Page 185 of Dark Love

“Why didn’t you tell me about her job?”

Payne looks up from his computer. “So she told you finally.”

“This isn’t a joke, Payne. Her job isn’t safe.”

“What does she do?”

Imogene is in my club? I spin around to find her lounging across Payne’s couch with a magazine in hand. “She’s a 911 operator.”

“How is that dangerous? Are you afraid she’ll fall off her chair?”

Take a breath. You’re a calm, reasonable man who doesn’t yell at women.

Often. “She’s dealing with all the crazy, drug-addicted criminal elements in Urbium.”

“She’s answering the phone. Not out there in the trenches wading in with the criminal element like two men I know.” Imogene looks between us. “Are you both so overprotective that you want a sweet little fifties housewife who never leaves the house?”

I shrug. “That sounds good to me.”

Imogene glares at Payne.

“What?” He grins at her.

“Barefoot and pregnant while chained to a stove isn’t a thing anymore.”

“I don’t know, half of that sounds pretty good to me.”

WHAT? Payne’s thinking about having kids with her already! It’s too fast. Dahlia and I haven’t even…

Don’t think about what can’t be. Dahlia would never want to have kids with you.

“Someone needs to teach the two of you Neanderthals about modern-day women.”

We know all too much about modern women. Dahlia is the perfect blend of a modern woman with traditional values.

This line of conversation isn’t helping. “How do I get her to quit?” Mostly I ask Imogene since Payne hasn’t helped.

Imogene laughs. “Does she enjoy her job?”

“Yes.” It kills me to say that.

“Then you don’t. You support the people you care about. You don’t mold them into…” Imogene starts to shake as her eyes fill with fear and tears.

Payne rushes over and takes her into his arms.

That’s my cue to leave.

Why won’t people give me the answers I want to hear?

***

It took all of two minutes to find a hole in their security. Two minutes. The only comforting part of this setup is that the place is swarming with police. Though dirty cops exist…

If she’s going to keep this job, I need to find a way to make Dahlia safer. A way that I can watch over her. Piggybacking on the video cameras seems like the easiest choice. But how long can we get away with doing that?

There’s no way a bodyguard will go unnoticed. I’ve already gotten the eye from several cops, and one or two are building up the nerve to approach me. It’s not like I’m trying to stay under the radar, leaning against a light post and watching the door.

Dahlia should be down in just a few minutes.

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