Incest/Taboo A Wife's Fall

"And why can't you?" Maggie asked with this rather amused look on her face when he said that.

"Because I don't know why, how can I answer something when I don't understand it?" Wane shot back with a pointed look that I caught from the corner of my eye.

"Then lay it out for me, say if you left Betty on the off chance you do divorce do you think you'd ever get remarried?"

"No." How my heart raced when Wane utteredthat one word.

"Then let me rephrase if you do divorce, would you ever date or sleep with another woman?"

"No." My nostrils flared, knowing as fucked up as I am, I am the only one that Wane truly wants, even if he can't realize that due to what he is.

"Wane, why is that? Surely you would; you are a man after all unless you're smooth as a Ken doll down there."

"Because I don't have the urge to sleep with other women, and no, not men either before you get perverted on me."

"Then tell me, Wane, if you don't have that urge, then why was that big titty woman flaunting those things at you when I showed up at your work?"

"I don't know; she came onto me, not the other way around."

"Surely you had to give off some sign that you were interested for her to flaunt her body at you?" I wondered if backing Wane into a corner was a wise idea on her part.

"No, see, you're assuming things. I did no such thing other than being good at my job." I glanced over at my husband as Wane crossed his arms and leaned back against the sofa.

"Betty, let me ask you, why do you think Wane isn't interested in anyone else?" Maggie asked of me; I noted that amused look in her eyes when she did.

"Because Wane loves me, I know he does. You might not understand his version of what love means to him; I do," I said, feeling Wane's eyes on me. "And the thought of being with someone else never once enters his mind. Unlike me," I sighed, reaching over and laying my hand on Wane's thigh. "I will be forever sorry that I allowed my obsession to ever put us here. I hope in time that you will forgive me, not now, but in time. I promise I will never be that stupid again!" I stated with a firm nod.

"And when your sister whispers for to you to go slut around again, what then?" I heard the accusatory tone in his voice.

"Then I will toss her ass out myself and ban her from ever stepping foot here ever again," I said with conviction.

"Will you now? And you couldn't do this before?" I turned to face him, seeing that look in his eyes as I did.

"I can't explain it, Wane. All throughout it, it whispered to me. Taunting me. Telling me to give in that you would never know, but we know how that went. When Celine was talking to me, telling me I had to do it if you weren't going to. That I had to know what it was like and it wouldn't hurt you. That it might make our marriage stronger." I noted how his eyebrow rose at that. "I'm not saying what she said was right, just laying out what had transpired is all. And my obsession with the act, not the people in it, blinded me to the consequences I would be facing if I went through with it."

"And now? Is that little obsession whispering to you as we speak?" I heard and felt the harshness of his words stinging my heart. Not that I could blame him, Wane had every right to be suspicious of my actions. I did, after all, put us on this path.

"No," I replied, shaking my head.

"Tell me, Betty, why don't you hear it any longer?" I turned my gaze to Maggie when she asked that question.

"It died the moment I saw Wane standing in our kitchen when he looked at me like I was no longer a part of his life," I said truthfully. Noting how she was quickly writing down notes like she has done ever since we started this.

"Let me ask Betty, do you feel like that voice will ever come back?" I knew Maggie asked me this for two reasons. One: she was looking out for her brother, like the good sister she was to Wane, and two: to show Wane that part of me had died the moment I stood on our porch the morning after my fall from grace.

"No," I shook my head. "If it ever does, I'll inform Wane the moment it does so I will never hurt him like I have already done."

"So, Wane, do you feel like you need to get even with your wife for the transgressions she has caused?" I dared not look back for fear of what I would see in those eyes of his. I couldn't prove that Wane had a hand in Sean's and Dean's deaths if they were dead and not just missing. Yet, I knew if I looked back and if it was in his eyes, I would know. So I chose to remain ignorant.

"Like?" I saw Wane rolling his hand from the corner of my eye.

"Having an affair or affairs, having your own threesome, getting even with the men that Betty cheated with?" I wondered where Maggie was going with this.

"No."

"And why not? I know for a fact you've done so in the past; why not now?" I turned to look at Wane when Maggie asked that question.

