Page 43 of Wicked Throne

The phone disconnected and I couldn't have cared about anything less. Talia was the least of my problems. Right now I was concerned with locating my wife and her ex-lover. They seemed to have been swallowed up by the smoke and cinders erupting into the night air. Finally, I found them talking to someone and I decided to exit the car.

The smoke filled my lungs and made me want to cough. The ash made my eyes want to tear up. I wouldn't be deterred as I made my way to Diamond, who looked frazzled and distraught. The need to comfort her overwhelmed me. It did me no good that I could see Nathan's hand tucked into the small of her back and she was leaning into him.

The firefighter they were talking to stepped away as I eased up behind them. "I would appreciate it if you removed your hand from my fucking wife's body."

They both turned, their eyes wide. "Excuse me?"

"You heard exactly what I said." My eyes shifted between them. Diamond became unnerved and stepped away.

"It wasn't like that," she spoke.

"Oh yeah, what's it like?"

"Why are you coming up to us with all that bass in your voice," Nathan spoke. "I was simply being..."

My eyes narrowed. "You don't need to simply be anything. Ivy is my wife....leave the comforting to me." When my eyes retrained on Diamond, she was standing there with her arms crossed and biting her lip. "Let's go. Clearly, they have the blaze under control."

"She doesn't have to go a goddamn place with you," Nathan sneered.

He wanted smoke.

I was the motherfucking blaze.

I would burn Atlanta down, his ass didn't want to light this fire.

"Actually, she does. Detective West, you play a game with me you couldn't possibly win. Let's not lose two women to me. I would hate.....actually I would love with every fiber of my being to let your wife in on what's been going on for nearly three years."

Nathan looked shocked and surprised. "Di...."

"He just knew," Diamond shook her head.

Turning once again to my wife, my jaw clenched, "Let's go."

She offered no argument and possessively, I reached for her hand.

"Di...you know if you need me, I'm here," Nathan called out behind us.

Neither of us looked back. We simply made it back to the car and drove away. My knuckles had turned white in the blue light coming from the dashboard. It wasn't until my jaw started hurting that I realized I'd been clenching it still.

"You didn't have to act like a jealous jackass," Diamond sighed from the passenger seat.

"No. I did. That detective is going to get himself killed touching things that don't belong to him."

She huffed. "Give the shit a rest. Nathan and I are over. Just like this conversation."

"Oh really?"

"Yup."

We were in a pretty busy intersection by this point. She had challenged me and needed to know that I wouldn't allow it. Turning on my turn signal, I checked my mirror before merging right and then pulling into an empty parking lot.

"What are you doing?" She asked as I parked the car.

"Last night was just a taste....take your underwear off."

Diamond's eyes widened. "What, no..."

"Please don't make me do it for you," I was already unzipping my pants.