Page 7 of Faded Rhythm

King

The girls sit at the table, swinging their tiny legs, crunching on goldfish crackers and apple slices like they don’t have a care in the world.

Their table talk is light—the older one is telling a story about a boy in her class who got gum stuck in his hair, and the little one laughs too hard and snorts, which sets them both off.

It’s…adorable, I suppose.

Sable stands on the other side of the kitchen, arms folded tight, her back against the kitchen counter. Her face is neutral, but the way her eyes flick toward me every few seconds gives her away.

She doesn’t want me here.

Especially not around them.

And I don’t blame her.

She’s using her body as a shield, standing watch, protecting her offspring.

I glance at the girls again, then back at her, and decide to make this easier on her. I make my way over to her and stand at her side, folding my arms, mirroring her.

I lean down a little. “I can stay out of sight,” I say softly, low enough that the girls can’t hear. “Until they’re down for the night. If that makes this easier on you.”

Her brows lift in surprise.

She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out at first. She clears her throat. “I—um…I appreciate that.”

Her voice is small. Uncertain.

My eyes drop to her mouth. Full lips. Slightly parted. Shiny. I imagine them against mine and determine they would be soft. Urgent. Wet.

I push the thought down.

Not the time or the place. Not now. Not ever.

She blinks up at me. “They’re self-sufficient. They do this without me every day. We can go talk right now.”

I nod. “Lead the way.”

She leaves the kitchen, walking ahead of me with that controlled stride, her bare feet slapping against the hardwood, her hips swaying just enough to make my thoughts stray again.

I rub the back of my neck as I follow her down the hall.

The house is cooler back here. Quieter. But there’s a heaviness in the air. Maybe old secrets and lies.

This house looks like it’s seen some shit.

She opens the door. “This is Brett’s study.”

The lights are off, but she doesn’t bother with the switch. The afternoon sun streams though half-closed blinds, throwing slanted shadows across the room. She walks over to the desk, rubbing her arms like she’s cold.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she mutters.

I close the door behind us, then take a seat in the chair opposite the desk.

“If I’m gonna help you, I need to understand some things,” I say, voice rougher now. “Why would he want you gone? Be honest with me.”

“I am,” she insists, her eyes darting. “I have no idea.”

“That’s not good enough,” I snap. “No affairs? No debts? Nothing you’re hiding?”

Her eyes flash. “Of course there are no affairs. I would never cheat on my husband.”

“What about money?”

She waves a hand, dismissing that. “I’m worth way more to him alive, believe me. Financially and socially.”

We haven’t gotten to that, yet, but we will.

“We have policies on each other, but Brett already has money.”

She shakes her head like she realizes how ridiculous that sounds. Unscrupulous people are never satisfied with what they have.

“Could he be cheating on you ?”

She snickers, sharp and bitter. “How the hell would he do that? He can’t even—“

She stops.

I tilt my head slowly. “Can’t what?”

She looks away.

I bite back a smirk.

So that’s how it is.

This fine ass woman in front of me lays in a cold bed at night while her husband plots her demise.

That shit is tragic.

The silence hangs between us, thick and charged. I can feel her thinking. Regretting. I shouldn’t have said that running on loop in her mind.

The she gasps, “Shit!”

She bolts from the room. My instincts kick in before my brain can catch up. I’m right behind her, my heart thudding hard.

Is she running? Did I just fuck up somehow?

But when I hit the kitchen entryway, she’s bent over the girls’ backpacks, rifling through them like a woman possessed.

Rae and Kelice stare at her, wide-eyed and nervous.

My confusion turns to relief when she yanks out a small pink phone. Then another one, sparkly and purple.

I get it.

Sable plasters on a smile for the girls, and I do the same, crouching to tie a loose shoelace on Rae’s sneaker like that’s what I came in here for.

“Back in a second, guys,” she chirps.

We head back to the study, side by side, the door clicking softly closed behind us.

“Just being careful,” she says, holding up the phones like proof. “It’s not like he calls to check on them anyway.”

That gets under my skin in a way I don’t expect.

“So he wants you dead, doesn’t care about his daughters, and he won’t fuck you? Sable, sweetheart, why are you married to this motherfucker?”

It’s too much, but I knew that even as the words were shooting out of my mouth. She jerks back like I slapped her, and I immediately regret it.

“Sorry,” I mutter. “That was—“

“No,” she says, cutting me off. “It’s fine. It’s…you’re not wrong. At all. That’s why I was planning to leave.”

I frown. “That’s the kind of information you should be sharing with me, don’t you think?”

“He didn’t know,” she says. “It’s a recent development. Very recent. I’m trying to get my ducks in a row, that’s all. He doesn’t know.”

I scrub a hand down my face and wait.

“Me and Brett…” she trails off, shaking her head. “That’s a long story.”

“Then start telling it,” I say. “Maybe that’ll help us figure this shit out.”

She stares at the slashes of light, her body tense, her eyes glassy.

I watch her, noticing the light brown streaks in her hair, and the way her brown eyes look amber in the light.

She looks delicate, but also dangerous—like trouble.

My platoon captain used to warn us about women like that.

“Those bitches are worse than the enemy at the gate,” he would say.

“Because we open the gate and let them in. We never see the blade coming.”

She sighs, and it’s nothing. A whisper. A nanosecond in time. But the sound of it makes me want her.

I shouldn’t.

God help me, I want her more every second I’m around her.

Just one taste of her lips would be enough.

Maybe. One stroke of her hair. One swipe of my fingertips across her nipples, just enough to feel them harden.

And I wanna hear her moan. Just for a second.

Just to know what ecstasy sounds like. But I probably couldn’t stop there.

Knowing what I know now, I’d have to make her cum.

She deserves that, at least. Who knows how long it’s been?

I don’t even have to be inside her. I’m not selfish.

I could get her there with my fingers. My tongue. I’m not picky.

Fuck.

My dick is hard.

I shift in my seat, crossing a leg over the other. Not that I need to. She’s still staring at the light, still off somewhere, thinking.

When she finally comes back to me, I’m calm. I’m rational. I’m focused.

“Where do you want me to start?”

I sit up a little straighter.

“From the beginning.”