"Because it would be pointless." Turning my head when I heard Maggie opening up our wedding album.

"Then tell me, why are these two men dead?" My heart grew still at the news articles of Sean and Dean's deaths staring up at me when Maggie laid the two printouts on top of the picture frames. Feeling Wane leaning forward, I noted how he kept his face emotionless as he looked at the two pieces of paper.

"How would I know? Maybe they bit off more than they could chew, or that some husband of a wife they've been fucking wasn't going to put up with being a cuckold." I didn't know if that was meant for me or just in general, given their history of sleeping around on their own wives.

"Wane, as your sister, I need to know. Did you kill them?" Maggie asked in an accusatory tone.

"Kind of hard for me to kill them when I was at work at their times of death. Says here one was shot through the window of his motel some distance away, and the other's car exploded. Have you ever known me to handle a gun or know how to rig a car to explode?" Wane shot back with his own accusatory tone.

"You could have hired someone."

"Are you hearing yourself? Do you think I have the cash to hire a hitman to kill two men? Do you think I make that kind of money working for the city? Pray tell me, o' wise doctor, where exactly would I ever meet a hitman?"

"You work for the police. You could have easily gone down to the jail and..."

"Really, you think so low of me that I would go down to the county jail, talk to some strange con, on the off chance he gets out early enough to put this all into action. Much less know where these two asshats were staying at. Do I have to remind you that visitors to the jailhouse are monitored, and I would have to sign in? That would leave a trail right back to me, and if I had a hand in their deaths, you really think I would be sitting here right now?" I heard the coldness of his tone when he addressed his sister. "You think they would have the skills to rig a car to explode or shoot a rifle at a distance that the motel visitors that this ass was staying at didn't even hear the shot? No. None of those people are crafty enough to even do that. No, they would walk up and do the deed in person. Not this." I watched how his hand waved over the news articles.

"Then why were you suspended if you had nothing to do with their deaths?"

"It's standard procedure, so the cases they're working on can't be thrown out at trial. Anything else?" I heard the slight annoyance in Wane's voice, yet I couldn't decern if he was lying or not.

"Yet you feel nothing knowing they're dead?"

"Should I? They got what they deserved. Nothing more to say." I saw Wane waving off his sister. I knew Maggie didn't buy it, neither did I.

Moreover, I wasn't about to bring it up, not that I could prove that Wane had a hand in their deaths. I just knew if I pressed him, then I could say goodbye to this marriage, that wasn't happening, not now, not ever! "You done accusing me of mur*er without evidence?" I didn't know who that was meant for Maggie or me, or both, when he asked that question.

"Fine, Wane, I won't bring it up, but if you did have a hand in this, I won't help you any longer," Maggie uttered, giving out her ultimatum.

"Didn't ask for your help in the first place." I heard the dismissiveness in Wane's voice. I also saw the look Maggie was giving her brother.

"Well, we certainly got sidetracked, didn't we?" Maggie asked after a few minutes of her and Wane staring at one another. Seeing how she was trying to lighten the atmosphere with that smile she shot me. "So back to the photos. Wane, Betty, I want the two of you to look through all of these," gesturing to our coffee table, "and choose only one to put on that wall," Maggie stated, pointing over her shoulder at the bare wall behind her.

"Why?" Wane asked before I could.

"Why? I guess an emotionless robot like yourself, brother of mine, can't understand the emotional connection these pictures have, at least to Betty they do." I nodded vehemently at that. "As we work to restore the foundations of your marriage, I want you two to place one picture up there to show each other that if you two work together, you two can repair what Betty damaged."

"Please, Wane, I know this is hard, but we can do this if we do it together," I stated when I turned to look at him.

"And you think putting up photos is going to help fix something you willingly destroyed?" Wane asked in this quizzical tone of his, telling me he was trying to understand.

"I do because it will force us to remember how good it was before I had my fit of insanity," I nodded firmly.

"Very well." I knew it wasn't directed at me just to get this session over with. I knew Maggie had pushed some of his buttons when she asked about Sean and Dean. Now whether or not Wane had anything to do with their deaths, I didn't want to know.

