Page 63 of Dearly Betrayed

“Ten. I suspect it’s only nine now.”

“Alright, that’s not too bad. We can handle nine. I need names and photographs.”

“Adler’s going to be unhappy. Leaving men behind was not part of the deal.”

“I don’t give a fuck what Adler thinks,” I say, losing patience. “My wife’s life is in danger, and I will not have a repeat of earlier happen again. Send over the information.”

He’s silent and I can almost hear him thinking. Fallon’s looking at me with a deep frown and I wish I could see inside of her head.

“You really do give a damn about her, don’t you?” Rian sounds surprised, like he can barely believe it. “Adler said you did. I wasn’t so sure.”

“I really do.” I look at Fallon as I say it, and she stares right back. Her ears turn pink, which I’ve come to realize means she’s embarrassed. “Which likely surprises me as much as it surprises you.”

“It’s not a bad thing, I suppose. Fallon, are you alright? Being treated okay?”

“I’m fine,” she says in a small voice. “Really, don’t worry.”

“You nearly got your face blown off, so yeah, I’m gonna worry.” Rian sighs through the line and I hear him adjust something on his end. “Alright, I’ll send names and photographs. All I ask is you don’t kill them until we can figure out if they all turned against me.”

“And if they did?”

“Then go ahead and dump their bodies in the ocean for all I care.”

“Gladly.”

We talk some more logistics before I hang up, feeling unsatisfied. I toss the phone onto the bed and sit down beside Fallon. She leans up against my side and kisses my neck.

“You’re angry,” she says.

“Can you blame me? Your brother left ten killers behind to watch over you, but he can’t really control his own damn family.”

“It’s not his fault.”

“How?”

“If my father hadn’t died, the clan would still be united.”

“Ah, it’s my fault then.”

“Something like that.” She kisses me again.

“If your father hadn’t tried to kill me, and murdered my best friend instead, none of this would’ve happened. We can go on and on back to the first stone but it won’t do much good.”

“You’re right,” she says and shifts herself until she’s sitting in my lap, facing me. I kiss her gently and she kisses me back. “We can keep score, but everyone loses, right? That’s why we stopped the war. It doesn’t lead anywhere.”

“No, it doesn’t. Only more death.”

“We can change things. Me and you.”

“And how do we do that, my wife?” I cup her ass, feeling my cock stir as I nibble on her lower lip.

“I suspect whatever you’re thinking right now isn’t the answer.”

“Love beats hate, right? I’m only imagining its physical incarnation.”

“Darling, what you do to me isn’t really love. It’s something so much worse. And way more fun.”

I laugh, kissing her neck. “Darling? I like it.”

---