AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“By the way, your meatballs last night were amazing. Gabriel even said they were better than the takeout we normally get, which is saying something given that he has insisted on takeout from that same restaurant every Monday since we moved into this house. He said you can cook them every week for our Monday Port-Mortem.”
Jessica paled. “Your MondayPort-Mortem? I’m not sure I want to be part of whatever that is.”
I grinned. “Don’t worry, there are no dead bodies. It’s just what we call our Monday night meetings over dinner. We go over what targets we’ve dealt with over the past week and run through the priorities for the coming week.”
“Dealt with?” asked Jessica, visibly swallowing.
“Yes, dealt with. Some are operational targets we need to achieve, while others are targets of the human sort that we need to eliminate.”
“My father never talked about killing at the dinner table…”
“Things are a bit different around here. I guess we’ve gotten used to being two guys living by ourselves, and we talk shop whenever we can.”
“Why do you have to have such a morbid name for it? Surely it puts you off your food?”
“Not really. It’s just what we started calling it. It’s no more morbid than anything else we do in our world.” I shrugged. “What else would you have us call it?”
“Um, how about ‘Meatball Mondays’?” she suggested.
I laughed out loud at that. “That could be kind of catchy, however, it doesn’t have the same ring to it. Anyhow, the Monday Post-Mortem is here to stay. We have to celebrate the small wins as well as the big wins, and what better way than with our favorite meal.”
“Celebrating the killing of others is wrong.”
I suddenly became serious. “If we don’t kill them, they’ll kill us. It’s the way it works, and I have no qualms about protecting the organization and those I love.”
We stopped for a water break, and I handed Jessica a bottle. She thirstily gulped down some water as she smoothed back wavy tendrils of hair that had escaped from her ponytail and fallen on her face.
“How long have you and Gabriel lived here now?” asked Jessica, unsubtly changing the subject to something less deadly.
“I was nineteen and Gabriel was twenty when we bought this place. We wanted to move out of our parents’ home and decided to get a place together.”
“Your estate is really peaceful.”
“That’s why we chose it. My father likes living in the city, but Gabriel and I are more comfortable on the outskirts.”
Jessica drank more of her water.
“I meant it, Jessica, when I said before that you need to be able to tell me the truth about how you’re feeling. You are my priority now and I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”
“I don’t know what to make of you,” she blurted out. “I mean, you’re a born killer, yet you say you won’t hurt me.”
“Why is that so hard to understand?”
“You’ve been cheated out of your rightful entitlement—a pure virgin for your wife. You were angry that my family didn’t tell you.”
I looked her over. She was attractive with her glowing eyes and a lithe body. Even with the cover of her baggy clothes, I knew from the figure-hugging dress she wore to our engagement party that she had an attractive body with a nice ass, small waist, and high breasts. I sighed. She hadn’t deserved any of what had happened. “You’re right, I was angry—angry that I didn't protect you. I still am. But you are not responsible for what happened.”
She nodded, but I could see she still had her doubts.
JESSICA
While we took a water break during our run, I thought about what Rafael had said. Although he said that looking after me was just part of his job as my husband, I was glad for his protection. Knowing he had my back made me feel a little safer.
As we were drinking our water, I could see that Rafael wanted to say something else to me.
“My mother has invited us and Gabriel to dinner at the end of this month for my father’s birthday. I have to attend, but you can skip this dinner and I’ll just say that you’re not feeling well.”
I was confused about Rafael’s apparent desire to protect me—Made Men weren’t known for their compassion toward their wives. “I won’t be able to use that excuse every time I need to go to something where your father is in attendance. Maybe I should just go?”
