Page 99 of Redemption

“No, why?” he asks, stopping a few feet from his wife. His eyes skirt over her. “You look nice.”

She looks at her dress, and Psycho can feel her discomfort. It doesn’t make sense, but she says, “Thanks.”

“Why’s your wife working to pay bills? I know how much you fucking make. You can afford two houses and a lake cottage, if you want. Plus braces and college for both kids.”

“Because she won’t take money from me,” he says, his voice gruff. “What are you doing here?”

“Work conference,” Psycho says with air quotes.

Her hand touches his and forces it down. “Don’t say it like that. Like it’s some made up excuse.”

An eyebrow raises. It’s been a while since he saw this version of her. “You notice how you’re the only woman in this group of men?”

“Yeah, which would be weird if I weren’t the only woman who works in the office.”

“That doesn’t strike you as odd?”

“Not when I’ve gotten along better with men than women my entire life,” she hisses. “Trust me, I’d rather be back home with my kids, but things come up. It’s a long story, and I don’t owe you or anyone else an explanation.”

The man eye-fucking them walks up and holds out his hand. “Hey, guys. I’m Ben Wentworth. Would you like to come inside and join us?”

“No, they wouldn’t,” she says and pushes his hand away from Psycho before he can grab it. “Go on inside. I’ll meet you in there.”

“Who’s Ben?” Psycho asks, his voice mocking. “You think you can get into a married woman’s panties,Ben?”

“Stop it!” she scolds. “We work together.”

To his credit, Ben doesn’t back down. “She’s separated from her husband. Has been for a while now.”

“He’s her husband,” he says, pointing a thumb to Colt over his shoulder. “This man can kill you within seconds.”

“Jesus Christ,” she groans. “Ben, go inside. Please.”

“Ben, why don’t we have a chat?” Colt says and steps forward with an evil grin. Psycho feels giddy. They may just see blood tonight after all.

“No,” she says, but he walks away from them with her husband.

He wraps an arm around the new man, and she takes a step towards them. Psycho grabs her arm, whipping her around to face him. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why the hell are you living apart from your husband?”

“Because we’re separated. You don’t usually live with the person you’ve left,” she says and tugs at his grip. “Let me go.”

He does as she asks, and she crosses her arms under her chest. “How long are you going to keep this up?”

“What are you talking about?”

The exasperation in her voice irritates him. Like he’s the one being unreasonable. “This bullshit separation. You’re married, Lex.”

“Only because he won’t sign the damned divorce papers. Besides, staying married protects the club, so I’m willing to settle.”

Divorce papers? No one said anything about divorce papers. “Say that again?”

“What has he told you?”

“Clearly not enough. But he’s not the one who should have told me. You should have.”

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