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I was thankful not to immediately see Armon afterward, not with the expectation to be prepared to say something in response to what he'd shared.
I was a mix between a captive and charity case. Forced and permitted to live in the home of a man my brother killed, in contact with Katya, who also had a room at the other end of the guest house. She still didn't have much to say to me. After I’d returned to the house, she asked if I needed more bandages for my shoulder that was healing decently, though still sore.
I should have known by the way Armon mentioned letting me live in his dead brother's home that he had no desire to come to me, but I waited for a long miserable night with the hope that he would. I'd have rathered hours in that mask and to have been seething as opposed to the guilt and shame he forced me to endure in that loneliness.
Even while in bed, I kept the phone beside me in wait for him to text. He hadn't been with his wife in months, but they were having a baby, which made little sense that he would want one with me.
Since he wasn’t a liar, he was twisting words and deceiving me about something, but I wasn't certain what. His wife seemed happy and didn’t know, so maybe I was something he would use as he got over his dead brother. Any conclusion I came to on the what or why of Armon's intentions didn't make sense.
Chapter Thirty-One
Armon
Ialready had my luggage packed and plans for my trip that was only a few hours’ drive for who I needed to retrieve. Now all I needed was to get to the hotel to have distance from every problem in my life.
Maybe Cade was right when he told me I'd punished myself enough with my preoccupation with my Sweet One, but that was before she brought up my sister or told me I was as bad as her wretched family. He could have been trying to get me to take a rest as well, but that could happen on another day.
This next trip was just for her, and when I drag back that perverted uncle her alcoholic mother admitted to ignoring he'd groped Sweet as an adolescent. Sick fucks, all of them. Everyone from the goddamned country she claimed as home. I would love the look on her face once I was back with her uncle bound and bloody. Then she would have to admit I wasn't as fucking vile as her family before I made her pull the trigger and kill him.
On my way out to the SUV, my wife and Katya arrived. Nikki immediately rushed to me with a pout.
"You can't be leaving." She placed her hands to my chest. There was a time I would have wanted her to want me to stay, but right now I detested the thought of her deception. I wanted to call out every lie of hers I knew about.
"I have a job to prepare for." I stepped around her and opened the back of my vehicle before shoving the luggage into it.
"But…" Nikki took my hand from where I gripped the door.
I couldn't hide my glare that had her recoiling. I didn't want to, but I wanted her to suffer, long and slow, and spilling my thoughts wouldn't accomplish that.
My phone buzzed in my pants pocket, most likely Cade. When I pulled it out, I saw a different image. It was Sweet's face. A smile she never knew I captured on our first meeting.
Nikki lowered her hand as she also caught sight of who had texted me. "She’s going with you?" The words came out both as a hiss and squeak.
I opened the text, which read, 'I'm sorry.' It was a pitiful way to try and avoid being alone. A cowardly excuse for a heartfelt acknowledgment of wrongdoing. A spit in my face because of what I'd shared about my baby brother.
Seconds later, another came. 'You aren't like them.' A slight improvement from her previous text.
"Armon." Nikki's voice brought me back to the moment.
"Bring Sweet out quickly," I said to Katya.
"Armon!" Nikki called again.
"Yes," I said to my jealous wife. "She is going as well. It should be a day at most, but I promise I will make it up to you when we return." I reached up to Nikki's cheek with a sincere smile stretched across my face. The evil bitch deserved every moment of insecurity.
"And you’ll leave her behind?" She spat.
"I'm not going to leave a foreign woman somewhere to be harmed by her enemies. You know she isn't safe."
"Your brother—"
I held up a finger in warning. "Shut the fuck up about him." Now she knew I was furious.
She had no right to say a damned thing about him. I saw the guilt on his face during our last encounters. I knew he and Katya had gotten away on his need to relax, and I had a feeling he admitted the truth to Katya before his death and her capture. Everything could probably be turned back to this jealous bitch who pretended to care about me. At least Sweet could apologize, however poor of an apology it may be. It was more than I'd ever get from my wife.
Nikki stepped back with a slow bob to her throat. "I guess I'll see you after you and Sweet return."
Katya was already returning with Sweet, who wore a silk camisole and short pajama set. She looked as though I held a weapon for punishment as she warily slowed her steps.
