“I can understand he’s upset, but to express that level of anger…” Pearl trailed off.
“He’s got every right to be angry. His wife disobeyed him and now he can’t keep her safe,” Boulder interjected.
“But to call Christina a…” Pearl cleared her throat. “I’m not even going to say a word that awful.”
Khan raised his voice. “Then don’t! But don’t judge my brother either. When you're in the red zone there isn't always enough oxygen for rational thought.”
“Which is why anger doesn’t serve him well.” Pearl challenged. “He should get some help to communicate his emotions better. That way we could have a civil dinner without shouting and fighting.”
Khan gave her a hard glare. “Maybe you’re the one who needs help.”
“Excuse me?” she said.
“Magni communicated his emotions perfectly clearly,” Khan argued. “I don’t think anyone else at this table has any doubt that he was pissed, angry, and frustrated.”
Pearl closed her mouth and didn’t respond to that. She and I were the only ones not eating steak. Instead we addressed ourselves to our salad, potatoes, and bread – in silence.
CHAPTER 24
Impregnation
Boulder
“Just so we’re clear, if I win, you don’t get to give me shitty assignments to punish me,” I pointed out before I moved into the arena to spar with Khan.
Christina and I were still living at the Gray Mansion, and sparring with Khan was something I did often. I sparred with Magni too, but ever since he called Christina a bitch, our friendship hadn’t been the same; the last time I sparred with him, he had been downright brutal and mean-spirited.
Khan gave me a wicked smile. “Protecting the archeologist didn’t turn out to be such a bad assignment, did it?”
“No,” I admitted.
“You’re screwing a real woman and experiencing something that is very rare.”
“True,” I admitted.
“So why are you scowling?”
“Why?” I picked up the thin training gloves that would protect my hands and put them on. “The excavation is coming along fast. And it worries me.”
“Because you don’t want Christina to leave you?”
I gave a sharp nod.
“So what are you gonna do?” he asked.
“I have several plans, but you wouldn’t like any of them,” I told Khan, who was moving around me with the grace of a boxer.
“So come up with a better one.”
“What if she’s pregnant and leaves me? I’ll always wonder if I have a kid out there.”
Khan’s face fell into deep frown lines and he stopped to look at me with a solemn expression.
“If she leaves, I’ll go crazy from wondering, you know?” I said through gritted teeth.
“You think she’s pregnant?” he asked
“I don’t know. But it’s been two weeks since I first made love to her and we’ve done it daily ever since.”
