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His hoarse voice didn’t alert Romeo to anything wrong, instead he nodded with a small laugh. He used both hands to touch Chad’s face, smoothing his fingertips over Chad’s paling cheeks. Chad’s eyes burned. Romeo tutted and ran his fingers down from Chad’s eyebrows, making them shut. Chad took a deep breath before opening them again.
“I know, I know. I’m being impatient.” Romeo kissed the corner of Chad’s mouth. “We’ll talk more about it when your case is done, okay?”
“Okay.” Chad said softly.
He slipped off the table to his feet and rocked onto his toes. Romeo steadied him by the hips. He leaned to the left of Chad, looked at the table, then sighed. “I’ve just got to clean this up, you can go and unwind in the other room.”
Chad nodded and forced his legs to move.
One foot in front of the other.
He focused on the door, but slowed his stride at Romeo behind him, whistling happily as he cleaned up the spill.
Chad peeked back once he got to the door. Romeo was still smiling to himself as he used a cloth to wipe up the wine. It had run across the table, and dripped over the edge, hitting the tiles in a steady beat.
Chad couldn’t help that think it looked exactly like blood.
****
Chad drummed his fingers on his thighs in the waiting room.
Once a week, Chad sat opposite Keeley, his therapist, fighting his instincts to run. She smiled and reassured him, but it never got any easier. She picked at him for information, and sometimes her kind eyes lured him into saying more than he wanted to.
Today was one of those dreaded days, but unlike all the sessions before, Chad wanted her advice.
“Come on in, Chad.”
He got up and followed her into the office. The scent of books, leather, and pine filled his nose. All her awards sparkled on the walls. She was a veteran in the field, but that didn’t make Chad trust her. Meek, with mousy brown hair and equipped with a fountain pen, Chad’s fear of her seemed unjustified, but she was the one that could lose him his job.
“Where’s the chair?” Chad asked.
He favored the chair over the couch—it had arms he could squeeze.
“A patient had an unfortunate accident earlier.”
Chad didn’t ask for any more information. He sat down on the couch.
“Coffee?” Keeley asked. Chad declined and watched as Keeley prepared her own. It smelled good, almost good enough to change his mind.
She stirred in a spoonful of sugar, then tapped the teaspoon on the side of the cup. “How are you since we last spoke?”
“I’m doing good.”
Except for the body with Romeo’s name written across it.
Chad’s mini heart attack when he saw Romeo outside The Desperado, and the nightmares about strangling someone to death.
Romeo wanted Chad to kill for him.
For no other reason than Romeowantedhim to kill.
“That’s great.” Keeley announced, full of cheer.
His mental state felt paper-thin, but he still grinned and nodded along.
“How are things? Staying social?”
“Last week I went to Ally’s for dinner, and I went out with Josh for a celebratory pint after a case.” He winced. “That sounds awful, we were celebrating closing a case, not the case itself.”
