Life seemed fairly normal for the next couple of weeks. The commute from Torquay to the city was a bit long, but having Nate with me made it a hell of a lot more bearable. Still, almost four hours of travel every day was wearing on us.

“You know, if you put some furniture back into my apartment, we could stay there during the week and spend weekends at your place,” I suggested when I noticed him yawning uncontrollably Monday morning. He’d had a busy weekend doing ‘business’ things with his brothers that meant I’d stayed at the family house to keep Alesha company while they were gone—although, I also thought that Nate didn’t like the idea of leaving me in the Bells Beach house alone because of how secluded it was. Maybe he was still afraid I’d run away.

While the men were out ‘working’, Jasmine procured our help to prepare a grand feast for their return. She had said with great authority that her boys would be starving when they got back, and she’d been right. They shoved food in so fast that I’d barely cleared a quarter of my plate before they’d started on seconds. After that, Nate had gone caveman on me and dragged me upstairs—I say dragged, but I went rather willingly—to have his way with me. We hadn’t gone home that night, falling asleep exhausted in the family home instead. I had to wonder if it was the adrenaline rush that kept Nate going back to the family line of work when he clearly had enough of his own. He’d been an absolute animal that night.

“It’s our place,” he corrected, referring to the Bells Beach house. “There is no mine and yours anymore. It’s all ours.”

“Fine, our place,” I said. “But by that same thinking, we have a perfectly good apartment only fifteen minutes from my work. Do you think staying there could be an option? I love living by the beach, but the commute is killing me, babe. And by the looks of things, it’s killing you too.”

He glanced at me and took in a slow breath. At first I didn't think he was going to go for it, but then I held my hands together and batted my eyelids, making whimpering puppy noises that made him laugh. “OK, duchess. I’ll get the boys to move your shit back into the apartment.”

“Our shit,” I corrected.

He chuckled and agreed. “We’ll stay there until the end of the school year, but I want you to look at transferring schools so we’re not in the city for long.”

“What’s wrong with the city?”

“I work in the city.”

“So?” I started, and then it hit me—you don’t steal where you live. It compromised the job. “Oh.” I sat with my arms folded across my middle, silently staring out the window. “I really like the school I’m at, Nate. It isn’t as easy to get a good position as you think.”

Reaching across the car, he took my hand and squeezed. “There are plenty of good schools farther down. Marriage is compromise.”

I snatched my hand back. “Then quit your fucking job,” I snapped.

We drove the rest of the way in silence. Just because I was aware of what Nate did for a living didn’t mean I was OK with it. The fact that he was expecting me to change my entire career trajectory so he could keep travelling through the city, robbing people without being identified while out picking up groceries really pissed me off. So far, my life had been the only one to make compromises. His was going on, uninterrupted and unencumbered.

I spent the entire day pissed off about it and was ready to give him a piece of my mind when the wind was knocked out of my sails the moment Toby pulled up outside the school.

“Where’s Nate?” I asked, peering through the window of his black BMW sedan.

“Hello, Holland. How was your day?” he asked in return, gesturing for me to get inside.

Since I wasn’t in the mood for a kidnapping, I stayed on the outside.

“Where’s Nate?” I insisted.

“He’s busy. He asked me to pick you up.”

“Busy? Doing what?”

“Just get in the car. You’re attracting the attention of the locals.” He looked over my shoulder to the group of students craning their necks.

“That’s not your husband, Miss,” one stated, crossing her arms.

“Not that it’s any of your business, Jessica, but this is my brother-in-law, Toby.”

She and her friends leaned closer to get a better look and Toby grumbled, rolling his eyes.

“Want a copy of my license and registration too?” he asked as they gathered around.

“No, but I don’t see a ring. Can you be my stepdaddy?” Jessica asked.

