Page 26 of Psychopath

“But you continue to wear it?”

“I guess it’s just…habit by now.”

Zane nodded. “Some habits are hard to break, but you have to break them. If you don’t break them, they’ll end up breaking you.”

5

The number of times Tony had been married boggled Quinn’s mind. He was convinced there was an error in his file and asked Tony just to be sure.

“So erm… thirteen wives?”

Tony smiled proudly, then scratched his bristly chin. “What can I say? I love too much.”

“Thirteen wives and thirteen divorces.”

“Impressive, isn’t it? I’m hoping for the fourteenth time behind bars.”

“What, how?”

Tony shrugged. “I get fan mail. Women like a bad boy, and I’m…I’m one of the worst.”

“Why do you think your marriages didn’t work out?”

Tony blew out a long breath, then muttered, “The nagging.”

“Nagging?”

“Constantly do this, do that. Where are you going? How long will you be? It gets a bit stale after a while.”

“Some people value the comfort, the familiar—”

“Not me. At first it’s new and exciting, then it’s whose turn is it to take the bins out, the car needs its MOT and do we really have to visit your mother again this month? It’s dull, and if my wife can’t keep things fresh and exciting, then what’s the point? I’m a red-blooded man, and it was inevitable I was going to cheat.”

Quinn eased out a slow breath and pushed thoughts of Damon from his head.

“The divorces must’ve been expensive.”

Tony chuckled and slapped his hand on his knee. “No kidding. They’d clear me out.”

“Then why did you keep getting married?”

“The proposal and the wedding part were addictive. The sex was the best during that time. I love women; that’s my weakness.”

“What were your wives like?”

Tony leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin as he rattled off as much as he could remember about each one. It didn’t surprise Quinn that he only described them physically, not emotionally. Tony described their shape with his hands and groped the air when he said they had big breasts. He focused on the sex more than anything, and each woman overlapped with another. He didn’t ever end a marriage before starting the next.

When Tony’s pupils started to dilate and the swelling in his pants became noticeable, Quinn finished the session early. Tony left in a hurry, leaving the door to swing.

Cleo poked her head inside. “Who set his pants alight?”

Quinn shuddered, then grimaced. “Don’t… Just don’t.”

Cleo peeked a look at the notes on the table. “Thirteen times, and I can’t even find one man to marry me.”

“Would you really want to be married to someone like Tony?”

“Not exactly. He’s my type, though.”

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