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CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Kassandra

I was going stir-crazy.

Correction, I was passed stir-crazy and well on my way to committing murder just to get some time out of my house.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my family. I loved that Brittany was coming over every night to spend time with Mikey and keep him occupied. I loved that Nate was finishing his homework with enough time to play online with his friends. Normally that much computer time would drive me bonkers, but he deserved it considering how hard he was working.

What I didn't love was that each night after dinner, David snuck away to work. Things were supposed to be different now that Michael was gone. I was no longer supposed to feel like a prisoner in my own home.

I was grateful David cooked breakfast for us every morning. I adored the fact that, most nights, dinner was ready or underway by the time I got home. It took a load off my plate, but that was the problem. I wasn't busy enough. I now had spare time, and I didn't know what to do with it.

Six days and everyone was busy except me.

And now I sounded like an ungrateful hag.

Gah! I let out a frustrated grunt and stomped out of my bedroom. I couldn't take it anymore. There was only so much work I could bring home before I started to let it consume me, and I wasn't about to let that happen.

I went in search of David. I found him pacing the living room with his phone attached to his ear. He was in the middle of a heated discussion with someone, and for the briefest of seconds, I considered walking away and not bothering him. But then I stopped. That was what I had done with Michael on more than one occasion and look where it got me.

"Let me call you back," David told whoever was on the other end of the call as soon as he saw me standing there. "Is everything okay?"

It was now or never. I took a deep breath and let everything I was feeling pour out. "No, everything's not okay. Being stuck in this house is driving me mad! Bringing home designs to keep me busy is starting to make me hate my career path. Not having enough to do around here is frustrating the hell out of me. I used to hate that Michael never contributed to a single thing but now you're being kind and cooking meals, helping Nate with his homework and just overall being perfect and it's making me feel useless!

"Oh God . . ." I dropped down on the couch and buried my head in my hands. "And now I sound like a nagging bitch," I grumbled.

David sat down next to me so that we were touching from shoulder to hip to knee. Every part of my left side was smashed up against his right.

"No, you don't. I'm sorry if me taking on all those things made you feel useless. I just wanted to help."

I groaned again. Why did he have to say all the right things?

“Too fucking perfect …"

I should've known my whisper wouldn't be quiet enough for him to miss.

"Are you talking about yourself?"

I gave him a look that showed just how frustrated I was. "No, I was talking about you!" The words were far snappier than I wanted them to be.

"Sorry to tell you, but I'm far from perfect."

"See? Even you saying that makes you pretty damn perfect."

David wasn't going to win this argument. It was one of those “women logic” things that had no real logic at all. Only a fellow woman would understand.

"Now I'm confused."

"Exactly!" I threw my hands in the air.

"I feel like there's a part of this conversation I'm missing."

I flopped back into the cushion with a huff. "There is. Half of it is going on in my head."

He mimicked my position, but with a smile on his face, compared to the scowl I wore. "Well, at least I know now that it's not just me. I was starting to wonder if I was blacking out for seconds at a time."

I smirked at him. "How is it you know exactly how to calm me down?"

"Oh, I don't know shit. I was completely winging this whole ordeal. My next tactic was to throw a Snickers bar at you. Supposedly when people are cranky, that's what you give them. At least that's what all the commercials on TV say."

I howled out a laugh. That was not what I expected from him at all.

“I come at you whining and your solution is candy. You just might have the female population all figured out."

David lifted his one shoulder. "I doubt that's true but it was worth a shot. So, do you want to talk about everything you said was bothering you?"

Now that I wasn't running off anger and adrenaline, I didn't feel as confident. This was normally when I would back away and say no. Brush off my concerns and let them stew without ever tackling them head-on. But I was trying something new.

"I'm not really sure what to say."

"Okay, so let's start with me helping around the house. Would you like me to stop doing that?"

"No!" God, I was starting to regret my word vomit from minutes before. "Mikey and Nate can't stop raving about your cooking. Before you, breakfast consisted of cereal or maybe popping waffles in the toaster, but that was it. I never woke up in time to actually make something. I'm not sure how you do it."

David gifted me one of his smiles. "One of the perks of being an early riser. Once I'm up, I'm up. And I need to start doing something immediately otherwise boredom sets in and no one wants to see that."

