Page 21 of Blood & Lace
"Huh? Would you talk in complete sentences?"
The guard's brows dipped and he glared at me even with a bloody face. He was giving me the same look my brothers did when they wanted me to catch onto something.
My head tilted as I thought, his face was growing more red by the second but he'd stopped fighting me. I lowered him back down to the ground in hopes of figuring it out.
He went to push my hand away, and I let him. It wasn't like I couldn't kill him if I wanted to.
"You're wanted upstairs," he coughed out. Rubbing his throat, the man took a healthy step away from me. "I don't get paid enough for this."
"Upstairs for what?"
"Are you an idiot?" The moment the words were out of his mouth, he took another step away from me. "Wait, shit."
I hadn't even moved and already he was trying to defend himself. His eyes scoured the ground in search of something as he spoke. "Mr. Au—Your husband wants to see you."
"Why didn't you open with that?" I picked up the discarded gun and handed it over. "This all could have been avoided."
The man stared at his weapon as if it had grown legs and eyes. He slowly reached for it, but before he could snatch it from me, my hand closed tightly around the cool steel. "This could have ended with your death. Next time, you won't have this chance." I stared into his eyes before releasing the weapon. "That one there is fired."
"You're not our boss."
"I'm married to him. I see either of you near my husband again and I'll rip your balls from your body and feed them to your mothers." I waved and hit a light jog across the street toward Onyx's building.
Unlike before, no one tried to get in my way. In fact, most of them stayed clear of me. The only people openly gawking my way were the receptionist and a few people who lived in the building. I was used to people staring at me, but the moment I made it to the elevator, I saw why. Blood decorated my clothes and face. Not enough that it looked like I murdered someone. I knew what that was like, and depending on how it was done, I could either have a single speck or be drenched. I was in the middle a healthy amount.
I wiped at the blood on my face, grabbing an offered bottle of water before getting on the elevator and riding it up the Onyx'sfloor. I made quick work of cleaning up what I could. I hadn't exactly been home in a while, and a shower was more than likely needed. My reflection was mildly better the more I cleaned up. A quick sniff told me I absolutely needed that shower.
"This is really going to test my marriage." Hopefully, my winning personality had him overlooking this lapse.
The elevator chimed before the doors slid open. There were three times the amount of security guards on the floor, standing outside the door. I paid them little to no attention as I tugged at my shirt. The drying blood had it stuck to my skin in an unflattering look. A quick glance around let me know there wasn't a single guy on the floor nearly as big as I was. There was no way I'd be able to trade clothes with any of them.
"How do I look?" I asked, stopping before opening the door.
I was met with nothing but silence. Just in case, I smoothed down my short hair, hoping not a single strand stood up. Nerves bounced around my stomach like I'd eaten a roll of Mentos and downed a two liter of Coke.
He's my husband. I shouldn't be so nervous.
I opened the door, scanning the place, taking in every soft decoration in his home. From the plush white carpet to the baby blue and mint green pillows on his sofa. I bet it all smelled like Onyx. Like home. I took a single step toward the couch with one single thought in my head to bury my face in a pillow and breathe.
"This way. He's waiting for you in the dining room," a man said, jerking me away from my thoughts.
I didn't just want to breathe Onyx in, I needed to see him, touch him. There would be plenty of time to bask in everything that was his. I followed behind the man. He was a little shorter than me by maybe an inch or two. I was used to that, being seven-foot-two. Most people weren't taller than me in our line of work.
I knew the instance Onyx was there; it was like my world lit up. I went from seeing everything in muted tones to seeing in full color. There he was, the man of my life, sitting at the table, his freshly manicured nails tapping at the polished wood impatiently. His foot tapped under the table as he looked at his phone and then back up at the doorway. He was about to look back down at his phone until our eyes connected.
Warmth and love erupted in the pits of my chest and placed my heart in a choke hold.
Onyx was up, and I opened my arms, fully expecting him to jump into my embrace. He rounded the table and stopped just out of my reach.
"What the hell did you do?"
"Don't worry, it's not my blood," I said happily.
He's so worried about me. This is why I love him.
"I know that. What happened to the guy that was supposed to come get you?"
"Think he said he was resigning or something like that. Or taking the other one to the hospital or whatever." I moved toward him with a smile on my face. I just wanted to hold Onyx again. "Why do you need them, anyway? You have me. I won't allow anything to happen to you."
