Page 94 of A Breath of Life
“Whatever. I’m going to be late.”
Echo rightfully thought she was walking out the door with us, but I encouraged her to stay behind. I didn’t want to leave her in the Jeep for however long we might be inside. “We’ll be back soon, girl. Go have a nap.”
Halfway down the stairs, my spine went rigid. “Jesus fuck.”
“What now?”
“I forgot the goddamn card. In a mad panic, I raced up the stairs two at a time, shouting, “Do not go outside, Tallus. I swear to fucking god.”
“If I do, will you spank me?”
“I will handcuff you to my other wrist and make your life a living hell. It will be the furthest thing from kinky. Try me.” This was why I tied the card to my body. I didn’t trust myself not to leave it somewhere.
***
The crown attorney’s office where Oliver Hill worked was in the courthouse on University Avenue, a short jaunt from where we worked. Considering the weather, it would have been a decent walk, but not when the forecast called for a ninety percent chance of hired hit men following us.
Tallus wouldn’t talk to me and stared out the window with his arms crossed as I took us the short distance to our destination.
Parking was hell, and when he finally broke the silence, it was to grumble about being late for his appointment, insisting that I drop him off out front.
“I’m not doing that.”
“God, you’re annoying.”
“Deal with it.”
“The courthouse is the same as the police station. The security is insane. I have to go through metal detectors and subject myself to a potential pat down every time I go inside. Hell, if that creepy Frank guy is working, he might suggest a cavity search, in which case, he’s the bigger threat because he’s been trying to get his gross hands on me for over a year.”
“Who the fuck is Frank? Why am I just learning about this?”
“No fucking way, mister. You don’t get to act jealous when I’m mad at you. Besides, you have homicidal tendencies when it comes to other men coming anywhere near me, so why would I tell you?”
“Because I’m your fucking boyfriend, Tallus. If someone is harassing you—”
“I can handle it,” he shouted. “Like everything else. I. Can. Fucking. Handle. It. I’m a big boy.”
I clenched the steering wheel, circling the block again, muttering, “I’m not homicidal. I haven’t killed anyone.” When an image of theprick who worked security at the courthouse came to mind, I added, “Yet.”
“I’ll be safe, Diem. No one will hurt me in such a public building. Please drop me off.”
After circling the block three times to no avail, I begrudgingly agreed to let him out, but I didn’t take my eyes off him until he was safely beyond the main doors.
“Fuck.”
I needed to stop provoking fights. My overprotective nature was going to be the death of our relationship at this rate. We couldn’t seem to go one day without battling over something.
It took another ten minutes to find parking on a side street a block and a half away. I texted Tallus, letting him know to inform me the second he was done, and I would meet him out front again. I didn’t get a response, which I chalked up to pure petulance over my overbearing nature.
I knew smothering him like this choked the life out of him. I knew he hated it to the very depths of his core, but my reasoning was sound. I didn’t give a fuck how mad he got, so long as he was safe. When this was over, hopefully, he would forgive me.
Considering I was the one who’d given him the job with Oliver Hill, I only had myself to blame.
As I waited for Tallus to finish his meeting, I scanned the street, all too aware that Ace likely had eyes on me. Tallus had mentioned a man following us the previous day, and I could have kicked myself for having missed him.
Tallus’s hyper-awareness of his surroundings trumped mine. I’d been too busy looking in places where a six-and-a-half-foot tank like me would hide. Tallus’s Converse-wearing guy had taken a different approach, stalking his prey in plain sight. I wasn’t adept at searchingfor threats that stood three feet to my left at a bus stop and ate dinner at the table next door.
Regardless, near or far, I didn’t see anything suspicious. Considering it was noon on a weekday in one of the more populated areas of the city, I wasn’t surprised. Too many people. Too much traffic. It was impossible to note everyone. The longer I waited, the more in tune I became with the buildings along the street and their dated architecture. This was Old Toronto, the birthplace of the city. The more I sat with it, the more certain I was that I would find the place where I’d been held somewhere in the area.
