Page 8 of Vengeance

“Twice.”

“What?”

“When I went with Chicago to Kimberly’s house, those assholes broke in the back door while I was gone. Hit Lacey before they were taken out. This shit has to stop, Jennings,” Psycho says and paces.

He stares at the crazy man, more off the handle than normal. “Is she okay?”

“She’ll be fine, but this shit with the Slashers is taking a toll. It needs to fucking end. Soon.”

“I know-”

“Lacey thought she was losing me.”

“Psycho, sit,” Jennings orders. “What are you talking about?”

Sighing, the lanky man takes VP’s spot to Jennings’s left. “Lacey... she thought she was losing me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“All this shit with the Slashers has me distracted at times I should very much not be distracted.”

“She has to understand you’re worried about her safety, right? We’ve all been a bit distracted.”

He swallows and looks Jennings in the eye. “I don’t normally talk about this shit, but it’s affecting things in the bedroom.”

Eyes wide, Jennings suddenly feels uncomfortable. “Are you having issues... performing?”

“What? God, no!” he shouts and stands. “My shit works just fine!”

Well, that’s a relief. I can’t offer much insight to that myself. “I really don’t understand what’s going on right now.”

Psycho’s hands hit the table as he leans on it. “You know about her past, right? What little she’s let known?”

There’s not a lot that’s been shared with the group, but there has been enough information to form assumptions. Assumptions that make Jennings want to help make sure her father’s death is excruciating. “A little, yeah.”

“She’s asking for things to be... rougher. Things we’ve never really done before because of her past. And because I don’t fully trust myself, but she’s wanted more. I’ve given in, but it came to light tonight that she’s doing it mostly because she thinks she’s losing me. That my distraction is a disinterest with her.”

Now it makes sense. “She thought she needed to be different to keep your attention. To do something different.”

“I can’t lose her like I almost did a few years ago, Jennings. If I cross a line with her, a line she doesn’t actually want me skirting so close to because she worries I’m going to leave her, I don’t think I could ever forgive myself. And it’s all because of this bullshit with the Slashers. It needs to stop. I need a normal sex life again.”

“Psycho, do you really think Lacey would let you cross that line?”

His eyes lock with Jennings’s. “Yes, I do. Worse than that, she’d forgive me. She says she likes what we’re doing, but I know it’s coming from a place of insecurity. The truth is, I only feel calm, truly calm, with her. She calms all the shit buzzing in my head, and my mind goes to how to solve this problem with these bastards. She interprets it as I’m bored. Bored with her. That will never happen.”

“Trust your woman.”

“What?”

“She told you what she feels, right? That tells me she wouldn’t do anything she doesn’t feel comfortable with, and she feels comfortable with you. Plus, she has come into her own out there in Black Valley. Have more faith in her, Psycho.”

“I don’t trust me,” he admits and sits down. “What if I... what if I hurt her?”

Reaching out, he pats the man’s bicep. “I don’t think you will.”

“You don’t know what I’m capable of.”

“Are you kidding?” he asks with a laugh. “I’m very aware of what you’re capable of... which can translate into the bedroom, so I get where your worry comes from. But I also know how much you love that woman. You’d set fire to the world but never let the heat touch her. You gotta trust yourself, too. But I agree... shit needs to stop with the Slashers.”

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