* * *

I took my time turning out the lights and making sure everything was locked up before taking one last look at Bryan tucked up all nice in bed. I shook my head as I walked away. He didn’t even know she was gone. Which reminds me.

She was in the bedroom having some kind of fight with her clothes. At least that’s what it looked like when she pulled the shirt off over her head and tossed it. “You ever sneak out of my house in the night I’ll put two in the chest and one in your head.”

I left her with her mouth open and went to brush dinner off my teeth. I was in the bathroom laughing my ass off at the names she was calling me in there. I didn’t expect her to be so funny. I probably wouldn’t shoot her if she betrayed me, I’m not wired that way. But I sure as fuck would make her life miserable.

I wasn’t expecting any trouble though. We seemed to grind up against each other pretty well. All she had to do was obey me and we’ll be fine. No worries.

She was hugging the edge of the bed when I walked back in. I guess she was mad. I dropped down on my side and hauled her into me. She tussled a little until I pinned her. “Behave. You couldn’t save this shit for him, don’t try it with me.”

She pouted and refused to look at me. I bit her jaw lightly and licked her ear. Nothing. My hand gliding up her inner thigh got a reaction out of her though. She clamped her legs together, holding my hand captive so I used my teeth on her nipple to get her ass to behave.

She relaxed her legs and it was all the opening I needed to let my fingers find her heat. through her panties. With her nipple in my mouth through my shirt that she’d filched to sleep in and my fingers making their way under the elastic of her underwear, I soon had her compliance.

“Kiss me.” She played the role but lifted her lips to mine, albeit grudgingly. I finger fucked her while sucking on her tongue until she softened and opened her legs to give my hand better access.

I pulled my fingers from her body and slipped them between her lips and with my head buried in her neck, rolled completely over onto her and slid home. Not sure why she was giving me such a hard time since her pussy was wet and ready to take me.

I didn’t call her out on her shit though, just enjoyed being inside her again. Each time was like a surprise. Almost as if I kept expecting the last time to be the last. Our situation was still precarious at best I know.

I got the feeling that if I didn’t stay on top of shit she’d let herself be talked into fucking away the rest of her life. I guess it’s hard to give up the baggage of guilt after carrying it for so long.

I’ll concede to a certain extent that this was a mess of her own making where she and this guy were concerned. But how can she not see that it would be better, that he would be better off finding someone to love and who would love him in return?

I tried showing her through touch, in the way I ran my hands over her body caressingly slow and soft. With the sweet words of praise I whispered in her ear. Shit that I wouldn’t usually do, because fuck, I’ve never been here before.

I didn’t miss the irony that it was she who had brought this out in me. Maybe it’s just one of those things where we were meant to be, no matter the fucked up circumstances that brought us here. Whatever the case, my protective instinct for her was just as strong as my hatred had once been.

“Do you want this?” This was me sliding in and out of her with my arms wrapped tightly around her, holding her close. This was me willing to put the past behind us and move on hopefully to something better. I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, I only knew that at this time, in this moment, I couldn’t see life without her in it.

She nodded her head as tears formed in her eyes. “Then fight for it.” I caught her lips under mine before she could give me an answer one way or another. She cried through our lovemaking and after while I held her without uttering a word. I’ll give her the two days to work it out, but if she didn’t, I’ll do what needs to be done. After all, this was my life now too.

* * *

She snuck out the next morning early after I’d kept her up all night and I watched until she disappeared through the door. I watched her climb onto the couch and lay there staring at the ceiling. I reached for my phone and texted her. “Sleep, I’ll watch over you.” And I did, until the sun came up and he stirred.

I watched for a little while longer to make sure she was okay and that he wasn’t giving her shit. He didn’t seem to sense anything out of the ordinary. Though I’d sent her home with my scent still in her, on her.

I knew though as I watched their interaction, that I couldn’t do that shit for much longer. I was beginning to feel like a fucking cheat, and that’s something I’ve never been and would never condone. What a fucking mess.

I dropped into bed after he left to get some much-needed rest before I had to get up later and take care of my other shit. The accountant had promised to put a rush on the audit and I was in a hurry to get that shit squared away so I could put it behind me.

One of my reasons for going to my folks the day before was to get some info on where Doug had ran off to. I didn’t tell them anything about what he’d done and wasn’t planning to until after. I planned on putting in some calls later to have him picked up from the little bungalow he was hiding out in in Fort Lauderdale.

