29. Marcus

"How'd it go?"

"She did very well, but uh, I don't think Melanie was too pleased."

"Did my girl go after her?"

"No, actually, I thought she would've, but she was very fair. She didn't attack them in any way."

"That's my girl. She has class. She's more the type to fuck with them, or at least her twin is."

"Her twin?"

"Never mind, it's an inside joke. How about the others?"

"They all seemed pleased. The scuttlebutt is that they didn't think she'd cut it because someone, and it"s your guess who started a rumor that she's not qualified."

"Oh, really. Thanks, Carl. Is she back in her office?"

"She's in there with motor mouth, Millie."

"Damn, do you two ever stop?"

"It's her, not me." I just looked at him. In every other instance, he's the tough-as-nails SEAL, but add Monique to the mix, and I can't tell who the hell he is.

"I'm gonna go check on the kids since you don't need me."

"How's the work coming on the expansion?"

"Not bad; they seem pretty motivated since you promised them a bonus if they get it done on time and up to code."

"Alright." Rumors huh! I buzzed through the interoffice intercom, "Monique, get in here." She came traipsing in ten minutes later.

"It's two minutes from here to her office; what took you so long?"

"Wait, you counted?" I felt the heat in my face.

"Shut up. I need you to do a background check on all employees. Focusing mainly on their credentials."

"Oh boy, who pissed in your Wheaties? Why don't you just go after who you're going after?"

"Then it would be a frontal attack. Where's the fun in that? Make sure the word gets around that you're doing this."

"You've got it." I knew she would like that task because she likes mess, especially when it involves people she doesn't like. I'll let that get around for a day or two and see who scatters. I already know who is qualified and who isn't. Those who aren't should've kept their mouths shut.

* * *

KAREN

* * *

"One-hundred-twenty."No-no-no, I counted that brick already. I have to start over. I walked to the end of the wall and felt around in the dark. "One!" I made it all the way to the other end this time but I couldn't remember what number I had reached.

I was hungry, hot, tired, and scared. Days and nights had run into each other because of the darkness in the cell. I'd been able to keep some semblance of time because of the mealtimes, but since I went on a hunger strike a few days ago in an effort to get one more phone call, they'd stopped bringing me meals, so I've lost track.

There's someone who could find me, but I can't remember who. And the voices, her voice. "No, go away, you're not real. I got rid of you. You're not real." I covered my ears as I heard that wailing sound again; it was getting louder and louder.

"Go away, Rosalind. I killed you, you bitch. Always in the way, not one of us. I'll show you. He's mine, mine, mine, mine. Marcus, Marcus, don't leave me." I slumped down to the cold stone floor as the voices kept getting nearer and nearer.

"You're trying to trick me, but I'll never tell. It was you; you did it. You did it to yourself. If you had gone away, I wouldn't have had to…." No, it's a trick no one knows but me. "Ha-ha, I'm the only one who knows. No one else, no one else." But the son suspects. I know he does. Did he see something? No, I made sure. I'm safe, I'm safe. No one knows.

"Let me outta here. Help." I banged on the door as loud as I could until I felt the blood drip down my arm. There was a noise behind me, but I was too afraid to look. Don't look back, don't want to see. "It's not my fault; I had to do it."

"Why should you and your lowborn son have everything while I suffered? It's not my fault." Something scurried across the floor, and I screamed, and still, the wailing was louder.

* * *

MARCUS

* * *

The theme songfor Loki Green played on my private phone. "Oh shit. Hello."

"Hi, Uncle Markie, it's done."

"It's done?"

"Of course."

"She said it!"

"Yep, and she'll say it again whenever you need her to."

"What else did she say?"

"Lots of stuff. Be on your helipad in ten minutes. Someone will be there with the recording. Eleven minutes later…."

"I know, I know, your money will be there. Thanks, Catalina."

I rushed from my office to the roof, and sure enough, a chopper was coming in for landing. I looked at my watch, and it was almost to the minute. That kid is unbelievable.

I ran with my head down as the one inside didn't seem like he was getting out. "And you are?"

"Russo! Bye!" I didn't even take offense; all Mancini's, or should I say Lyon's, people act like that. The chopper was in the air before I made it to the door.

I went into my office and looked at the little chip in my hand. My heart felt sick, but I knew I had to get it over with. I took a deep breath, clipped it into my special phone, pressed play, and sank all the way into hell.

"Oh my, oh fuck, Mom." I suspected this; I begged to have this investigated. My mother would never have left me. The woman I knew had been broken and weak, but I always believed that she would've pulled out of it if only for me.

"Fuck me, not my mother." I felt it coming, but it was too late to stop the rage.

"Breathe, Marcus, breathe. CARL, get in here now."

"What is it?"

"I don't know, but he's about to destroy this whole building."

"Marcus, look at me, breathe buddy, breathe brother, come back."

"Close…door, don't let her see..."

"It's closed, Marcus, I closed it. Carl, do something."

"Look at me, look at me, Marcus. There you go. Eyes on mine, pal, there you go. If you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles."

Sun Tzu.

"Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil."

King David the Great.

"Right here, buddy, you're right here. Your wife is down the hall."

"Did she see?"

"No, Monique went to stay with her so she doesn't come this way.

"How bad is it?"

"Not bad at all, buddy, not bad this time. You just destroyed your desk and threw a chair through the wall. No one got hurt. What happened? What set you off? Someone did something to your woman?"

I shook my head, ashamed of myself. I haven't lost control like that in years. I usually can control it before it takes over, but… I folded my fists and closed my eyes as I felt the adrenaline leave me.

"Hey, what is that look for? Whatever it is you're thinking, don't do it. Ah, not the fucking smile. If you do something stupid, I'm going back to working for your grandfather." That made me laugh, as I'm sure he intended.