"What about this one, Wane?" I asked, holding up the framed picture of the trip to the beach we had taken on our first anniversary.

"Didn't you get sick the second night we were there?"

"I did," I agreed, feeling my cheeks heat at the fact he remembered.

"So why that one?"

"Because don't you remember how you took care of me all that week in our hotel room?" I asked, seeing his nod. "You remember how good you were to me the first night as that bout of food poisoning raced through me that I couldn't move from around the toilet all night long?" Again, I was met with a nod. "A person who doesn't love someone wouldn't put off spending time exploring the beach and everything in-between to take care of his sick wife. This is why I think this should be the first one to be restored to the wall."

"You sure?"

"Very sure, Wane," I nodded sternly. Seeing how he held out his hand for the frame. Which I gladly handed over, giving how I knew this was his way of saying: alright, we'll try it her way, for now. Watching Maggie turning in her seat as Wane walked towards the wall with the picture frame in hand. Feeling my heart flutter as that moment in time once again graced the very spot it once held.

~~~Wane~~~

I stood in my pajamas the next morning. Seeing those rosy cheeks of my wife as she prepared to head to work. Making a mental note to myself to call my Captain to see if I would be in trouble or not if I went out of town but still within the state while the investigation was going on. Flashes of the paddle striking Betty's ass filled my mind as my eyes dipped low as it moved beneath her skirt as she poured herself a cup of coffee to go. Recounting the moans that emanated from her lips as I fucked her from behind. Whether my sister heard it or not, I didn't care if I had to make my sister uncomfortable by hearing our loving making to get her out of my house. It was just a sacrifice I'll have to make.

"So, Wane, what are you going to do today?" Betty asked as she stirred her coffee before placing the traveling lid on it.

"Haven't a clue," I admitted, pouring myself a glass of orange juice.

"Well, do you think you could get a duck today?"

"You really want that?" I asked, knowing it was going to take the duck twenty-four hours to marinate in the syrup to get the duck's skin that nice color on it before it's roasted.

"I do; I've always wanted to try it," I noted the bashfulness on my wife's face as she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Alright, I guess," I replied, rubbing the back of my head. I've only seen it done; I've never actually made Peking duck before.

"Wane?"

"Hmm?" I hummed.

"We're going to be okay, aren't we?"

"I think so," I nodded. Seeing Betty smiling at me when I said that.

"Then maybe I can get a goodbye kiss before I leave?" Betty asked as she moved around the center island of the kitchen.

I knew I ruined her lipstick with the kiss we had just shared, yet Betty didn't seem to mind when she had that dreamy look in her eyes. Hearing her sighing in contentment as she rested her head against my chest. Rubbing her back as I pondered if I would kill my sister during the day or not, given how she just wouldn't shut up when I got home yesterday. Waving to my wife as I stood on the porch watching her back out. Wondering if the mother of the family I had stayed with was up at this time of the morning in China.

~~~Maggie~~~

God! They fuck like animals; why did I agree to stay here until they were good? How I miss Griffin. I thought my parents were bad when we were growing up; Wane and Betty took it up a notch. Maybe I should go buy some earplugs so I can actually fall asleep at a decent time instead of one in the morning. When I got up at nine that morning, the house was empty, and both Wane's and Betty's cars were gone. Which was strange seeing how Wane didn't have to go anywhere. Since I had the house to myself, I and the shower head got reacquainted. How I needed that. Maybe I should go home when they leave for their trip. I know Griffin was getting a tad annoyed that it has been nearly two weeks that I've been here, and still Betty and Wane weren't at that point where I felt it was safe to leave them on their own.

I was just finishing one of my video sessions that I've been doing since I've been here when my cell phone rang. "Hello?" I answered without looking at my phone as I made notes in the patient's file I had just seen. I was happy that the woman was moving in the right direction in her treatment. Although she would never be released out into the public due to how dangerous she was when she went off her medication, as she normally did when she was always kicked free from whatever hospital she was in. Only to have another assault or stalking charge brought against her. However, this time the woman went too far and killed a man. This could have been avoided if the hospital and doctors that had taken care of her realized just how dangerous she was instead of kicking her to the curb when the family's insurance failed to pay for her extended care. It wasn't really her fault; I might too snap like the woman did if I lost a son like she did.

