Page 238 of Dark Love

“Barb? This is about Barb?” Shock is dead. His dumb idea to protect her is going to end up getting her killed.

“You sound more irritated than surprised.”

And I let down my poker face for just a second. “If it isn’t one employee getting in trouble, it’s another.”

Torment’s face remains impassive, but even I didn’t believe my own excuse.

“Would you like me to do a bit more digging? Or remove the problem for a while?”

The problem is Shock, not Barb. If I didn’t need him so much, it would be tempting to have him disappear for a long while. “Thank you for the offer, but I’ll take care of it.”

***

“Your friend is nice,” Dahlia says as the elevator door shuts.

Nice isn’t a term anyone would use to describe Torment… hence the name. I don’t want to waste another second talking about anyone else. I wrap my arms around her and pull her in close. “Breakfast was delicious.”

“Thank you.” She tips her head up towards me.

“There were vegetables in it.” Lots of them.

She smirks. “It’s hard to make a grilled veggie sandwich without them. I love the grill on your stove. Maybe I should upgrade the one in my house.”

“Or we could just get a grill for the backyard.” When it gets warmer, it’ll be nice to cook in her backyard.

“That’s a great idea.” She pushes up on her tiptoes.

I lean my head down, teasing her just a bit. “You know you have to leave for work soon.”

“Then I’ll just have to be a bit late.”

Kissing should be a legitimate excuse to be late to work. I’ll add it to the handbook I don’t have later.

She Went Over The Fence

Vex

I’m going to kill Shock.

Then, when I’m done with him, Payne can kill him. I should read Payne in on the fun that’s about to happen.

Me: Dahlia and I had company this morning.

Payne: Who?

Me: You owe him $20

Payne and Torment have a running joke that the other lost a bet and didn’t pay up.

Payne: Oh?

Me: On my way into the office to deal with it.

Payne: Imogene is sleeping. We can be there in an hour.

Me: Let her sleep.

I’m about to wake up Shock and rearrange his face. This all stems from his nutty idea to protect Barb when she didn’t need protecting…

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