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I hold his gaze too long to be considered common friendliness. I’ve been doing this—working men—for so long, it’s almost involuntary at this point. I wasn’t exaggerating when I told Reece they make it easy. They really,reallydo. More times than not, in their constant and desperate quests to find a hole to penetrate, they set themselves up for retaliatory invasion.
So while I do still regularly fuck men, I just leave out the pleasure now.Theirs.
Dropping my eyes, I immediately feign surprise at what I find in my hand. “I almost forgot. I got you this. I figured you deserved something a little tastier than…” I glance around us conspiratorially. “…hospital coffee.”
He chuckles as he accepts the to-go cup from me. “That’s very thoughtful.”
I shrug shyly, telling him, “I like to show my appreciation through gifts.” The officer stationed at my house every night also receives tokens of gratitude, only a different kind.
“Thank you, but you really don’t have to go out of your way.” Using his other hand, he hooks his thumb in his vest and puffs up his chest. “This is all standard protocol when a crime of this nature has been committed.”
Is that what Chief Hull is calling this? Standard protocol? Since when?
“It was nothing,” I assure him.
“Is that my wife? Lenox?” Kordin shouts from the other side of the curtain blocking the majority of his room from view. “Send her in here,” he orders Officer Tyler…who apparently has authority over me now.
I lift my eyebrows, saying, “Excuse me,” before he can actually try telling me what to do.
Pushing past the heavy curtain, the rings on the overhead bar pinging together noisily, I pull it closed behind me as I step inside Kordin’s private room. With three fractured ribs, one punctured lung, a broken arm and leg, he’s bruised, swollen, and heavily bandaged. Both his right arm and leg are in casts, and he has an IV in the crook of his left elbow. He’s been in here for almost a full week, and I’m hoping he still has at least another.
This morning his doctor called me to say he thought Kordin could be discharged sooner than expected, so he can finish recovering at home. I had to go full hollow on him, voicing my concerns regarding the second-rate care my husband’s so obviously receiving. Luckily, he backtracked fairly quickly, promising not to make any decisions without our input.
“There she is, the love of my life.”
Settling back into my full-time role of Kordin Debrosse’s wife, I side-eye the curtain as if I’m flustered by his compliment.
“Hello to you, too.”
“Would it kill you to smile, dear?”
I don’t answer and I certainly don’t smile.
Denim-colored eyes study me long and hard. “Humor me. Try it. I want to see if it will.”
Honestly, once upon a time, it felt like I would die from smiling on command. Every man I’ve lived with has demanded the act from me, none of them bothering to actually earn a real one.
Not that I remember what that feels like.
“Do it.” My husband’s voice crosses that thin, nearly invisible line between casual and stern. “Smile.”
I force my lips to stretch, making Kordin’s curl.
“You know? I think you look better with a stick up your ass.”
I smooth out my features and approach his bedside. “How are you feeling today? You seem more energetic.”
“I feel like I could use a nurse.”
“You’ve got several just down the hall.”
“They don’t care for me the way you could.”
“I’m here now, so what can I help you with?” I motion to the untouched tray of food on the table hovering above his lap. “Are you hungry?”
“I’m too nauseous to eat anything. I can’t even drink.”
His left hand strikes the table, sending it out of my reach.