"Hello, sexy." My body heated at the sound of my husband's voice in my ear.

"Griffin?!" I stammered like a love-sick fool. What can I say? That man has charms that can make my pussy melt in five seconds.

"That would be me." I heard his soft chuckle over the line.

"Baby?! I thought you were working today?" I spoke, twirling a strand of my hair around my finger.

"Well, seeing how you're still there, and I take it your brother is being a hard nose about it. I thought I would come to you. You know I can't go without you for more than three days. Seeing how I got all that vacation saved up, I thought I'd fly down and do things to my sexy wife."

"When?!" I asked excitedly, so very eager to have my husband beneath me. All so I can burn off this horniness that's been building ever since I've been here.

"That's the thing, I've already landed..." I squealed as I bounced on the bed, not hearing my husband's voice. "Margaret? Did you hear me?"

"No, sorry baby, I am just too excited," I said, my smile never leaving my lips.

"I said, I'm waiting at the airport for you to come and pick me up."

"Okay, I'll be there as fast as I can. Don't you let some other woman snatch you up!" I teased.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Shit!" I cursed, knowing I'd have to inform Wane about Griffin coming to stay. Wondering where Wane picked up that quirk about uninvited guests just showing up.

"What is it, honey?"

"Oh, it's just Wane, you know how he is with guests."

"You let me worry about that, and you just focus on the road, okay?"

"You sure?" I asked, knowing the two of them really never got along with one another. I chalked that up to what my brother is and nothing that my husband has done to cause it.

"Very."

