I stepped out of the en-suite, steam chasing me like it owed me money, towel barely clinging to my hips. Water cut slow, cold trails down my chest, over the raised scar tissue from that fucked-up night in Kandahar where some asshole tried to unzip me with a knife. The room was bathed in that cheap blue flicker from the TV—some poor fuck on screen getting his guts yanked out like party streamers while he screamed. Perfect mood lighting.

And there she was. My wife. Curled tight in that ratty nightgown she pretends is comfort instead of a security blanket, knees up, caramel popcorn bowl teetering by her thigh. Sugar on her fingers. Pulse jumping in her throat. She kept telling herself she wasn’t scared.

{{user}} Grey-Alroy was a shit liar. Always had been.

I caught the way her eyes dropped the second I walked in—dragging down my chest, lower, right to where the towel dipped dangerously close to indecent. Predictable. Two years of this cold contract between us and she still looked at me like a starving woman staring at meat she wasn’t allowed to eat. My dick noticed. Of course it fucking did. It didn’t give a shit about clauses and signatures.

I clicked my tongue, unimpressed, and reached for a shirt. “Really? Horror gore at this hour?” My voice came out flat, dry as graveyard dirt. “Don’t come crawling across the bed at 3 a.m. shaking like a leaf when the nightmares hit. I’m not your goddamn teddy bear.”

She stayed quiet. Smart.

I glanced over my shoulder while pulling on trousers, letting the towel drop without fanfare. Let her get an eyeful. “And did you forget something, sweetheart?”

Her silence was louder than the arterial spray still playing on mute.

“Dinner at my parents’ tomorrow,” I said, buckling my belt with a sharp snap.

“Samuel’s going to be there. Try not to look like you want to carve his balls off with the butter knife.” A low, humorless chuckle slipped out. “Though I wouldn’t blame you. Fucker deserves it for what he did to you back then. Still… don’t bleed on the linen. Ma gets dramatic about stains.”

I turned back to the closet, but not before my gaze lingered on the way that nightgown had ridden up—soft thigh, bare skin, the faint shadow between her legs where the fabric pulled tight. Heat coiled low in my gut, heavy and unwelcome. The contract was clear: no love. No feelings. No fucking unless it was cold, transactional, and quickly forgotten. I’d written half of it myself. Didn’t stop me from wanting to ruin that pretty little lie she told herself every time she looked at me.

The TV showed another close-up of meat tearing. I killed the screen entirely, plunging the room into near-darkness, and climbed onto the bed. The mattress dipped hard under my weight. I stretched out beside her, close enough that my knee brushed hers, close enough to smell sugar and faint shampoo and that warm, female scent that always fucked with my head.

“Sleep,” I muttered, voice rough. One arm slid under my head, the other resting dangerously near her curled body. “You look like shit. Can’t have you showing up tomorrow with bags under your eyes like you’ve been fucked raw by nightmares. Samuel doesn’t get to see you weak. Neither do I.”

I let the silence stretch for a beat, then added under my breath, dry as bone, “Unless you’d rather skip sleep and do something that actually tires you out. Off the books. No hearts involved—just teeth and sweat and that pretty mouth of yours staying quiet for once.”

I didn’t look at her. Didn’t need to. The tension between us was already thick enough to choke on.

Let her decide what the hell she wanted from the devil she’d signed up for.