Bad Blood (Book 4 of The Warden series) (32 page)

Danato stepped out of himself to look at where he was at. How far had this gone? His right hand was clamped firmly around Ethan’s neck. He had lifted him from the floor the extra few inches he needed for him to be eye to eye.

Ethan was struggling to breathe, but otherwise was not fighting the attack. Despite the same adrenaline in his blood, and enough strength to knock out an elephant, Ethan had not raised a hand to him. His loyalty was still strong enough to allow Danato to use him as a punching bag, rather than disrespect him.

Danato dropped him to the ground and took hold of his shoulders to keep him from trying to bolt out the door in an angry huff before he could apologize. “Ethan,” The adrenaline in his system was making his voice shake now, but for different reasons. “I’m sorry.” He took in a deep breath to steady his voice. “Please forgive me.”

Ethan coughed a little, but he was doing well to suppress his response to the assault. Danato stepped away a moment. “When you’re ready to be civilized, call me?” Ethan headed to the door.

“Ethan, wait.” Danato turned around and he stopped with the door ajar. “I’m ready. Please forgive me. I let my anger get the best of me. I hate myself for treating you so barbarically.”

Ethan slammed the door shut. “I know you don’t want to talk about this, but you can’t just lose control when an issue arises with Cori.” His voice was a little strained. Danato winced thinking of how much pressure he had actually applied, which made Ethan’s holstered defenses that much more impressive.

“You’re right. I am blindly devoted to her, and I can’t entirely explain why, but it is interfering with my work. More importantly, it’s coming between us, and I won’t have it. I refuse to be on the list of men who have caused you pain.

“When I first brought the two of you here, I had no idea you would both become so integral in my life. I didn’t imagine that I would love you both like my children. I suppose when you married Cori…I think I stopped thinking of you as my son, and started thinking of you as an employee. I suppose it sounds a little Freudian, but I think I was jealous that you were taking her away from me.”

“I would never take her away from you Danato. That’s why we won’t let you move out. Cori and I have both missed the benefit of a father. You are the only one who will ever have that job.”

Danato nodded and looked to his desk partially embedded into the drywall on the far wall. “And you guys wonder why my office looks like this? You know I was just having this same argument with Belus yesterday, before he was shot.” Ethan moved over to the desk and took a side while Danato took the other. They slid it back to its original position. “He was criticizing my approving Cori for a firearm so quickly.”

Ethan gave him a questioning look. He must have seen the eeriness in the premonitory conversation. He picked up his vinyl chair and sat down to hear the outcome of the tail.

“He also thought that my disciplinary actions with Cori were lacking…existence. I blustered at him just the same and dented my desk.” Danato moved his papers to show off another facet of his impromptu interior decorating. “He had much the same complaints as you.”

“What did he suggest we do to resolve it?” Ethan asked.

Danato looked down. He didn’t want to say it. He didn’t want Belus to be right. He also didn’t want to give up his control, but clearly, his obsession with Cori’s welfare was becoming problematic. He needed to step back. Unfortunately, the solution also meant Ethan would be stepping back as well. “He suggested that your interaction with her on duty be minimized as much as possible.” Ethan shifted in his chair clenching his jaw at that. “He also suggested that I step down as her primary superior and let him direct her duties. He wants to have full control of her, including enforcing any punishments he sees fit for her indiscretions.”

Danato could see Ethan shift again. He knew as well as he did that Cori would not like that. She did not bend to authority well. She was more likely to rebel more with Belus in charge than if she had one of them.

However, they were at an impasse. Neither of them wanted to give up the right to have a say in her life, but nor did they want to offend or irritate her. The only way they could stay on good standing with her, and protect her, was to let someone else be the bad guy. Belus was more than happy to fill that position.

“She’s not going to like that,” Ethan said. He wasn’t exactly objecting to the idea, just pointing out an obvious flaw.

“I know.”

“Belus will have to find a way to balance his need for militant structure and her need to fly by the seat of her pants.”

“He’ll have to figure it out, or…get shot again.” Danato knew it was a callous joke when his best friend was lying in a bed upstairs, but the mood needed some lightening. They both laughed letting the humor sink in a little as they did.

They had a moment of silence to think after the laughter. Danato let it pass so that Ethan could have an opportunity to voice any further complaints, but he didn’t. “Are you okay with that?” He asked.

“We don’t really have a choice,” Ethan answered sounding defeated.

“Are
you
okay with it?” Danto asked again. “She trusts you. Probably more than me right now. If you are on board she will do better with this.”

“Yeah, I think it’s for the best.”

“Do you want me to tell her? She might still be in the infirmary. I could tell them both together,” Danato offered so Ethan didn’t have to be the bad guy again.

“No, if you don’t mind, I need to talk to her about a few other things. This will just be the cherry pit in a bowl full of stems.”

“Okay.” Danato stood up and came around the desk. He raised his hand to shake Ethan’s, but his protégé bypassed the peace offering and hugged him instead. Danato embraced him and squeezed a little harder than he should have. When they separated, they each shuffled around to make the discomfort of the sensitive moment vanish as quickly as possible. “Glad your back Ethan.”

“Glad to be back, Danato,” Ethan said as he slipped out the door.

55

Ethan wasn’t surprised to see the house empty. Belus wasn’t much of a conversationalist, but if he wanted to see Cori, he probably had a few things on his mind. He ran upstairs, not willing to let his shower take second fiddle to anything.

Once he had shed the remainder of his two-day-old grime, and thoroughly scrubbed the smell of farm out of his hair, he slipped into his oldest jeans and a button down shirt. He didn’t often get out of his usual black, but he knew it would give him the upper hand with Cori. She was a sucker for his Saturday worst wardrobe.

