Free Tempest of Vengeance by Tara Fox Hall Page B

with me, my dear.”
    “Wait.” I looked down at my finger, at Theo’s
ring, and the wedding band I’d worn now for a little over a year. I
quietly slipped them both off my finger, and put them on the table,
near Theo’s wedding band. Then I took Devlin’s hand again, and led
him to our bedroom.
    * * * *
    I finally got to talk to Titus a week after
getting Theo’s letter. He gave me a welcoming hug, and then said
without preamble, “What happened with Theo?”
    “He doesn’t love me anymore,” I said bluntly,
not wanting to discuss it. “He told me he was leaving me for Jenny,
and I left. It was over quickly.”
    I was lying, but what else could I tell him?
If I told him what had really happened, he would be livid. I knew
what my mother would have done to Theo. My demon father figure
would probably do worse, and that was saying something.
    “Good,” Titus replied, obviously relieved. “I
asked Terian to be on call, in case you needed him. I thought there
might be...well, never mind. I’m sorry to hear you are splitting
up, but glad to hear that it was amicable, or as amicable as such
things can be.”
    I hugged him, then changed the topic to
something else. There was no point going over that night ever
again.
    In the following weeks, I did finally notice
a few positive changes.
    Elle once again took my phone calls. She’d
written me two letters every week, but it was good to hear her
voice again, even if I still couldn’t see her.
    I was losing weight. I could fit into my
tight jeans again. Just barely, it was true, but still, I hadn’t
been able to do that for almost a year. And my jeans that were
supposed to be loose were loose. I was very pleased, and kept
exercising. But I had a little chocolate here and there, too.
Devlin saw to that, with his Godiva gift baskets, and the
occasional chocolate body paint.
    I was spending more time with Venus, and
things with Dev were still going well, too. We hadn’t fought since
the night of Diana’s deflowering, which was probably some kind of
record for us. With work on both of our parts, his stamina was
still increasing, just as his sensitivity was decreasing. I was
pleased, but hoped it would take a while to return, though I didn’t
tell him that. I was afraid with his prowess returning, some of his
rampant desire would also emerge again. And I was happier with him
being only “a few times a week” sort of man now.
    I had long ago caught up on the email-work,
and was also taking care of some of the return calling for the
voicemail system. True to T’s word, the caseload had decreased a
bit, though not by much. But I could keep up with this level of
business, if I worked most weekday mornings. I liked getting a
paycheck, even if I went nowhere to spend it, and Devlin insisted
on paying for everything I ordered online, like food, pet
medications, clothes for Venus, and yes, even the new Vampire
Hunter D book that had come out in late November. Some of the
steady business of Solutions, Inc. was Theoron being a lot like his
father, being unable to pass up interesting work, or work that was
lucrative, as most jobs that came in usually were. But most was
because Terian wanted his own share of the business now.
    T had mentioned on one of his visits that
Theo, he, and Tears had discussed making him a partner too, though
Theoron said he wanted to wait a few more months to make sure that
Terian still wanted the same thing after Sundown had her baby. “But
I think he’s going to,” T finished, a pleased note in his voice.
“And I’m happy to have him on board. He’s helped so much this fall.
We wouldn’t have made it, without him.”
    I was happy for Terian too, but happier still
for T. He seemed okay now, like his old self, despite being thrust
into his father’s role at such an early age. He was an adult now,
and looked so like Danial I found it hard to look at him sometimes.
He still visited with his father once a week, but he wasn’t
mourning anymore, and