“All right.” I held up my hands and gave them my most severe-looking teacher face. “That’s enough. He didn’t come here to be the butt of your lewd comments, girls.” When they moved back, I opened the car door and slipped in, deciding it was safe enough since I had a whole gaggle of witnesses to attest to my last known whereabouts. It was unlikely that Toby would take me shopping for concrete boots and then sightseeing at the edge of a really high cliff.

“See ya, Miss. See ya, Daddy!” The girls blew kisses and giggled uproariously as Toby planted his foot and sped off, his cheeks bright red.

“That’s the calibre of girls you’re teaching these days?” He shook his head.

“They get raised by YouTube and social media. It’s a different generation than what we grew up with.”

He shook his head again and drove on in silence.

“So, what has Nate so busy?”

“Well, it seems whatever the—what does he call you? Princess?”

“Duchess.”

“That’s right. Whatever the duchess wants, the duchess gets. We all had to drop what we were doing today to move furniture for you.”

That so wasn’t what I was expecting to come out of his mouth. “We’re going to my apartment?” I couldn’t help but smile. Some husbands bought their wives flowers, others bought jewellery. Mine, he returned the things he stole. It made my heart soar.

“And you’re happy about it. Of course you are.” He turned down a familiar street and I immediately relaxed—which, in Toby’s presence, was a big thing for me. He always made me feel on edge, but today, he seemed… OK. “We strain our muscles all day so you get to sit on your plush couch in your love nest while the rest of us get to drive all the way back to Torquay and listen to the other loved-up couple go at it like rabbits all night.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s enough to drive a man to drink.”

“Careful, Toby, you’re sounding jealous.”

“Maybe I am.” He glanced at me as he indicated to turn into my parking garage. “I did see you first.”

My heart jumped into my throat. What an odd thing to say. I thought he hated me.

“Why don’t you stay at your place, then?” I asked, clearing my throat, trying to steer the conversation to more comfortable grounding.

“It’s not really mine at the moment. I’m renting it out for a while to make some extra cash.”

“Extra cash?”

“We aren’t all rolling in it like Nate. I have legitimate goals, and I need legitimate money to make those goals happen.”

He pulled into a guest parking spot and I took a moment to regard him, his tone suggested more than just jealousy over Nate’s bank account. “Why is Nate having more money a problem for you?”

“It’s not. It’s just that Nate plays his own game outside the family. A game I don’t agree with.”

“What game? I don’t understand. Are you talking about his investments?”

He laughed at that. “Yeah, his investments. That’s exactly what I’m talking about.”

“What do you mean? Is there something I’m not aware of that I should be? What investments does he have?”

“That’s something you’ll have to take up with him. But if you ask me, it’s probably better if you don’t know.”

Better if I don’t know? Those words resonated deepest. Toby was a thief, just like Nate was a thief. But if Nate was into something that Toby didn’t agree with, then what the hell was it? What could be worse in another criminal’s eyes? Guns? Black-market organs? It was something I was going to take up with my husband. I barely coped with the idea of him stealing, Lord knew what I’d do if it was something worse.

When we got out of the car, I was more confused than ever. I’d been angry all day about our argument this morning, and now I was questioning exactly how loose my husband’s morals were.

“Come on, Holland,” Toby urged when I didn’t move right away. “He’s waiting.”

“Do you like your job, Toby?” I asked as he followed me up to the apartment. I kept running our conversation through my head and wanted to know what he meant by ‘legitimate dreams’.

“If I answer truthfully, will it stay between us?”

“Of course.” I was a firm believer that a person’s secrets weren’t to be shared with anyone except the people they chose to share them with.

He stopped on the staircase, and I turned to face him. With our height difference, we were basically eye to eye. “I hate it. Always have. Always will.”

“Have you ever tried to be something else?”

“Jasmine won’t allow it. Let’s go.” He gestured for me to keep moving. I obliged, but I had more questions.

“Toby,” I started, but he cut me off before I could say anymore.

“Your husband’s waiting for you, Holland.” He was obviously done talking.