He slathered on some cologne that once again was not his usual attire, but he had no intention of telling Cori that she had to answer to Belus from now on, without a little sex appeal to soften the blow.

He tromped downstairs and headed straight for the kitchen. He had given up all hope of a welcome home dinner, and decided to make his own. Two days of gas station coffee, and cold pizza was enough to make him crave even his own cooking.

He rummaged through the cupboards and decided that the safest bet was a doctored hamburger skillet meal. He had never been a fan of the stuff, but Danato seemed eternally devoted to it. His epicurean nature had long since been lacking discrimination.

Before he finished, Cori came in seeming a little less stressed. At least until she looked at him. “Oh, god, what now?” She said looking over his attire.

He looked down at his casual clothes and decided that it might indeed have been a dead giveaway to his bad news. He turned the skillet burner to low and came around the corner. “Cori we need to talk.” He probably should have phrased it different. No one ever wants to hear those words.

She backed away from him shaking her head. “No, just say it, I can’t take it anymore. Just tell me.” She looked terrified, but he didn’t understand what she was so concerned about. Even if she had an inkling about his news, she shouldn’t have been afraid, she should have been mad. “Just tell me she made you, even if she didn’t.”

Ohhhhh.

“Cori,” Ethan tried not to smile. He had nothing to smile about. He had come very close to unwillingly screwing her archenemy. If it hadn’t been for her insistence, he may not have thought to go see Mezula before he left. He shouldn’t have been amused by her reaction to a very valid fear. “I didn’t want to sleep with her.” He knew it was just downright mean, but he paused letting her face cringe to near tears. “So, I didn’t.” Her face relaxed into a blank stare.

“You didn’t. She didn’t make you.”

“She tried. You were right. She’s a conniving trollop.”

“You swear, because you don’t have to lie. I would…”

“I swear.” She looked him over as if she couldn’t believe him. “Would you like me to go to Cleos?” Her eyes widened and she smiled. His willingness to prove it beyond a doubt was all the lie detector she needed. He was glad that it was since he didn’t want to reveal everything about his time with Leona. There was no reason to hurt Cori with the truth about Vince’s postmortem.

Cori threw herself into his arms and hugged him. That was the welcome home he had wanted. He hugged her back. He opened his mouth to say as much, but she kissed him. She was frenzied to offer him a proper thank you for his devotion, but he knew that he couldn’t let her feminine wiles take him out of focus. He also wanted to talk with her alone. Danato would stay at work late to give them time together, but eventually his stomach would call him home.

Ethan lifted her up and carried her to the stools at the end of the island. He would have preferred the couch, but that wasn’t going to keep him away from her. He sat down and slid her off on to her own stool. She pulled away from him and stared at the surroundings like she was trying to figure out how they would make love on stools.

Ethan laughed. “I still need to talk to you.”

She sighed and slumped back. “Does it have to be now?”

“You know we have some things to discuss.”

She crossed her arms and gave him an angry pout. He smiled and squeezed her legs. “Listen, I just had a knock down drag out argument with Danato. This was the closest we’ve ever come to blows.”

Her pout faded and guilt returned. “Because I asked you to take me up to Efrat?”

“Yes, but that was just a penny in a pig. There are much bigger issues at stake here than you and Efrat. Which by way, is never ever happening again?” She nodded. “I know it’s going to be a moot issue soon, but you can’t ever ask me to go against Danato’s wishes. I know you warned me that he wouldn’t approve, but you can’t ask me. It’s not fair to make me choose between you two. I know you think that I will always choose you, but Cori I’ve committed to this job. At some point, I have to start thinking and acting like the warden. Do you get that?” He wrapped his feet around her stool and pulled her a little closer so he could reach more of her.

She nodded. “I’m sorry, I know it was a shit thing to do, but I knew he would say no.”

“That’s his right, Cori. He’s the warden of this prison. No, isn’t a word he often exercises with you, but you should at least pretend you hear it when he does say it.”

She nodded again. He knew she hated being lectured to. She especially hated it when he did it. “The argument we had, was about who was in charge of you.”

“In charge of me,” she castigated to the tune of all feminists.

“Yes, Cori, I’m not proud to tell you that we both seem to think we have claim over you. Danato is just too over protective and I’m just…” He let his hand slide up her thigh. “…too close to you to be objective.” He could sense her starting to lose her focus on the conversation, and he knew it was better to drop the news on her like a bomb rather than let it drag out any further. Not to mention he decided there was one more thing they should get accomplished before Danato got back. “That’s why we decided that Belus should be your superior from here on out.”

After a beat, she realized what he had said. “Belus?”

“Yes, the man you just shot is going to dictate, delegate, and discipline you from here on out.”

Her brow dipped deep as she thought about that. “Danato agreed to that?”

“Reluctantly. Also, you and I won’t be able to work together.” He reached around her butt and slid her back onto his lap. “We’ll have separate duties from here on out.”

“They’re separating us?” she asked wrapping her hands around his neck. He could tell she didn’t like that, but she was far too distracted by his hands slipping up the back of her shirt to voice her outrage.

She wasn’t the only seducer in this relationship.

“Yes, they’ve forbidden us from being together.” He unsnapped her bra and she tensed like the change in pressure scared her. He hadn’t really thought of the edict against them as being romantic, but in light of his own diversion, he was finding the idea, of someone trying to keep them apart, hot. Not hot, like Romeo and Juliet, because that was just overdramatic, but more hot like slipping into a broom closet for a quickie on coffee breaks.

Cori smiled seeing the pleasure he was deriving from the decree. He reached around to her front and caressed her breasts softly. She leaned back slightly to let him have full reign. “I can’t believe you used sex to break this to me.”