Page 61 of Splintered Security
I wasn’t lying when I told her I’d be faithful until I die. I just need to make sure that day isn’t tomorrow.
26
going rogue
Anni
Ren’s lips hit my forehead and he whispers, “Be back soon, Sunshine. Love you. Get some sleep.”
I stretch and revel in the fact that he loves me. Ren Gallo loves me.
I grab my phone to see it’s not even three in the morning. Where the hell is he going at this hour? I begrudgingly leave the warmth of the bed and walk on bare feet down the hall, finding him in his office.
He’s dressed head to toe in black, an olive green duffel in one hand. A pistol is in the other.
“Ren?” My voice is quiet with fear and confusion.
“Go back to bed, baby. I’ll be home in time to have coffee on the back deck.”
“What’s going on?” I pull my arms around my middle, a chill in the air settling on my skin and permeating my peace.
“I need to handle a few things.”
“What kind of things require a gun and a bag?”
“The kind you don’t want to know about.”
Does he not trust me? He knows my deepest and darkest secrets. He knows every place I’ve been compromised or have sold out. My hurt rings like silence in the room.
He slides my old phone—the one he shattered last week—from a desk drawer and slips it into a pocket. Only he and my mom know I have a new number. Does he think I’d reach out to old friends in his absence?
“What if I want to know?”
“What if you trust me to protect you?”
“What if you trust me period?”
He sighs and turns, and I take in all of him. His belt has things on it like in the movies. A huge knife is one, plus other metal bits and bobs I can’t identify. It’s all very military… or vigilante.
“Where are you going?” My voice is losing steam. I hate fighting—hate it! It’s the middle of the night and my husband is dressed like a darker, scarier Jack Reacher.
He holds my eyes as if weighing the moment. “I’m going to eliminate the threat to my wife.”
I stare, slack-jawed, at the man before me.
“Eliminate?”
“Yeah, baby. I didn’t want to worry you, but I see that backbone and I value it, so…”
“Eliminate.” I roll the word over in my mouth as if tasting it, staring at my fingers as I wring them. “That means… You can’t do that.”
“Sure I can. Can you give me a good reason why I shouldn’t?”
“Yes.”
“Go on, Anni. But go on quickly.” He smirks. “I need to get on the road.”
“You assume I won’t have a good enough reason to stop you?”