Obviously he must know the jig was up as soon as I came home. I’m sure he knew me well enough to know that I would’ve come after her, and once she talked his shit was dust. Why the asshole didn’t just leave the country is anyone’s guess. Then again, it wouldn’t have mattered. After what he did, I would’ve gone to the ends of the earth to find him.

When I rolled out of bed a little before noon the next day, the first thing I did was text her. She’d gone into work today, which meant I could take care of my shit without worrying about her. Once I got her answer assuring me that she was okay, I had my first cup of coffee and put in a call to an old marine buddy. He wasn’t there so I’d have to get back to him later.

I could get on a flight and go to Florida, but I didn’t know exactly where on the beach the asshole was staying. For all I know he could’ve lied to his mom about where he was, that’s the only reason I wasn’t doing this shit myself. I wasn’t about to go on a wild goose chase, leaving her here alone for who knows how long?

I made myself busy the rest of the day doing research on getting my record expunged. I was going to have to handle this shit carefully. It’s the only reason I wasn’t planning on killing my cousin outright. I wanted to clear my name. Funny enough I was thinking more of her than myself.

If we moved back to our hometown, I didn’t want the stigma of the past hanging over her head. I could give a fuck what anyone thought about me, but she was a different matter. She hated it here, and I imagine she’d be just as miserable anywhere else that wasn’t home.

I’d never had any plans to live anywhere else. Our town may be small and out of the way but it was some of the most beautiful country I’d ever seen and I’d travelled around the world in the corps.

There was a nice spot I’d had my eye on before shit went south and that land was still there. Dad had grabbed it for me years ago and all that was needed was for me to build my home. I wanted us to live there together. I wanted to have with her what my parents have shared my whole life. I can’t do that peacefully unless I cleared us both from under this cloud that was hanging over our heads.

By the time she pulled up that evening I’d collected what I needed, all that was left was to get a full confession, and then some asshole in the D.A’s office to listen to me. First things first.

I didn’t even have to call her over, she parked and went in to change and then made her way over to me. The phone rang just as she came through the door that I’d left open for her. It was my buddy Cal returning my call.

I kissed her hello as I answered the call. “Hey bud long time no hear.”

“You’re out?”

“Sure thing, listen we’ll get together later and have a few and I’ll tell you all about it. Right now I need a solid brother.”

“Anything, just name it.”

“I have a little bird that flew down to your neck of the woods. I need you to locate and get back to me.”

“One of ours.”

“Nah, he’s a B.A.”

“Damn, you want me to ball him up first?”

“Nope, that POS is all mine.”

“For sure brother, just shoot me the deets.”

“Will do.”

She had a look of confusion on her face when I rang off. “What language were you speaking?”

“English.” I crooked an arm around her neck and hauled her in for a kiss to the forehead.

“What’s B.A.?”

“Benedict Arnold.” She gave that some time to sink in.

“And POS?”

“Piece of shit.” She nodded her understanding and then looked at me skeptically.

“Were you talking about your cousin? I thought you were going to leave that alone?”

“Can’t babe. Not to worry, I’m not gonna do anything stupid. There’s nothing for you to worry about.” She didn’t look like she believed me so I distracted her. According to how this shit panned out I might have to leave her for a day or two after all.

“How was your day?” I listened to her run down of the day at the bank where she worked as a loan officer. I’d never paid much attention to what it was that she did, but I guess she was pretty smart.

I didn’t jump her bones, but instead sat and talked until she had to leave to head back next door, which I barely held myself in check from protesting. I didn’t like feeling like the other man no matter how much she assured me I wasn’t. Like I said, shit was fucked up.

I spared myself the agony of watching them while I got my own dinner prepared, but still had the comp running so I could listen out for sounds of distress. When all seemed quiet next door, I spent the time formulating my plans for when I got Doug in my clutches.

The plan was simple. Get him to confess to his part in the whole sordid matter, get my name cleared, then contact my captain and make sure there was no blemish on my record.

The case had been tried in civilian court but something like this can follow you everywhere. It wasn’t so much my pension and shit that I was worried about. It was all the work that I had done over the years in service to my country. They could keep the money, as long as they cleared my name.