something edgier than William?”

“No offense.”

Laughing, he just shrugs. “Want a beer?”

“Sure. The longer I stay away from my house, the better the chance of Lex kicking Dax's ass, so I don't have to get involved for trying to get inside the house.”

They walk into his house, and he sits at the kitchen table after grabbing two beers from the fridge. “I need to tell you something.”

“What's up?”

“What has Lex told you about my... whatever you want to call it with Marnie?”

Opening the beer, Colt laughs. “That's not really telling me something, but she hasn't mentioned much. Just that you were basically screwing in secret, and then she suddenly wanted to kill Marnie.”

“Seriously?”

“You didn't know? She almost hit the woman in the parking lot when she gave her back her panties from you.”

“Why?”

He shakes his head. “The thing you have to understand about my wife is that she's loyal to a fault. You earned her loyalty, and she'll go down swinging for you. So you better never betray her because getting on her bad side sucks.”

The idea Lex feels protective of him feels strange. Good, but strange. “I fell in love with Marnie.”

“You did what now?”

“I fell in love with her even though I knew it was stupid and pointless. I'm not good enough for her, but-”

“Why aren't you good enough for her?”

Laughing, Venom looks around. “Look at me, man.”

“I am.”

“I'm dirt.”

He lifts an eyebrow. “Let my wife hear you say that. I dare you.”

“I'm nothing. The only thing I'm good at is scaring people, and I've been told since I was a kid I was never going to be anything. That I'd never be worth anything or worthy of anyone. I guess I just lived up to that low expectation. Part of me thought Marnie might feel like it was worth taking a chance, but she just saw me as something to use. And as much fun as it was physically, it was killing me inside.”

“It's good that you called it off.”

“I killed the owner of the bar for her.”

Setting the beer down, Colt blinks. “Say that again?”

“She was acting weird at the clubhouse. It was before we hooked up, and she said it couldn't be a club problem. Her boss caught Snake on video dumping a body, and he was going to force her into sex acts to keep it from the cops. So... I killed him.”

“What'd you do with him?” he asks, leaning forward as though listening to a ghost story around a campfire. “Where is he? He's been missing since...”

“I murdered him? Yeah, I forced him onto his knees like he did to her, and made him think he'd have to blow me. Then I shot him in the groin before popping a few rounds into his skull. Then I... put him through a meat grinder and fed him to the pigs on a farm I know about.”

Whatever Venom expected, the laughter from Colt was not it. He tosses his head back, laughing so hard he has to hold his sides. “You... You... You put him through a meat grinder? How?”

“I had to go and buy an industrial one. I'm the type of dude who can't let go of an idea once it comes into his head.”

“That's fucking beautiful,” he says, wiping his eyes. “Can I tell Lex? Please?”

---