When we got upstairs, Toby pushed the front door open to reveal an apartment full of furniture and a champagne-wielding husband.

“Welcome home, duchess,” Nate said. Despite my troubled mind, I melted. He looked like he was fresh from the shower, wearing the jeans I loved because they hugged his arse just right, along with a soft cotton T-shirt in dark grey. Other than that, he had a sparkle in his eye and nothing on his feet. He looked like a wet dream.

The stress of the day slid from my body and I fell into his arms, deciding that my questions didn’t need to be an angry confrontation. I didn’t want to attack him and sound ungrateful when he’d just given me back a massive piece of my life. I didn’t realise how much I’d missed it until I walked through the door.

“I’m sorry for biting your head off this morning,” I said, resting my head against his chest.

“Don’t even mention it.” He kissed the top of my head, then handed me champagne. Taking it, I turned around to offer some to Toby, but he was gone.

“Where did he go?” I looked back to Nate.

“Toby? He left once he walked you to the door.”

“He’s a strange man,” I noted, taking a seat on my couch—my original couch, not the replacement one. I’d forgotten how comfy it was—and let out a sigh. It was good to be home.

“How so?” Nate asked, coming to sit beside me. I wasn’t going to say he was a pussycat like Alesha thought, I wasn’t there yet. But he hadn’t been as cold or cruel today. Weird.

“He was talking about living in the same house as everyone else because he was renting out his own place for extra cash. Made a comment about not being as well off as you, then said something about you playing your own game?”

Nate released an amused burst of air and slid his arm around my shoulders. “He’s just pissed about his own life choices.”

“It sounded a lot like he didn’t agree with the way you’ve invested your money.” I touched lightly on the subject to gauge his reaction.

“He was given the same opportunities that I was. He just chose not to take them. But there’s a lot of history there. Toby’s always hated risks. Which is why he tends to be the driver and lookout. I trust him more than anyone in my life though.”

“More than me?”

He chuckled, then kissed the side of my head. “It’s a different kind of trust. You, I trust with my heart. Toby, I trust with my life. He’s always had my back. It’s why he was the one who went and got you today—you’re a part of that life.”

Sipping at my champagne, I thought about his words and wondered if that meant that he didn’t trust his other brothers, and what about his mother? Did he trust her? With a sigh, I rested my head against Nate’s shoulder. My brain had begun to ache with the complexities of his family dynamic. I’d probably never understand it, but I was going to keep trying, question by question, puzzle piece by puzzle piece until I had the full picture.

With a sigh, I took in my full apartment. It felt good to be back home. “Thank you for doing this. I’ve missed this place.”

“Me too. Goliath and I have a lot of fond memories within these walls,” he said, looking around and nodding.

Smiling at his response, I looked up and sucked gently against his throat. “Want to make some more?”

“Let me check with Goliath first,” he joked, looking inside his pants. “Yeah, he’s up for it.”

I giggled, watching the bulge in his pants grow. “Quite literally.”

When I saw the glint in Nate’s eye, I knew he only had mischief on his mind. “He said he wouldn’t mind filling you out like an application.”

I laughed at the euphemism, loving that he was such a loveable rogue. “You sure he doesn’t want to park his car in my garage?”

He took my glass and set it on the coffee table before guiding me so I was straddling his lap. “Well, he is partial to a game of hide the sausage.”

Laughing, I leaned down and pressed my lips to his. “I love you, Nate,” I whispered as his hands roamed over my body.

“I love you too, duchess,” he replied without a second’s hesitation. It was the first time he’d said it outright. My heart danced about in my chest. He loved me.

I kissed him deeper. Despite everything I wished I could ignore, everything I still didn’t know, I was completely smitten by this man.

But alongside love in a marriage is honesty. There was a lot I didn’t know, and probably a hell of a lot I didn’t want to know. Could love teach me to turn a blind eye and accept what he was? Or would his profession—his other life—become a cancer that slowly ate away at our relationship?