Page 54 of The Bloke

“You need to open up to me if you want this to work,” I stated, trailing my hand to the back of his head, playing with his soft, messed-up bedhead while the other gripped the back of his shoulder from under his arm.

He sighed, dropping his head down to the pillow and burying his face in the crook of my neck, his warm breath doing nothing to cool my flushed skin. Colby always had me burning for his touch.

“Where do you want me to start, love?” He mumbled into the pillow, and I tilted my head to rest against the side of his.

This conversation wouldn’t be easy for either of us, but I was prepared to keep an open mind. I was sure I had already seen the worst—I hoped.

“Fallout,” I answered, considering my next words. "Why was it so easy for you to kill that man in the alley?” I knew the answer; I saw it in his eyes that very night. But I wanted to hear him say it, to tell me that he did it for me.

“There are two answers to that question…” Colby spoke as he lifted his head to meet my eyes, shifting his weight to the side. He fell back onto the bed and pulled me up against his chest as if I were about to bolt from the room at his following words.

“One, he was touching you, and that alone drove me over the edge.” He ground out through a clenched jaw, his eyes shifting across the room as he recalled the events of that night. “And two… I was ordered to.” He hesitated with the last part, glancing back at me nervously as he spoke.

“You get orders to kill people?” I asked, simply curious.Why was I not surprised or phased by this?“Are you some kind of contract killer? Is that why you can afford all of this?” It would explain a lot. There was no way a simple male revue dancer and bartender could make enough to live a life this luxurious.

Suppose my suspicions were right about him.

“No.” He chuckled, gently running a hand through my hair and massaging my scalp as he did so. “I’m not a contract killer… but occasionally I have to perform jobs like one.” He sighed, breaking our eye contact to stare up at the ceiling.

“I don’t understand—”

“I’m a member of a secret society…” He started, sighing heavily with the burden his words carried. “We run the Strip, and the jobs are both to maintain order and keep the revenue flowing.”

“How did I not know this?” I shook my head in disbelief.

After living here for over five years, how could I not know that a secret society like this even existed?

“It’s not common knowledge. Only those who belong know its existence and how to identify its members.” Colby held up his right hand with the black ring, and I looked down at my wedding ring. They were made from the same black stone. Obsidian.

That explains a lot, actually…

“You don’t seem too phased by any of this information.” He voiced, taking my hand in his and interlacing our fingers together.

Did it phase me? I was shocked, I’ll admit, but was I really? I knew something was sketchy with his penthouse and everything that had gone on between us.

Was my reaction, or lack thereof, a red flag? Should I have been more perturbed by his words?

“I—No… I’m not.” I stammered, looking from our joined hands back up at him. “Is that bad?”

He laughed with what sounded like relief, relaxing into the pillows and squeezing my hand lightly.

“Love, absolutely nothing you could think or do would be bad. Not in the least.” He rubbed his thumb around the back of my hand. “I thought you’d be halfway out the door by now if I’m being honest…”

“What if I told you I thought the same thing about you?”

Colby huffed with a soft smile, shifting his grip and pressing a kiss to the palm of my hand.

“There is something that might change your mind…” He swallowed, contemplating continuing with his train of thought.

“Go on…” I encouraged. “It can’t be that bad.”

Whatever he had to tell me, I could handle. What could be worse than being married to a man who murdered problematic people?

“When we are initiated into the secret society, we must complete three tests, all of which entail spilling blood.” He paused, waiting for any kind of reaction from me, and when I said nothing in return, he continued, “As a wife of a member, you aren’t required to complete three tests, but you do have to pass one.”

And that is where my stomach leaped into my throat.

“I—I have to… kill someone?” I breathed as my eyes widened at the thought.

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