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He arched a brow at me. “Just like you wouldn’t break into my house?”
“Only reason I was able to sneak in was because you were playing that game you’re addicted to. Besides, I didn’t really break in. You gave me a set of keys when you moved in.”
He rolled his eyes, but some of the tension left his jaw. “So you could take care of shit for me while I was out of the country on a job, not show up in the middle of the night for a booty call.”
I froze, then made sure I had his gaze. “Watch your mouth. That’s my future wife you’re talking about, not a booty call.”
“You,” he pointed his finger at me with a grimace, “are completely screwed in the head.”
I couldn’t deny it, so instead I changed the subject. “Admit it, the only reason I was able to get in here without you noticing was you were playing that stupid game all night again. Did you and the Hobbits go to the Candy Cane Forest and slay the Jabberwocky for its magic skin flute?”
He gave me two middle fingers, and I laughed.
Mark played games online like it was his second job. He had a whole group of people he regularly gamed with, but had never met, and they would play for hours on end. Leo and I gave him shit about it, mainly because, when you looked at the man, you’d think his hobby was bashing skulls in real life, not going on magical quests with a group of elves.
“Piss off.” His gaze went to the stairs. “How’s Joy doing?”
“Okay, I think. All things considered.”
Mark’s mouth hardened as he leaned forward. “What the hell are you doing here, Ramón?”
“You really have to ask me that?”
Lowering his voice, he kept his gaze directed at the stairs. “She’s a very sweet, young girl.”
“Yes, she is.”
“You sure now is the right time to… pursue this? She’s been through a lot in the last few days and may not be ready for…everything. Maybe you should back off, give her some room to get over the trauma.”
I shot him a look that let him know he was treading on thin ground by suggesting I stay away from Joy. “You’re wrong about that. She’s mine; she belongs to me, and there’s no way I’m letting her handle this alone. You understand how fucking fast the world can take people away. You, better than anyone, should know that time, and how you spend it, is the most precious commodity there is.”
He visibly flinched, and I felt like a dick for bringing up his late wife. “I get it.”
“Look, nobody is going to protect her, watch over her, and take care of her like I can. No one. She was born to be mine. I will do whatever it takes to keep her and make her happy.”
Mark must have picked up on my tone, because his gaze hardened further. “Do I need to worry about being around her alone?”
For a second, I wondered what the hell he was implying, then realized he was asking in a roundabout way if I’d started her dose of D128. “No. She’s not ready for that yet.”
“Has Leo been alone with her?”
“No.”
His posture eased, and he gave me a small smile. “Decided to try things the old-fashioned way?”
Mark wasn’t a fan of my mother’s insistence that Joy would have to be brainwashed into the same loyalty that Hannah had. I might have objected to it, if I hadn’t seen firsthand the difference Leo’s mental tricks had made in his girlfriend’s life. Hannah had gone from an insecure doormat to a blossoming young woman who practically glowed with happiness. I never thought Leo would have it in him to be able to connect with a woman on such a deep level, but he surprised me. In their own fucked up way, they were perfect for each other.
I flipped Mark off before grabbing a SpongeBob SquarePants mug from the sleek white cabinet. “Look, she deserves to be treated like a lady.”
“Yes, she does. She’s a keeper, but you need to go slow. Delicate touch.”
I cut a look at him, but by the bland expression on his face, he didn’t appear interested in Joy in the least. Not that I’d expected him to be. Other than one night stands here and there, Mark led a very solitary life. The death of his wife had damaged him in such a way, I wondered if he’d ever be in a relationship again. Well, a relationship with a woman outside of his video games. I’d occasionally played with him before, and there was this chick on his team who had the sexiest fucking voice I’d ever heard, but talking to some unknown female while you hacked up trolls online wasn’t the same as having a real woman in your life and on your lap.