"Okay, I'll be there as fast as I can!" I said as I slipped my feet into my sneakers. Tossing my suit jacket onto the bed, seeing how I didn't need to be dressed in full professional attire, I opted to only don the upper part of the getup.

~~~Wane~~~

I was standing at the butcher counter talking to the man about a duck when I heard my phone ringing in my pocket. Seeing the man nod when I excused myself to see who was calling. I had already talked to my boss about Betty and me leaving town for the week. The Captain said it was fine as long as I gave them where I would be staying in case they needed to ask more questions. Which from the tone of his voice, I gathered there wouldn't be. I knew I covered my tracks very well so that soon they would be looking elsewhere for a suspect. While there might be some suspicions about my involvement, suspicions aren't evidence and would lead to nowhere anyway. Recounting the last time I talked to Jeff once he had informed me that the favor I had asked for was done. My response to him was to make a short video of me burning the DNA printout and the blood swab I had that held the same DNA in my grill. Where I spread the ashes out down the highway going seventy miles an hour. So I knew if the police came to my house, they would find nothing. Arching an eyebrow when I saw my brother-in-law's number. I'm sure he's a fine person in all, but well, he's a surgeon; they tend to be cocky. He stopped doing that around me when I punched him for talking crudely about Betty when we were dating. I'll admit it did feel good.

"What is it, Griffin?" I answered.

"Well, at least your greeting hasn't changed."

"Get to the point of this call."

"I was just letting you know I was in town..."

"Oh? Good. Have you come to take my sister home with you?" I asked, eager to have my home back.

"No. If you let me finish, I'll tell you. And before you freak out, I'll be staying with you and Betty."

"Will you now? And who's bright idea was that?" I asked, knowing it sounded so much like my sister.

"Mine unless you want us to get a room."

"Well, seeing how we won't be there in two days, I think you should take her home with you," I said, trying to get my sister out of my house so I could do things my way. Betty and I were moving along just fine. We really didn't need Maggie's involvement any longer.

"Sorry, Wane, you know how it is with your sister. This call was just to inform you that I will be staying with you." My jaw clenched; my grip tightened on my phone. I really didn't like the man.

"I see. That all?" I asked in a deadpan voice.

"Pretty much..." Once those words left his lips, I cut the line; there was nothing else to talk about.

"There will be no sex in my house, you understand?" I texted my sister.

"Fuck you, Wane. What are you going to do? Stand over us all night long?"

"If I have to. You came here uninvited. Invade my house without asking me. So yes, I'll dictate anything I damn well please in my HOUSE," I sent back. I could picture my sister cursing up a storm at that moment. "If you don't like it, go home!"

"You listen here, and you listen well, brother of mine." My eyebrow twitched at that. She knew I disliked it when she used that phrase. "I will do what I want in the room I'm in. If I want to suck my husband's cock I'm going to suck that dick! If I want to ride Griffin around the room, I'll ride it so well I'll scream out yeehaw! If that upsets you, then too fucking bad! Get the fuck over it! It was my home too, you know!"

"Was being the optimal word there. As I recall, Dad and Mom gave you first dibs on buying the place, but you were so 'in your zone' as you call it up north that you passed on it. So it isn't your home anymore; it's mine."

"Too fucking bad! It's going to happen, and it's going to be fucking loud!" Muting the conversation, there was no point in continuing it. Knowing my sister, she was only getting started, and I had no inkling to be drawn into a childish fight.

Returning to the butcher, continuing where we had left off before I was interrupted. Nodding when he told me the same thing she had told me when I facetimed her when I sat in my car in the parking lot. I thanked her and apologized for the call so early in the morning. She was very happy that I called; I normally do once a month, not that my wife knows about it. No one, actually. She was like another mother to me, and she took to me like I was her son. She also sent me an email of the ingredients I would need to make it. The main one was the five-spice mixture that was used as the dry rub.

I just didn't know if I could pull the skin away from the duck without tearing it. Which I was thankful that I didn't have to do given how the man offered to do it for me, given his experience with handling meat. Watching how he trimmed up the bird, discarding the excess fat, giving me some tips on how to make my own duck sauce or gravy with the drippings that were bound to happen given the fatty nature of duck. Thanking the man for sharing his wisdom with me once the bird and another steak for the other house crasher were paid for. I wondered if I should make a stir-fry or just go with good ol' sticky rice as a side dish as I walked around getting the items I needed. Sighing when my phone rang once again, however, it wasn't who I thought it was. Ignoring the text icon on my phone at the number of texts that awaited me.

"Hello, Betty," I greeted when I answered.

"Hey, baby. What are you doing?"

"Shopping."

"Oh?! Did you get the duck?" I heard the uptick in the cadence of her voice.

"I did."

"How big is it?"

"Big enough to feed the unwanted visitors that are squatting in my house."

"I heard. I also heard you aren't answering your sister's texts."

"Am I supposed to?" I asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"No, I suppose you don't have to, but she's worried that you've blocked her, you haven't, have you?"

"No," I answered plainly.

"Okay, so how's the shopping going?"

"Oh, should be done here in a few minutes. What would you think of a snow pea and bean sprout salad to go with it?" I asked as my eyes ran along the fresh vegetables before me.

"Sounds yucky." I felt the corner of my lips lift when Betty said that.

"Okay then, no salad. What about a stir-fry or sticky rice as a side?"

"You know I can't say no to your stir-fry."

"Stir-fry it is then," I nodded. Whether the two moochers ate the meal or not, I couldn't care less. I was doing this for Betty, not them. My eyes glanced at the bell peppers, cauliflower, and oyster mushrooms, knowing those would make a good addition to the meal.

"Wane?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for doing this; it means a lot to me." I heard that sweet, soft voice of hers when she got all lovey-dovey on me. I'll admit I like it, but only when Betty does it. "I know if it's anything like what else you've made throughout the years, it will taste so good!"

"Glad you think so," I replied, adding a red and yellow bell pepper to my basket and a head of cauliflower. I was about to grab the oyster mushrooms, contemplating if I killed her husband, would I finally get her out of my house. Sighing in my mind, knowing I couldn't do that no matter how I would enjoy watching Griffin flopping around on the floor like a fish out of water. So seeing how the mushrooms were out, I opted for a small package of baby corn. Then getting two spring onions, an apple, and two bread buns for the stuffing.

"Well, I'll let you finish shopping. I just wanted to call and hear your voice." I arched an eyebrow at that. Sometimes women confuse me; then again, I think that's with all males regardless if they are emotionally stunted, like I am. "You better let me know how the duck is when I get home. I can't wait to eat it! So what is my dashing, culinarily gifted, handsome husband going to make for his wife tonight?"

"Thinking steak and baked potatoes," I answered as I walked down the spice aisle. Plucking a jar of five-spice from the shelf and placing it with the others. Then walking two aisles over, and getting a jar of hoisin sauce and a bottle of light and dark soy sauce, given how I was out of both.

"Sounds good, honey, well, I'll let you go. I'll see you when I get home and try not to kill your sister."

"I make no promises." Hearing my wife's soft chuckle over the line.

"I love you, Wane."

"I know."

"Wane, can you say it, just once?" Can I say that phrase when I honestly don't understand the emotion? Well, I knew, or read about it anyway, that many men and women have said that phrase and not really meant it. But I don't think that applies to me since, obviously, I do care for her, which is odd to me given what I am. Now whether or not I'm in love with my wife, that is another matter altogether. I'm going to need time to ponder on that.

"I love you too, Betty." The words left my lips for the second time in my life. I've never even said that to my parents. Don't get me wrong, they are very good parents, they were given a child they had no idea how to cope with in a time where mental disorders weren't looked on as an affliction, but more as a stigma, or at least that's what I perceived in my childhood. It was why I learned how to hide what I am from the world and make the people around me believe I was just like them. When in reality, I couldn't care less what they think or feel. However, I do have to move about in the world, so play make-believe I must. "Betty?" I spoke when the line was silent for a few minutes.

"Mmm... sorry, I was just replaying it in my mind. It sounded so good when you said it."

"I see."

"It's okay Wane, I know you can't understand. But just know that hearing it made my heart flutter because I got to hear you say it. I know you do, but hearing it once in a while can be a good thing."

"I'll take your word for it."

"I promise it's a good thing." I could picture her nodding when she said that. "I'll be home at five."

"Okay, I'll see you when you get home."

With everything that I didn't have at the house paid for and stored in the trunk of my car, I headed home. Where I hoped they would just rent a hotel room, they're doctor's they could afford it. However, knowing my luck, if that was an actual thing, I'd be stuck with them for the foreseeable future.