"Karen killed my mother."

"Shit, you always said…damn. What're you gonna do now?"

"What do you think I'm going to do?"

"Fuck, okay, how do you plan to do it?"

"No, that's too easy." Pain. I want her to feel pain like she's never imagined existed.

* * *

JUSTINE

* * *

"What's up with Marcus?"

"Why do you ask? Does it seem like there's something wrong?" Now, if I explain that, then I'd have to explain why I think something is wrong.

"No, it's nothing."

‘Nothing, my ass. He damn near killed you two nights in a row.'

Did not?

‘Okay, Miss. Tippy Toe, Miss, ow-ow-ow.'

Justice is right. Not that I'm complaining; I mean, a broody, sex-crazed Marcus is hot, but I'd just like to know what has turned him into Venom. One minute, he's my sweet, gentle giant, and the next, he's a wild man.

‘I like wild man. He's kinda beastly, and I'm not talking about when you two being nasty. I mean the way he be talking when he's in his mood. ‘Because I said so. You're not going there alone. You know, how he was laying down the law.'

Yes, I know, I was there. That's what I mean. Usually, he's bending over backward to please me, and the next, he's all no, you can't, no, you're not. It's like he doesn't want me out of his sight the last few days.

The nights are the strangest. He lays there with me in his arms, just caressing me. Not in a sexual way, but as if he needs the contact. We can lay there and whisper for hours, but then when the lights go out, he becomes this wild, untamed beast and my body bears the love bites to prove it.

Good heavens. I actually felt a shiver run down my spine at the memory. No matter what Mo says, though, I'm pretty sure he's got something heavy on his mind, and whatever it is, has made him terrified of something happening to me.

That's the only reasonable conclusion I have drawn because he won't let me out of his sight for more than a couple of minutes at a time, but when I mentioned it to him, he just hugged me hard but said nothing.

But it's more than that; there's something I can't put into words; it's just a feeling. I don't feel danger to myself, well beyond having a sore cooch after getting pounded like a porn star, but I won't complain about that either because he seems to need that closeness at night.

His actions are about to give me whiplash, though, because, in the morning, I might wake up with him between my legs, eating me out at his leisure, which, let me tell you, is not something I'd want to miss.

And when he's done feasting between my thighs, he seems to search for and find every hickey he'd left on my body the night before and lick or soothe it with his tongue. At the office, he'd search me out in the middle of the day sometimes, or any time for that matter, and we'd give the couch a workout.

Those sessions are usually hard, fast, and to the point, where most of the time, I'm left fighting for my next breath and feeling like I got run over by a train, but in a good way. Sometimes, that can happen more than once throughout the day, according to his moods.

But like I said, it's the nights that are really crazy, again in a good way. It seems as soon as our bedroom door closes anything goes. First, he's the loving, kind husband who listens to my dreams and wishes and the things I want to do for the girls' future.

I like those moments, especially when he gets so involved in what's best for the girls. I tend to still plan things according to the lifestyle we had with Paul, not wanting to take anything for granted because now I have all this money at my disposal.

The truth is, I don't want to seem ungrateful or like I'm just in it for the money. But for some reason, that pisses him off no end. But I'm still not sure if that's what makes him fuck me into the mattress or if there's something else going on in his head.

Either way, Justice is right. No harm, no foul; I get hours of good loving out of his dark mood, then held like I'm the most precious thing in the world, so a win is a win, right? As long as I can say my worst day with Marcus beats all my best days with my ex, I'm good.

* * *

I've been so preoccupiedthese last couple of weeks I completely forgot about Justice's warning about the tadpoles. It's when I looked at the calendar on my phone and realized that I was way late that I recalled the conversation. As if on cue, a wave of the most horrendous nausea hit me as soon as I rolled out of bed the next morning.

I'd tried not to wake him, but I heard his feet racing through the master suite to get to me. "Baby, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I don't…." I had no strength left to answer him. I threw up until I grew hoarse, and my throat was raw, and still, the nausea did not subside.

Meanwhile, Marcus was freaking out even though he was doing a very good job of hiding it. That tic in his jaw was working overtime even as he held my hair and tried soothing me with words while rubbing my back in circular motions that felt pretty good.

He lifted me and carried me back to bed, but I would've preferred staying on the cold marble floor, even though that probably wasn't the best thing for me. "Won't you tell me what's wrong? Was it something you ate last night? Are you ill? Do we need to call the doctor?"

I started to say no when another wave hit me, and I made a mad dash for the bathroom. I heard him on the phone barking out orders before he came to hold my hair again. We did this three times, and each time, he'd get me cleaned up before taking me back to bed and holding me.

I must've drifted off because when I opened my eyes, there was a strange East Indian woman sitting next to me on the bed, taking my pulse. "It's just as I thought, Mr. Devereaux, your wife is pregnant."

"How do you know? All you did was take her pulse."

"That's the old way of doing it. Of course, once she wakes up, we can take blood, and I'll have the tests done, or I've brought the urine test kit with me as well, whichever one you prefer." She sounds like she knows him very well.

"All of them."

"I thought so." She winked at me when she realized that I was awake.

"What happened? Did I faint or something?"

"You're awake; no, lay down, baby, don't move."

"You didn't faint; you just fell asleep."

The doctor was trying hard not to laugh as she reassured me, and I doubt Marcus realized he was petting me. My big old teddy bear was back, at least for now, and in his place was a nervous cutie pie. He asked that woman a million questions which I thankfully escaped by going into the bathroom to pee on the stick.

I was standing at the sink when I realized that there was a whole-ass doctor in my bedroom right now. What the hell? Do doctors still make house calls?