Nix. (Den of Mercenaries Book 3)(2)

“Kit, always a pleasure,” Donna said with a warm, familiar smile.

She spoke his name with a familiarity that had Luna glancing in his direction. How could she have known the man for seven years, married to him for more than half that time, and not know this about him?

But, Kit had always been rather good at keeping his secrets—his secrets were the reason they were there in the first place.

“And Mrs. Rune—”

“Santiago,” Luna said quickly. “Luna Santiago.”

This was enough inspire a reaction from Kit. “You haven’t been a Santiago for years, Luna.”

“I’ll always be a Santiago,” Luna returned, “but I won’t always be a Runehart.”

His expression was cold, though it melted as he shook his head. “Don’t count on that.”

Donna, who had probably seen far worse in her office, didn’t seem fazed by their exchange. “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll just call you Luna. You’re welcome to call me Donna, Kit already does.”

“I didn’t know you were seeing a shrink,” Luna said, her statement pointed.

From the look on his face, she didn’t think he wanted her to know now. “It wasn’t relevant—and isn’t relevant to why we’re here now.”

“Isn’t it? You hiding something like this from me is part of the problem.” His secrets were the biggest hurdle they couldn’t jump. “But I shouldn’t be surprised—I’m the only woman in your life you don’t confide in. Where is Aidra, anyway? She’s usually close by.”

Aidra—the woman who took her role as Kit’s ‘assistant’ seriously. She’d been there the day Luna had been deposited on Kit’s doorstep, and there the day she left him. Some days it felt like she was just as much a part of their relationship as they were.

“I thought it best this stay between us, and I do confide in you, more than I have any other person in my life.”

She wasn’t so sure about that. “It wouldn’t be the first time she’s heard us argue,” Luna noted.

Nor the second, or even the fifteenth.

“Can you not accept anything I say without being combative?” he asked, adopting that tone she had always hated.

Glaring at him, she folded her arms across her chest. “I’m not.”

“How about,” Donna interjected, “we start at what brought the two of you here today. Kit, since you were the one to arrange this, would you like to start?”

“Luna believes I have betrayed her in some way.”

“Right, because taking on a contract with the woman that attempted to have me murdered is just a ‘misunderstanding?’” Luna mumbled, trying to decide whether or not she was ready to leave.

She didn’t think there was any other way to explain why what he had done was wrong, and if he couldn’t see it when she explained it to him, then he wasn’t going to understand at all.

“What I said was not meant to negate your feelings—I merely attempted to answer the question before you interrupted.”

“Then by all means,” Luna said with a wave of her hand. “Continue.”

“What she fails to realize is that there is, and has always been, a reason for the things that I do. When she left me, I wasn’t prepared to explain it then.”

Luna couldn’t help herself. “And you think that whatever you say will justify what you’ve done?”

“I like to think so.”

“Fine. Then tell me, I’m all ears.”

Donna made a note in the leather notebook she held. “Before we speak on that, Luna, would you mind sharing why you’re here?”

Because she desperately hoped that this crazy relationship between them could be fixed. “He asked. When he gives a command, I follow it.” She glanced in Kit’s direction with a sardonic smile. “It’s who you trained me to be.”

Physically, mentally, and sexually.

“Have you no interest in trying to understand your marital problems?” Donna asked with another scribble. “I can only help if you let me.”

“Oh, I understand what the problem is—he’s a liar.”

Kit sighed. “Once was unintentional.”

“But it became intentional the second you learned the truth and didn’t share it with me.”

“I was protecting you, Luna.”

“Lying to me is never protecting me—you were protecting yourself.”

Kit ran a hand through his hair, his frustration showing, but she refused to feel bad about that. “It’s not that simple.”

“It never is with you.”

Their relationship could never be seen as simple, not with the way it started, or even the way it ended.

Even she didn’t understand it sometimes.

“How about we start at the beginning?” Donna said, setting her pen down. “Sometimes, it only take a little clarity to better understand someone else’s perspective. So, if you both are willing, then we can start there.”

“It’s a long story,” Luna said.

Years worth of a story.

Donna nodded once. “Take as much time as you need.”

Luna looked to her husband, the man she had vowed to love, honor, and obey. She tried to think of the right words, where to start when it came to their relationship. There was so much.