~~~Maggie~~~

I heard Wane talking in Chinese or Jin, as he called it from the kitchen as Griffin and I entered my former childhood home. Telling my husband where he could store his things while I went to confront my brother. I stopped in my tracks as Wane stood with his back to me while he stood over the stove, appearing to be having a conversation with himself. Until I heard the sound of a woman's voice speaking in that same tongue to him. I found it strange that he talked to anyone. People with his form of illness do not typically form bonds with people.

Then again, no one that I've treated was like Wane, close to a degree, but not the same. There were different degrees of psychopathy on the spectrum. While Wane wasn't at one extreme or the other, he did have quite a few traits that made him earn that title. Given his lack of empathy last night, and I suspect lying as well. If I had to label my brother on that scale, he would be an adaptive psychopath with traits of a primary psychopath given his job and how well he could manipulate the people around him into thinking he was just like them. When he turned to grab the cutting board sitting on the island counter, I noted how that coldness washed over him when his eyes took sight of me.

I have no idea what he said to whomever he was speaking to. Yet, I got the feeling it wasn't in a warm light as he sat what appeared to be a 'too long and too skinny to be a chicken' something onto the cutting board. Arching an eyebrow when I saw him bow to whomever he was conversing with. Noting how he pocketed his phone while still not addressing my presence in the room.

"So, you can't be bothered to announce yourself when entering my house? This isn't some hotel where you can come and go as you please, Margaret." I'd forgotten when the last time was Wane's actually used my given name.

"This is my..."

"You would say the same damn thing if I did such at your home if I ever wish to go that far north." I felt my face burning, knowing that was true. I would be on him for walking into my house like he owned it.

"Okay, you're right, I'm sorry," I said, holding up my hands, trying to make peace with my brother.

"Uh-huh, why do I have trouble believing that." I felt my temper rising as I watched him patting the bird dry.

"Wane, I know this morning got a little heated, but you know I'm only looking out for you," I said in the best sisterly voice I could muster.

