Page 79 of The Bloke

I dropped my arms in surprise as a man I didn’t recognize entered the room, shutting the door behind him before stepping up beside Dustin’s desk.Who the fuck?

I peered down at my wife, whose eyes flared wide at the sight of him. She shook her head in denial before shooting up to her feet and pointing at him with a dark, menacing glare, forgetting any pain she once felt in her chest.

“Who the fuck invited him to this.” She seethed through her teeth, looking ready to charge him at any given moment. I wrapped my arm around her waist to hold her back and prevent whoever the fuck he was from being mauled to death by my freaked-the-fuck-out wife. “Why the fuck are you here, Travis! Haven’t you and Landon done enough!?” She shouted with a venom I hadn’t heard from her before.

The man she called Travis laughed, running a hand through his short, dusty brown hair before sliding it into his jeans. His dark green eyes hardened on my wife.

“Relax, sunshine. I’m just here to help.” His eyes flicked to meet mine before returning to her, and I could see red bleed across my vision. “Unless, of course, you no longer want it?” He crooned, holding up the back of his right hand, displaying an all too familiar black ring—Sienna paled at the sight of it, sucking in a sharp breath.

This couldn’t be the Travis she spoke about earlier, could it? How could he be a member of the Men Under Revueandwork for the Special Forces? We had no members working in any form of law enforcement.What the fuck was going on?

“I thought we were done with your shit, Travis.” Nick chimed in, sounding almost bored. “Didn’t Dustin tell you to stay in your fucking lane?”And how did Nick know him?

“Someone tell me what the fuck is going on here.” I barked, losing my patience as I glanced around the room. I was far too sober and stressed out for this shit.Fuck sake…

“Sit the fuck down, Travis…” Dustin growled, resting his palms on the desk. “I assume the first thing you are questioning is how a member of the Las Vegas Special Forces unit came to be a member of the Men Under Revue?” He arched a brow at me.

“That would be a good place to start.” I clipped, pulling Sienna’s back to my chest while wrapping my arm around her upper body to keep her in place.

I could feel the anger radiating off her flushed skin, her heavy breaths pushing her chest against my arm.

“Dustin wanted an in with the only field of work he could never penetrate, at least not without help… Simply put, I had what he needed, and he had what I wanted.” Travis spoke like a cocky motherfucker, tilting his head as his eyes examined my wife—and I wanted nothing more than to drive a knife through his throat.

“An in which would ensure that all Las Vegas Law Enforcement would stay the fuck out of our business. Except thistime, they didn’t.” Dustin glared daggers at Travis as he hissed his words through a clenched jaw. “Travis confirmed the LVSF knew about Jameson and what we had planned for him. It just so happened that us choosing him as your wife’s target played into their favor, and Travis took advantage of that by leaking information to one of the officers who, in turn, persuaded her into sabotaging herself.”

“We needed him alive, and you needed him dead,” Travis added matter of factly.

“And where does this leave her now?” I questioned, looking between the two of them.

“Colby, you know what happens to those who fail their tests—”

“That’s fucking bullshit, and you know it; he set her the fuck up!” I shouted with rage, gesturing to the piece of shit who put her in this situation to begin with.

“However—” Dustin’s voice rose, holding up his hand to stop me, growing more frustrated with this meeting as it continued. “Seeing as Travis came forward and admitted to interfering with your wife’s assigned test, I have decided that we will issue her a new one in a week’s time.” He finished, picking his phone up from the desk. “Consider this asecond, first chance. Now, all of you, get the fuck out of my office.”

I didn’t hesitate for a moment to pull my wife out of that room; I didn’t need to give Dustin any more reason to change his mind after getting away with what we just did.

What he just did was unheard of; a man known for being so ruthless and unforgiving to give my wife a second chance.

As we started making our way down the hall to the front entrance, her hand tightly held in mine, Sienna abruptly stopped and spun herself around, jerking me back in her direction before she released her grip on my hand and pulled away.

“You son of a fucking bitch!” She screamed before slamming her fist into Travis’s jaw. “How fucking long?—” She demanded. “How fucking long have you known?”

I could see she was still reeling from his surprise appearance, her chest rapidly rising and falling with her heavy breaths, and her jaw clenched so tightly that it was a miracle her teeth didn’t shatter from the strain.

“Christ almighty, sunshine. If I had known our reunion would be the same as our departure—” Travis rubbed his jaw with a chuckle. “Although I have to admit, I should have seen this coming. You certainly have a type.” He added, his eyes inspecting me before catching her wrist in his hand as she went in for another swing.

“Get your hand off my fucking wife.” I sneered, launching myself forward, gripping his wrist and squeezing hard in a silent order to release hers.

He let go of her wrist, and I tucked her behind me.

Sienna didn’t need my protection; my wife could sure as fuck handle her own, but I knew she was still weakened in her current state, and I didn’t need her overexerting herself for someone like him.

“She would have been my wife if she hadn’t run away from me first.” He crooned, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Although I never pegged you for the marriage type, Sienna. You were always one to fight instead of surrender.”

“Fuck you, Travis. As if I would have ever considered being tied down by you.” My wife gritted out, hands squeezing my forearm, her nails leaving half-moons in my skin from the tight grip.

“No, but I suppose all I needed to do was get you drunk enough to sign the paperwork. Isn’t that right, Colby?”

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