Page 47 of A Breath of Life
We’d barely made up. One fight had bled into another. Tension was high.
While I showered, shaved, and dressed for work, Diem paced. He’d abandoned his usual trip to the gym that morning and looked ready for war, dressed in black cargo pants, a black, formfitting tee, and combat boots. He thought I didn’t see him strap the knife to his calf, tucking it under a pant leg, but I did, and the sight of it burned my stomach lining.
Diem didn’t carry weapons. Ever. He owned a gun and had a permit to carry, but it never left the lockbox in the back of the closet. So, yeah, the knife was worrisome. The menacing scowl on his face completed the illusion of a monstrous killer. Put an AK-47 in his hands, and he wouldn’t have looked out of place on the set of an action movie.
Diem hated violence of any kind.
He went out of his way to repress urges to fight or react with fists when angry.
Not today. Today, he was lethal.
I said nothing.
While I smeared a thick layer of peanut butter onto two slices of toast and covered them with an ungodly amount of honey, he peeked out the window, spying from behind the still-drawn curtains at thestreet below. I imagined a sniper seeking his mark. A soldier doing reconnaissance on the enemy.
His paranoia took up space and bled into the room.
I said nothing.
The leather pouch still dangled from his wrist where it had been all night. While I brushed my teeth, I stood in the hallway, puzzling over its presence. It was bound to his body as though he feared losing it or that I might take it. The notion hurt my feelings. I’d said we could return it. I wasn’t about to abscond with it and find a black-market buyer.
He must not have believed me.
Abandoning the balcony window, Diem moved to another, no less absorbed in his task.
Echo lay on the couch, snoozing after a bowl of morning kibble, but every time Diem shifted positions or cracked his knuckles, every time the bear trapped in his chest growled, she opened her eyes and watched her charge with the same concern that was growing inside me.
I sent a message to Memphis while Diem wasn’t looking.We seriously need a phone date later. Like, 9-1-1. SOS. Be available!Before Diem turned around, I pocketed the device and grabbed my car keys.
“D? I have to go.”
“Yeah.” He dropped the curtain, ensuring the seams overlapped, then stormed to the door. “I’ll drive.”
“You’ll… What? I can take my car.”
“No. You heard me.”
This was getting out of hand. “Aren’t you going to the office?”
“No. I’m taking you to work, and I’ll stand by your fucking desk all day if I have to.”
I balked. “Excuse me?”
Diem removed the keys from my hand and tossed them back into the junk bowl, finding his set instead. Snagging Echo’s leash and vest from the hook, he whistled through his teeth. “Come on, girl. We gotta go.”
Instantly awake, Echo bounded from the couch and pranced to Diem’s side. Unlike the previous night, when worry radiated from her golden eyes, she was chipper and energetic. No sign of distress remained. With her, anyhow. My boyfriend was another matter. He oozed tension and hostility.
“Diem, you don’t have to take me to work, and you certainly don’t have to—”
“It’s not up for debate, Tallus.” His voice cut like a knife, and I flinched. “I told you last night. You gonowherewithout me. Understand?”
“Yeah.” I huffed. “I caught that, except you failed to tell mewhy.” I could be snarky too. Under my breath, I added, “And you’re not my fucking keeper,” and instantly regretted it. Was I itching to start another fight because fuck me.
Diem’s facial muscles twitched, his bruising more pronounced than the previous day. Thunder and lightning flashed in his eyes, and I waited for theboomof another snapped comment. It didn’t come, but electricity sparked the air between us, warning me how close Diem was to self-destruction.
His broken nose had given him two black eyes. They paired nicely with the slew of other marks that should have been seen by a professional. The menacing look might have felt threatening if I wasn’t used to Diem’s mood swings and temper.
Unable to shed my petulance, I stood my ground, meeting his glare with my own, daring him as much as he was daring me.