"So you say."

"So, what are you doing in here, and who were you talking to?" I asked, ignoring his remark.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"I don't know, choking the chicken," I retorted, hearing my husband's chuckle from the guest bedroom, yet that got nothing out of Wane. Although I could feel his eye roll at it.

"If you must know, I'm prepping the duck," Wane said in this cold deadpan tone of his. You would think Wane would at least talk to me in something other than aloofness. I am his sister, after all! Watching how Wane inserted a wide glass into the duck's cavity before standing it up right.

"Oh?!" My excitement was clear as day; I played off that he didn't answer my second question. Watching how he poured the water out of the pot, he was using and set it in the sink before pulling out a small bowl from the cabinet behind him. "Then I think I should watch, don't you?"

"Don't care." I huffed at that tone of his. Why was it Betty got through that armor, but I couldn't? I am his sister?! At the very least, I should be able to peer through that armor, not be kept at arm's length! Watching how he carefully measured out six tablespoons of water, five-spice, soy sauce, and brown sugar before he gently mixed them together. Noting how he heated up the mixture in the microwave until it was hot.

"What are you doing now?" I asked as he brushed the mixture onto the duck's skin.

"Marinating it, did tell you it takes a lot of prep."

"So, what are we all doing in here?" I felt my body heating when the hunk of a man that I call husband joined us.

"Watching my brother's mysterious skills at Chinese cooking at work," I said, ignoring the look Wane gave me while he washed the dishes he had used once he had finished glazing the duck. I couldn't wait to get Griffin on that bed, preferably under me. "Where are you going? You can't be done?" I asked as Wane walked out of the kitchen.

"Why don't you let me worry about the duck, and you go do whatever it is you do when no one's here." I glared angrily at my brother's back as he shooed me off from over his shoulder before entering the master bedroom.

"Has he been like this since you've been here?" Griffin asked in his clinical voice. He knew, well as much as I told him, about Wane's disorder. So he knew when to tiptoe around Wane.

"Sort of," I admitted. Leaving out the fact that he wasn't like this with Betty, which I truly found odd.

"I can see why it's taking you so long. Well, seeing how Wane wants us to skedaddle, why don't we catch up on the time we lost?"

