Why did my wife have so much power over me?
Why was she the only woman I wanted to be with?
Why did I feel like shit just for looking at someone else?
I came home later like I said I would. Sofia was having dinner with her mother in the dining room, but I wasn’t in the mood for bullshit conversation. I wasn’t even that hungry, so nothing sounded appetizing anyway.
I made it to the third floor, my mood sour from the events of my night. There was a part of me that wished I could betray Sofia, that I could be the cold monster I used to be. If she wasn’t good to me, I would just find someone else. It would hurt her, but make her take me seriously.
But I couldn’t do it.
I wished I were immune to her charms, immune to her potent beauty. I wished this curse had never been placed on my shoulders. My life would be much less complicated.
I passed Damien’s bedroom, the door wide open. He was sitting up in bed with a dinner tray on his lap. His face still looked like shit, but some of his mobility had returned. He held his fork and took a bite of his dinner, moving slowly like every extension of his limbs was difficult.
Without looking up from his food, he addressed me. “How long are you going to pretend I don’t exist?”
I stepped into the doorway, my hands resting in my pockets. I leaned against the frame and stared at my oldest friend. The anger was still potent in my body, but there was also a hint of sympathy. My wife had been taking care of him for days, and he had already improved dramatically. Parts of his skin were actually turning white again.
When I didn’t answer, he took another bite. “I guess that answers my question…” He turned back to his food and waited for me to walk away.
I moved into his bedroom and shut the door behind me before I took a seat in the armchair by his bedside. I loosened my tie and popped the top button of my shirt before I relaxed into the cushioned chair. One ankle rested on the opposite knee, and my hands came together in my lap.
He set his fork down and abandoned his dinner.
“You can keep eating.”
“Nah. I don’t have an appetite when you look at me like that.” He winced as he grabbed the tray and moved it to the side.
I should have helped him, but I was too stubborn. He deserved every single ache and pain as punishment for his stupidity. All of this could have been easily avoided, and his bruises didn’t compare to the pain I felt at losing my life’s work.
He breathed heavily for a bit before he recovered from the movement. “Go ahead. Yell at me.”
I stared.
“You’ve been keeping it bottled inside for days. You’re like a can of soda that’s been shaken vigorously. The second that top pops off…pandemonium.”
My eyes didn’t blink as I examined his gaze. My anger didn’t decrease, but it was hard not to feel comfortable at his side. Our friendship had survived so many battles, and we never held grudges against each other. It was hard to hold one now. “I’m not going to yell at you. You know exactly how I feel. No need to say anything.”
His eyes softened. “I think I’d prefer it if you yelled at me…”
“You aren’t worth my time.”
“Ouch.” He shook his head slightly. “Why don’t you just give me back to Maddox and call the whole thing off?”
“If I were going to do that, I wouldn’t have made the trade in the first place. Even when you betray me, you’re still more important than everything we’ve built. Take it as a compliment.”
“I can’t…not when I feel like shit.”
“Well, I hope you feel like shit for a long time.”
“I will…even once these bruises heal.”
I turned my gaze away because I couldn’t hold my anger. Damien was pompous with an enormous ego. The rare times he showed humility reminded me why we’d been friends for so long. He was a good guy…just a little stupid sometimes.
“What are we going to do?”
“The only thing we can do—pull out.”
He lowered his voice. “You can’t be serious.”
“I made a deal—your life for the business.”
“But that doesn’t mean we can’t hunt him down and kill him. Problem solved.”
Maddox was an unpredictable foe. He’d been in our midst for years but never actually moved against us. He enjoyed the competition, enjoyed having an equal enemy. That made him psychotic, difficult to understand. “That could backfire. He’s impossible to track. He’s made sure of that.”
Damien was quiet as he considered an alternative. “We could get him to come to us…”
“How?”
“We could continue the business like nothing’s changed.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “And go back on my word?”