Page 97 of In the Dark

WHY DID HE HAVE to go and say something he shouldn’t have? Why did he have to act like he cared when he didn’t? And why did I have to believe him?

My heart wanted to … my body already did, and my mind was yelling at both of us to stop being stupid bitches.

Even so, I sighed in his grip. I was so freaking tired and so confused over what I’d found out recently that I gave in more easily than I should have.

I wanted to know how he’d actually found out I was hurting. He seemed genuinely concerned, and it made me consider how I would feel if I found the same thing out about him.

No one was allowed to hurt him but me. I was his viper, after all.

It was a revelation I knew I shouldn’t have had but did anyway. My guard was down, my head muddled, and my libido in full force.

The wounds were almost healed. I’d been taking good care of them over the past three weeks, but the fucker had cut deep, and I knew if Callahan saw them, he’d jump to conclusions.

He sighed. “Take your sweater off, Jas, or I’ll take it off for you.”

I glanced behind him at the men still in the room.

He didn’t even look behind him as he commanded them, “Leave us.”

“Cal, knife at the foot of the mattress and potentially one in the holster on her thigh,” Archer grumbled as he walked toward the door.

That bastard.

Cal’s jaw ticked before he barked out, “How do you know about the one on her thigh?”

“Yeah, Archer, how?” I taunted him, glaring at him now. I thought we had been making progress on being friends the past week, and instead he was selling me out immediately to his boss. What an ass.

He looked almost like he was apologetic before he said, “It’s my job to know.”

It wasn’t exactly an answer, and it seemed Cal wanted a very direct one. “How?” he asked with more authority.

I was so annoyed at Archer that I didn’t care about Cal’s tone. Instead, I grumbled, “See if I invite you into my room again or offer to finish making your sweater.”

“Jas.” Archer’s tone was pleading, which lifted my spirits a little. At least he seemed hurt that he wouldn’t have access to our late-night talks or to Romeo’s purring in the future.

At that point, Cal spun around, giving me his back as he ground out, “How many times have you accepted an invite into her room?”

Archer’s eyebrows raised but he didn’t seem at all apologetic. “A few. It’s just to talk.”

“And you saw me undo my holster one of the last times,” I whispered. It’d been a month of me having my guard up, and the second I took it down, the one person I thought I could trust just a little used it against me.

I didn’t see how fast Cal pulled his gun, but I heard Archer swear profusely, and when I glanced up, Cal’s stare was locked on Archer, his finger steady on the trigger, holding his pistol under Archer’s chin. “Have you no respect, Arch? I told you to stand outside her door.”

“And what? You intend to fight me because I didn’t?” Archer’s eyes danced now with that darkness, like he might enjoy a fight. “Be happy I cataloged intel for you.”

“Along with staring at my fiancée’s thighs.”

“You’re losing it, man. I swear to Christ.” Archer shook his head, not at all concerned with the gun at his head. “I have women around the country that would spread their legs for me willingly, and you think I want yours?” Archer met Cal’s anger just as fast. “That’s the type of loyalty you think I have toward you?”

Cal held his gaze for a long time before he shoved him back with the barrel of the pistol on his throat. “Don’t come in my fiancée’s room again.”

“Oh, believe me. He won’t. He’s not allowed in anymore.” I gnashed my teeth together at the invasion of privacy, at the fact that no one seemed to care they were invading my space, the little freaking amount I had here, and that my life had been completely upended since the moment I’d agreed to this charade. “Matter of fact, I think it’s time my fiancé let me lay some ground rules.” I glanced at him, knowing he owed me that much. “Everyone get the hell out, and don’t come back in here unless I ask you to. This is my room.”

Callahan’s eyes sparked with a little humor before he turned to his men. “You heard her. Leave.”

They all filed out, and that’s when I got the smirk I should have been looking for. “You happy, Viper?”

“As a prisoner of marriage under your roof? Never.” I crossed my arms.