"I mean, I kinda want to see it," I grumbled. It would be nice to know he was normal like the rest of us.

"For you, I will try," he chuckled. "Okay, so keep making breakfast, but what about dinner and helping Nate with his homework? I never meant to overstep."

"You didn't, and I know you hate when I compare you to Michael, but he’s the only person I have any experience with. Coming home was always hectic for me. I had to figure out dinner and then spend hours fighting with Nate to get his homework done. It was all I knew. Now suddenly, I have all this free time and no one to spend it with. Mikey is busy with Brittany. Nate can finally game with his friends. And you . . ."

"And I'm hiding away working, just like Michael did," David sighed, but I had to be honest with him, so I nodded my head yes. "I'm sorry,” he continued. “This isn't normal for me. Yes, I work a lot but I don’t usually have people around me. This week has been exceptionally difficult. My technical analyst is trying to figure out who sent the note, as well as who Michael was in bed with. One of the guys on my team from New Mexico is in Pennsylvania right now and shit there is coming to a head, so I had to send the team I had watching us down there, so now I'm worried about you and the kids, and your safety. I have a pregnant technical analyst in New Mexico who is driving everyone batty. Add in the sexual frustration, and it's just a lot at once. Obviously I'm not handling it well."

Now I felt even more foolish. Here I was complaining he was helping too much when David had his own problems to take care of.

"I didn't mean to add to your worry," I said quietly.

David grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together. "You're not. Keeping you, Mikey, and Nate safe is my top priority."

"Right, but your teams need you elsewhere."

He snorted and shook his head. "If my teams needed me, then they aren't as good as they should be. Neither of my top-tier teams need me for anything other than to run interference for them. And that's all I'm doing when I take calls. They’re great at the boots-on-the-ground stuff, but when it comes to working with agencies or handling anything delicate, that's where I come in. I'm paving their way and that's something I can easily do from here. It just sucks that I can't have the team I want watching you. I trust my other Boston teams, but Cobra is the best. They are the ones I want looking after you when my attention is split between the boys being in school and you at work."

"Is me going into work a problem for you?"

I loved being able to leave the house and spend time working on my designs outside of my bedroom, but if it put my safety at risk, then I would suck it up.

"No, I have someone watching your office building. It might not be who I want, but it's someone I trust nonetheless. Just like I have someone watching the school. It's how I have time to make dinner for you every night. I delegate well."

"And we still don't know who is behind the threat?"

David scrubbed at the short beard on his face. It was one of the few times I saw him show his frustration. "Not a clue, which is concerning in itself. There should be some kind of paper trail we can follow but there's nothing. I haven't seen anything like it before."

"I wish there was some way I could help you."

I didn't know the first thing about technology other than the basics. I didn't pay enough attention to Michael's life to know who he spoke to. I was happy keeping our stuff separated as much as humanly possible.

"You don't need to help. I just need to figure out how to manage it all without shutting you out, like I have been."

Something else David said just hit me. Something I completely glossed over until now. I wasn't sure how to ask about it, so I cleared my throat and stumbled through my question.

"You ummm . . . mentioned . . . sexual frustration. Did I . . . hear that . . . correctly?" I sounded like a blubbering idiot but some of the embarrassment fell to the wayside when David's cheeks had a hint of pink to them.

I was pretty sure he was blushing.

"Yeah, you did."

"Care to explain?"

David was off the couch and pacing the living room before I finished the question. This was obviously a whole new level of frustration for him.

"You have to know I find you attractive. I've said as much."

He had, but he’d also avoided me. I didn't get to say that to him though because he continued to talk.

"You also have to know how good you look every day when you go to work. I mean, come on! Every outfit hugs your perfect curves like they were made specifically for you. I'm jealous of how closely your clothes get to touch you."

Well now, that was just silly, but again, he didn't let me get a word in.

"But you look equally as good when you come home and change. I don't think there's a single thing you don't look sexy in. It's driving me mad."

I raised my hand like a schoolgirl and waited for him to notice me.

"Are you seriously raising your hand right now?" he huffed.

"Uh, yeah. You haven't let me say anything since you started pacing, so I figured this was my best shot at getting your attention. It worked too."

"Sorry, what were you going to say?"

Any other time I would never consider this, but David wasn't the only one sexually frustrated. I was long overdue, so what the hell?

"I may have a way to help you with that."