Artifice - Man x Man - Book Six

Chapter 25

Knocking on the door, he enters without waiting for her to answer. Pushing past the man he'd come to know as Eddie, Verando makes his way down the familiar metal hallway and into the main room. At the top of the wooden staircase, the claw marks that span up its length are all too telling of the events that occurred there. 

The memory of the cat, chasing him, coming after him with such blind fury, is enough to make his skin crawl and he shudders at the thought. 

"Eddie, what did I tell you-" The woman pauses, in nothing but an oversized shirt and soft cloth shorts that are swallowed by her thighs and bottom. She hesitates, narrowing her eyes before turning on her heel to leave. 

"Kitten." Verando sighs, jumping over the railing to follow after her. 

"Don't 'Kitten' me, Doe. This is low even for you, showing your sorry face back here. What is left of mine for you to destroy? Thanks for not killing those cats, by the way." She gestures to the body bags beside the door. "That was a real treat. Good thing I had Tonic with me, or I'd been dead meat, or maybe  that was your plan, you insufferable, egotistical prick-"

"Kitten." Verando stops her abruptly, grabbing her hand. 

It brings her to a halt, feeling the plea resonating in his fingers. Turning to face him, she can read it all too clearly on his face. The pain, the need for comfort that only she and one other person can offer him. 

"I just need you to not be a raging bitch for five minutes." 

His voice is shaky, overexerted from his argument with me not an hour ago. The reality of my thoughts was more than he had ever dreamed would come from those lips, the words that sounded so much like the philosophy of my own father. 

"Doe..." Her voice is gentle, she folds her hands over the top of his before throwing her arms around him, and he hugs her back, chuckling sadly at her height. 

She jabs him in the ribs with her thumb, growling at his rude laugh. "What's got you torn up? I don't often get to see you like this." 

'Get to see him'. This was his problem with their relationship, she enjoyed that other people continued to hurt him. 

So, despite his better judgment, he tells her. Repeating the conversation verbatim to keep from leaving out important details, she guides him to the rounded couch to sit down. As Verando concludes the story, they sit in silence, what was once man and wife is now estranged in this new time. 

The first time they'd really been alone together, the first time they'd had the opportunity to process what had come between them. 

She brushes a strand of kinky hair out of her face, taking a slow breath. "I'm surprised he'd let you come here on your own, he must really trust you. I wouldn't have."

Verando makes a face, resting his elbows on his knees as he glowers at the ground. It felt like a mistake to be here; perhaps that's why he was so angry, it felt like a trap. Go fuck up, go be the bad guy, go make a poor decision. I was the only one who mattered, so why couldn't I see how much I was hurting him? How could I suggest that he become fodder for a greater cause?

Wasn't that what they were trying to avoid? How was it any better than being a slave? The trauma, the fear, and the whispers of the voices in his head reminded him that he trusted others, too, and look where it got him.

"I know you wouldn't have. That's why I'm so... Why would he say something like this, Kitten?"

"Men are idiots." She tells him plainly before exhaling, flopping back onto the couch to sit cross-legged. "He's a spoiled brat, he probably didn't see it how you're taking it. You are rather sensitive, mi amour."