AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, my word, I’m so….”
“Don’t say anything. We’re working on the names you gave me; I should have something for you soon.”
“This is all so confusing.”
“It gets even better. Here’s the deal. They pretend that they don’t know that we know, and we pretend that we don’t know that we know that they know.”
“Huh?”
“You’ll get it eventually; don’t worry about it for now. Just know that what these men deal with has nothing to do with something as simple and minute as a shakedown for money. It’s about trafficking.”
“About what?”
“The trafficking of human beings. Children mostly, but men and women are their victims as well.”
“I don’t…. What’re you talking about?”
“All you need to know for now is that our men are the good guys. Learn the codes; I’ll give you two days.” She hung up.
What the hell? No wonder Mark didn’t want me involved. Trafficking? Like sex trafficking? No, she said kids…oh hell. And Mark is involved? How? When? I tried to wrap my mind around it but it was a lot to take in. Now, all those international trips he took had a different spin.
It can’t be. Surely, I would’ve known something. But look how easily he’d flipped from one personality to the next. He’s been hiding who he is from me all our lives. But why? I know he loves me; there’s no doubt about that. But how could he keep his true self so well hidden all these years?
The sex thing is one thing. But the man I sent off to work this morning is not the man I have known for almost twenty years. It’s like walking into a room and catching Batman changing out of his uniform or something.
How do I reconcile the two? The mild-mannered man who slept beside me, raised our kids with me, and never raised his voice even once, with this man who threatened to spank my ass if I misbehaved? Maybe I’m slowly losing my mind. That has to be it because the alternative makes no sense.
But then I looked down at the sheet of paper that had been hidden in the lining of the box and had to accept that this was no joke. I wasn’t losing my faculties; this was real. A little imp tapped my shoulder and urged me to see how far I could push this new husband of mine.
How come I’m more excited about that than learning the code?
* * *
I was hummingwith excitement that evening at dinner. “I had a very interesting conversation with Cierra Mancini today.”
“Did you now?”
“Yes, it appears that I have been kept in the dark for a very long time.” He didn’t bite. Just kept dipping into his soup bowl like my life wasn’t a Saturday Matinee.
“I want to know what’s going on.”
“No. I told you to stay out of it.”
“I know that it’s about more than them trying to set you up. I know that you’ve been doing this kind of thing since before we were married. I just don’t understand why you never told me.”
“Because you’re my wife, you’re not allowed to get involved in that ugliness.”
“I’m an adult. I deserve a key to the closet where all the skeletons are hidden.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I….”
Be very careful with what you say next.” He cut me off.
Now, usually, that would be enough to get me to back down. But this time around, that imp on my shoulder was working overtime. I’m not sure why; all of a sudden, a spanking sounded like the most exciting thing to occur in my life, but for some reason, I wanted to make him lose control.
I’d always gotten the reserved, cool gentleman who was always correct in his every action, and something tells me that I’ve barely brushed the surface of all that he’s been keeping hidden from me when it comes to his true personality.
