Page 87 of Forgotten Deeds

Opening the bathroom door, I nearly run into Darius; of course a lock doesn’t keep the devil out. He goes to open his mouth, but I hold up my hand, brushing past him. “There’s nothing else that needs to be said.”

“There’s a hell of a lot more that needs to be said.” He growls, grabbing my hand and jerking me around to where I’m facing him. “Tommy Harrison was on the take.”

“What?” I say, my legs feeling wobbly.

“Tommy was on the family’s payroll. He was a dirty cop.” Darius spells out for me. “He must have fucked up along the way; I don’t know the details, but there was a hit out on him. I was just doing my job.”

“Your job,” I whisper.

“My job,” he confirms.

I had my suspicions, but there it is—I’m married to a mob hitman. Feeling like I’m going to pass out, it doesn’t help my situation when Darius reaches up his sleeve, now brandishing a knife. My eyes wide with fear, I stammer, “What are you—”

He answers by pricking the palm of his hand with the blade.

“Darius, stop!”

Fisting his cut hand, red droplets land on the hardwood with a plop. “Lily, I swear by my blood—tainted as it is—I didn’t know you and Iris were connected to Tommy until after our wedding. When you spoke about him, you called him Harrison; he always went by his first name with me and the family.”

“When did you find out?” I demand.

“When I confronted Detective Regan for following us,” he admits. “After we got back from our honeymoon.”

“So you found out after we were married. The point is you did find out; you were just never going to tell me the truth,” I say, crossing my arms.

“Remember I told you I would do anything to protect you in any given situation? You’re right; I was never going to tell you,” Darius agrees.

I narrow my eyes at him. “That’s not protecting me; that’s protecting yourself.”

“No, it’s protecting you. Knowing too much about my world is dangerous; you already know too much as is.” He paces back and forth, finally saying, “Is it better knowing I killed him?”

“No,” I whisper. “But now that I do know, how can we go back?”

“We just go back. Things were so good between us, weren’t they?” he asks, his dark eyes pleading.

“They were, but now I know everything was built on a lie,” I tell him sadly.

“Not a damn thing was built on a lie,” he says adamantly. “I swore to you ‘till death do us part.’ That wasn’t a lie. I love Iris like my own; that’s not a lie. You have my heart; that’s not a fucking lie. Give me time to prove it to you,” he begs.

“What choice do I have?” I shout. “You’ve already demonstrated I can’t escape from you!” And how he found us, I still don’t know. I was so damn careful, ditching my phones, and even renting a car because I was afraid my SUV might have a tracker. Is this what I get for tempting the Fates with the pomegranate?

“You can’t,” he readily agrees.

“Till death do us part,” I say bitterly. “Well, husband, you got it. Look forward to a lifetime of celibacy, because we’ll never share a marital bed again.”

“Careful, wifey,” he warns. “I don’t want you to choke on those words when you have to eat them; if you’re choking on anything, it’s going to be my dick.”

“Fucking dream on.” I stomp over to the door, unlocking it and flinging it open. “The couch has your name on it.”

“Very well,” he says, but walks over to the dresser. Opening the top drawer, he grabs my vibrator and sticks it in his pocket. “I don’t get to touch your pussy, neither does this.” With that, saunters to the door.

“I don’t need a vibrator to get off,” I grit.

Darius cranes his neck, giving me a cruel smile. “No, little angel just needs to think about her bad husband to get off. My hands can get dirty while you get to keep your wings nice and clean.”

“Fuck you.” I seethe.

“You can live in that ivory tower if you want, Lily, but it’ll be lonely as hell up there. When you’re ready to climb down, you know where to find me.” With that, he closes the door behind him.

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