hear.”
She’d confirmed my speculations about them. I didn’t like him having what I’d never had. Depending on my wife, it may be something I never get. They also worked together, so he had the privilege of seeing her more than I did.
The tension in my jaw made it tick and caused her to brush a soft hand against my forearm. The stiff tension in me eased as my gaze fell to the area she caressed, grateful for the small amount of affection.
“Don’t worry, husband. I don’t want him, not sure if I did back then. However, loneliness has a way of taking you down faster than a fucking bullet, and sometimes I’m forced to do something about it.”
Her words helped loosen the tension in my jaw, and I pulled my eyes away from Marshawn, who had caught me glaring at him. I aligned my gaze with Mecca’s, ensuring she received my words well enough to listen to them.
“You have me now. You never have to worry about being lonely again.”
“Read you loud and clear,” she replied. Her play on my nickname wasn’t missed, and the acknowledgment caused my smile to deepen.
What was that little smirk on her face all about? Was she impressed that I was willing to rip someone’s spine out for her? Was she aware that I would have done it without a second thought? More importantly, how could a woman that gorgeous be lonely?
15
Arjen
The next day, seeing a smile on my brother’s face had awakened mine. Khane smiling was a rarity, but after he married Desiree, smiles were expressed often and sometimes for no reason at all. At times, it was obvious that he was remembering a great time he’d had with his wife.
I had made every imaginable attempt to incorporate happiness into his life through the years, but nothing had worked, until Desiree.
Today, he wasn’t wearing his contact lens, something else he had rarely done. So his eye, the one he was nearly blind in, was on full display. He gave me a chest-pounding hug while I stared at him, not hiding my curiosity. He and Desiree were making it work, and I was curious to know how.
“How’s married life treating you?” he asked, and I couldn’t tell if he was teasing or genuinely interested in knowing.
“It’s. Shit. I don’t know. I’ve hardly seen my wife in the last two and a half weeks because she works more than the both of us put together. I’ve had to put four guards working in shifts on her just to keep a safe eye on her.”
I cupped the back of my neck and squeezed at the tension there. I had fool-heartedly tricked myself into believing an arranged marriage would be a stress-free endeavor, another task on my to-do list.
“Most nights she sleeps at one of the Black Saints’ safe houses, her condo, or even at their trap houses. Sometimes it feels like we’re connecting, but fuck, I don’t know. What the fuck do I know about being married?”
Khane fought to keep his lips from forming into a smile. He knew that I wasn’t used to having women problems because they usually fell all over me. Mecca was resistant, and she had also informed me that she would consider being with me when she was ready.
Now, I was starting to think her version of ready wasn’t what I’d had in mind. My fucking balls were so blue, they needed a song written for them.
“How the hell did you get Desiree to go so crazy for you?” I questioned, waiting for his reply.
Khane’s unusual burst of laughter was like a kick to the side of my head. His head tilted, and the question I knew he would ask me, flashed in his gaze before he had even spoken it.
“You’re asking me for advice on women? You must be sick.”
He continued to laugh, and the rare sound coming from him caused me to ease into a laugh of my own.
“So?” I questioned in case he assumed I was joking. “How did you get Desiree?”
I shook my head, thinking of the trouble he and she had gone through to be with each other.
“You know the night before the wedding ceremony, through a curtain of tears, she told me that even though she was marrying me, she was still going to be in love with you.”
His brows lifted, widening his eyes.
“She told you that?”
“Yes. Which is why I’m trying to figure out what the hell you did to get her that devoted to