Page 122 of Allegiance

“You weren’t shouting her name when you were fucking me, Remmy. Just remember that. You can hate me, but ultimately, you cheated on your wife and called it the mission. That’s on you.”

He said nothing.

Why?

Because she was right, and he hated that more than anything.

“You should go,” he said, his voice cold and dead. “Really.”

She shrugged and changed the subject.

“Go to the bar, Remmy. Tell your band of merry do-gooders to hit it. They might be surprised who owns it. Trust me.”

“Yeah, never. The day I work with you or trust you is the day I pack it up, eat my gun, and send my soul to Hell.”

She laughed.

“Be safe, and if you sleep with her, Remmy, wear protection. She was a whore.”

He was about to protest, but why bother? She was leaving, and that was a plus in his book.

Artemis slipped from the booth, and the woman had rubbed him the wrong way.

He knew about Calyx’s past. She’d been forced to the streets, and she’d changed the trajectory of her life by working hard.

He didn’t fault her that.

At least she could be trusted.

As for having sex with her…

God.

He was an idiot, but he’d do it.

He knew himself.

At some point, he’d lose control, and he’d break every fucking rule he’d set into place to protect himself.

He was celibate.

He had been since Karen and his daughter’s deaths. It was going on a decade, and he didn’t fornicate because he had issues.

Guilt issues.

Oh, he could get a woman, and he could bed one down, but all he thought about was his dead wife.

It was difficult to have sex with another woman when the ghost of one was running through your head.

Really difficult.

When Artemis disappeared, it was seconds before he knew she was approaching. As Calyx stopped at the table, he looked up at her.

It was her smile that always got him.

The curl of her lip…

God.