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He gave me a knowing smile and nodded. "My liege."
"You can feel free to call me King Arthur if you like," I said with a smirk.
My brother rolled his eyes. "No chance. But seriously, I do love you."
I shrugged. "Yeah, I know." It wasn't the norm for Micah to openly express his feelings. He did it from time to time, but usually he was an actions kind of guy.
"So I want you to hear me where I'm coming from, but this is bullshit. You're scared, and you have given up. I can see the toll it's taking on you. You realize you haven't left your wife alone in ten days, right? Like, from where we're sitting right now, enjoying our very fine Lagaluvin, you can see her from here."
What the hell was his point? "It works better this way. You don't know what it's like for the person you love to just… Poof."
He shifted in his seat. "Maybe I don't know that kind of pain. But I love her like a sister, so I did feel it. I mean, I don't love her like you love her, but I love you both, and it hurts."
"Right? Then you should understand."
"I understand the compulsion. But because I love her too, I can see you're about to start smothering her."
The fuck? "She understands. She doesn't mind."
"I know she doesn't mind, but at some point she's going to want to use the bathroom without having to check in with you. At some point, she's going to want to get fresh air without you. It's a mark of a healthy relationship. Her ability to be on her own. Your ability to be on your own."
"I know what healthy looks like. I am currently not there." But someone tried to take her from me. What the fuck else was I supposed to do? She already didn’t want me murdering anyone.
"That's what I'm saying. Look at how tense you are."
"That's because someone tried to kill my fucking wife," I ground out through clenched teeth.
"I know. It's not fair, and it's not right. But if you start trying to chain her to your side, you are going to smother the light that is her. The very bits that you loved about Gwen, from her glitter bomb, to that bright-ass smile, to her obsession with gummy bears, for the love of Christ. You're going to steal all of that light if you keep doing this."
My heart squeezed at that. "What am I supposed to do, Micah?" I drained my glass, the burn constricting my throat as it slipped down my esophagus and into my belly.
"Love her and understand what she's going through. I mean, I know what you're going through. I've seen it. But imagine her being scared all the time, needing to look over her shoulder only to find that her husband is right there. You know that meme on social media, the one about every time a woman is enjoying herself, there's a man in the corner all in her business?"
I frowned. "No."
He shrugged. "Whatever. You get the idea."
I watched her with Lakewood. Morgan had joined them out on the balcony, and of course, Lakewood and Morgan were having their tense little situation.
"You see that shit with Lakewood? What's up with him?"
Micah chuckled. "I don't know, but I caught him on the phone earlier, and he was using that I'm trying to get some voice."
"Ew.” A shudder racked my body.
My brother laughed. "A tender one, like the kind of voice you use with Gwen."
"Well, I use all the good voices with Gwen."
This time Micah shuddered. "Oh God, you’re going to make me gag.”
"Are you sure it wasn't Morgan he was talking to?" I asked.
He pointed at the three of them on the balcony. "Does that look like he's speaking to her softly?"
"Yeah, good point,” I conceded. “How long do you think it's going to take for him to realize that he's into her?"
Micah shrugged. "He probably won't know until it's too late."
