Read Online Dungeon Games by Lexi Blake - Free Book Online

she’d been his high school sweetheart. She’d been the one to take care of him when he came back from Afghanistan. She’d been the one who pushed to get him on the force.
    When he really thought about it, they had been a good team. They just hadn’t been good at being in love.
    “It’s not. She’s part of the operation. Her name is Karina Mills.”
    Maia’s mouth dropped open. “Wait. Are you talking about the girl set to get strangled next?”
    He really didn’t like it being put that way. “She’s been identified as the next target. I intend to make sure she stays safe.”
    “By putting your dick in her?” She held up a hand, stopping him from ordering her out of his office. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I can’t help but be a little jealous. I’m your wife after all.”
    “Ex.”
    “For you, maybe, but you’ll always be my husband. I’m not getting married again. We both know it’s not my gig. So you like the PI, who needs a manicure by the way. And she could use some fashion advice. She’s not your type, Derek.”
    A pounding headache was starting to sink in. “Which is why it’s a good thing I’m not dating her.”
    “Or it could be a good thing because the type of woman you’re looking for doesn’t exist.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    She frowned, her lips a stubborn line. “It means I’m tired of watching you fuck this up. You need to stop looking for this perfect sub of yours and let yourself fall in love with a real woman with real flaws who could potentially really adore the man you are. You deserve that, but you have it in your head that if you control every aspect of the relationship, nothing can go wrong. It’s a lie. You know damn well things can go wrong even when you love someone so much it hurts inside because at the end of the day, we’re all screwed up. Some of us more than others. I hate saying this, but you have to let me go.”
    He frowned. She couldn’t possibly think that was the problem. “I am not pining over you.”
    Cool blue eyes rolled. “I know that, babe. You’re raging at me. You’re still so angry with me you can’t see straight. We had something good and then we didn’t, and that’s my fault and your fault and time’s fault.” She took a deep breath. “Look, I know why you refused marriage counseling. It was over. It couldn’t be fixed, but there were things we should have talked about.”
    “I don’t think we had anything to talk about, Maia.”
    She ignored him and moved on. “You were gone for so long and then you came back a different person and while you were gone, I became a different person. I know Afghanistan changed you, but there were things that changed me, too, and I don’t regret any of it with the singular exception of how it hurt you. I have what I want. I know it’s weird to think that a job can really make a person happy, but it does for me. Crushing the people under me makes me so happy. Some of us are just born villains and some villains find themselves by accident. But you, you are one of the good guys, and I would hate to see you alone for the rest of your life because you can’t look past the one thing that didn’t work.”
    But it had been so much more than one thing. More than his marriage. It wasn’t his marriage he saw in his nightmares. And he’d never reached out to her, not after he’d come home from the war. He’d fucked her, told himself he loved her, but she was right. He had been a different man than the one she’d stood beside at the altar at the stupid age of eighteen.
    What she didn’t understand was that he wasn’t looking for love anymore. He was looking for companionship and sex and a little peace. Love was a myth he’d left behind a long time ago.
    “I’ll take it under advisement.” He would say anything to get rid of her.
    “Sure you will. Well, you can’t say I didn’t try.” She stood up. “I’ll get back to punching puppies. Who am I kidding? Puppies are cute. That’s