Page 34 of All's Fair In Love & War

I let out a short laugh. “I never said you weren’t the best at what you do.”

She stood and walked toward me, robe clinging to every curve like it knew its job. “I’m the best, and I’m just thorough. Don’t forget that.”

I watched her, lips twitching. “Thorough, huh?”

She leaned in, brushing her fingers across my chest, then looked up with that smug glint in her eye. “Yeah, thorough. Too bad you don’t have time for one more round. I would really show you how I put it down since you’re questioning my thoroughness.”

“If I didn’t have shit to handle, I would let you show me,” I replied, my dick hardening with the thought of having her lips wrapped around him again.

“And that would be the reason you never stop coming back.” She shrugged like it was just a fact, not a flex.

“And you call me cocky.”

“And as you say, I’m not cocky. I’m confident,” she replied, making me chuckle.

“Sure you are.”

Tandy tapped her finger against my chest, then turned away, grabbing her phone off the nightstand. “You don’t admit it, Khalil. I know what it is.”

I reached for the door, but paused, giving her one last look. She was standing in the light, robe barely closed, skin glowing like she belonged on a damn billboard.

“I hear you. Just make sure you look good next time I see you,” I said.

She gave me a dry look over her shoulder. “Don’t I always?”

“You do.”

She smirked. “Exactly. Now go handle your business. I got a nail appointment and some of your money to spend.”

I shook my head, chuckling as I opened the door. Tandy knew she was trouble, and she wore it well.

A moment later, I stepped out of her apartment, and she locked the door behind me. I headed for the elevator as I checked my phone. Business mode was activated, and the world outside her bedroom was creeping back in.

My phone buzzed again. It was Bats.

I exhaled, rubbing my hand over my jaw before answering. “Don’t rush me,” I spat, and Bats grunted.

“Hurry the fuck up then,” he replied, and I clicked the line as I stepped into the elevator.

It didn’t take me long to get to the bottom floor and out the door. Bats was parked near the entrance, already strapped into the passenger seat, knowing how much I hated how he drove. I guess he didn’t want to argue with me about it today.

“About time, cupcake ass nigga,” Bats said the moment I slipped into the driver’s seat.

“Shut yo’ ass up. The only cupcake in this muthafucka is you.” I revved the engine and peeled away from the curb. “As soon as you get on the phone with sis, you start cheesing and actingrealpussy whipped.”

“Man, look... say what you want about me. I love my wife, and I’m not ashamed to say it out loud,” Bats said, eyes narrowing like he dared anyone to challenge that. “You know what this life does to us. Being made men don’t come with a manual, just blood, bodies, and broken loyalty. After a while, all that shit starts feeling normal. I was numb. Dropping body after body, making enemies—it was just another Tuesday. I didn’t care if I lived or died. Hell, some days, I welcomed death.”

Khalil didn’t flinch, but the way his jaw ticked told me he felt that.

“I was reckless, bro. For real. Had a death wish and didn’t even realize it. I’d sit in meetings beside you, smiling with men I knew I’d one day have to kill. Fuckin’ women I couldn’t name,burning every bridge before I ever walked across it. I didn’t feel shit anymore—not joy, not guilt, not peace.”

He paused, eyes softening as the steel in his tone bent just enough to let something else slip through. “Then my wife came along.”

A slow smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, half pride, half disbelief. “She saw the demons riding my back and the blood on my hands, and still held 'em. Wouldn’t let go either. Told me if I wanted her, I had to learn how to love her without turning everything good into ash. That’s when I knew she was different. She made me want that kind of love that you feel with your whole soul just by existing. I wake up every day trying to be the man she already thinks I am. That’s real love, my boy.”

“Ol’ soft ass,” I joked, trying to keep it light, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t stir something in me.

What he said sounded real good—toogood.

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