"Mmmhmm," I purred when my husband gave me that come hither look. I took one last look at the closed master bedroom door, shaking my head, "Fuck, Wane, he can stew in his shit," I thought to myself, I needed my husband right then and there.

~~~Betty~~~

The moment I walked into our home, I felt the arctic chill in the air. While there wasn't any arguing or shouting taking place, nevertheless, I wondered what had transpired while I was at work. I noted Maggie and Griffin sitting on the couch watching TV, yet no sign of my husband given how our bedroom was empty.

"Where's Wane?" I asked, looking at the two of them as I stood on the landing leading to our sunken living room.

"Outside manning the grill." I ignored the look Griffin gave me when Maggie answered my question. I didn't like it. I wished he wouldn't do that, but I wasn't about to bring it up at the moment. I didn't need Maggie storming off when I needed her to ensure Wane and I didn't go the way of the dodo bird. Placing my purse on the dining room table as I walked past it. Seeing the oven on, knowing that the potatoes must be cooking, I headed for the back door.

"Hello, Betty." I felt a smile forming on my lips when Wane's greeting filled my ears.

"Hello, honey," I said, walking over to where Wane was sitting as the steaks cooked. "How was your day?" I asked as I lowered myself down beside him.

"Thinking of charging a nightly rate for the moochers."

"Wane, I know having people here isn't your cup of tea, and I am sorry they're ruffling your feathers. Just please don't do something that will cause Maggie to leave," I pleaded as I rested my hand over his. I feared that if she did leave Wane and I wouldn't make it. I noticed how his jaw muscles were knotted as he rose from the patio chair, walked over to the grill, and flipped the steaks. Watching how he sprinkled the seasoning, he uses onto them. "So, how did the duck turn out?" I asked, steering the conversation away from the elephant in the room.

"It's in the fridge resting until tomorrow."

"Was it hard?" I asked curiously.

"No, just a lot of prep to get the duck ready," Wane said as he walked back over to his seat.

"I can't wait to taste it," I sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder as I listened to the steaks cooking. "How long till the potatoes are done?"

"When the steaks are."

"So twenty minutes?" I guessed.

"Somewhere around there." My eyes flickered up as Wane nodded.

"Then I have time for a quick shower?" I asked; I didn't want to spend one moment without him unless it was absolutely necessary.

"I believe so."

"Okay, then I'm going to run in; you keep an eye on my steak. I'll be mad if it went missing," I uttered in a pouting tease.

"Then Griffin will just have to starve." Leaning forward, placing a kiss on his cheek, running my fingers through his hair as I rose. Noticing how those eyes of his flickered over to my ass when I walked around the patio chair before heading back inside.

The moment I walked back out once I was finished with my shower and dressed. I noted how Wane and Griffin were staring off with one another in the kitchen when I entered it to help my husband to prepare our dinner for the night.

"Keep those eyes in your head, or I will punch you again." I was taken aback by that; I hated how Griffin leered at me. I didn't know the two of them ever got into a fight before. I knew Wane didn't like Griffin much, and I got the feeling Griffin tolerated Wane. "This time, you won't be able to lie about it."

I turned to look at Maggie; she, too, was eyeing the two of them. "Griffin, what is Wane talking about?" Maggie asked as she ambled towards the kitchen.

"Nothing, honey, you know how your brother is, seeing things that aren't there." I shot my brother-in-law a glare. My Wane does not see things! Maybe I was too hasty in defending my in-laws. Maybe Wane was right; maybe it was time for them to go.

"No, Wane is a psychopath, not delusional. What have you been doing to upset my brother?" I wondered if Maggie was about to be where I was. Marriage counseling.

"Alright, fine, so I look at her like the slut she is..." I jumped in shock as Wane's punch connected loudly in our kitchen and sent Griffin to the floor. I noticed how Maggie was shocked as well. This was so not normal for my Wane. My heart beat franticly in my chest when I noted the look in my husband's eyes when he held Griffin by the front of his shirt. It wasn't a look I was ever used to seeing in my husband, and it scared me to death!

"I warned you then, and you didn't heed my warning. I won't utter it again. Next time you won't get off with a simple punch. I would think a man as supposedly smart as you are would know not to push me."

"Wane, let Griffin go," Maggie said, trying to diffuse the situation.

"Maybe you should be working on your own marriage instead of sticking your nose into mine." I heard the coldness of Wane's tone as he pushed Griffin towards his sister's feet.

"Yes, I suppose I do." I noted the hard look she was giving her husband as she stared down at him. Once again, it reminded me Maggie was indeed like her brother if the moment warrants it. "Betty, how long has this been going on?" Maggie asked when she peered over at me.

"Since Wane and I first started dating," I said truthfully.

"Then let me apologize for not nipping it in the bud then. I promise it won't happen again." I knew she said it to both Wane and me. I was hopeful, yet I could tell Wane didn't believe it as he turned to take the potatoes out of the oven. "Wane, we'll only be a few minutes, don't start dinner without us."

I saw how Maggie took Griffin by the ear and twisted it getting him to scramble to his feet so Maggie wouldn't rip it off as she led him towards the guest bedroom.

"Let me see," I cooed once I had moved up to my husband's side as he checked to ensure the potatoes were cooked through. Seeing the redness of his knuckles that had made contact with Griffin's face as I held his hand in mine. Placing a kiss on each and every one of them. Noting the confused look in Wane's eyes when I straightened up. "This is another sign that you do love me. That you would hit someone that demeans me," I said in a loving light as I brushed my thumb along those knuckles. "Not once but twice; why didn't you tell me about the first time?"

"Thought he learnt his lesson then, appears I was wrong," Wane admitted. "The only one that can call you that is me."

"And I do love hearing you say that word," I purred as I pressed my body against his chest. What can I say? I love being my husband's little slut. "Now, let me help to set the table," I said, raising to my toes and kissing my husband with a passion to show how glad I was that he did that. While he might have trouble understanding the emotion, his body, on the other hand, understood it well enough to physically confront Griffin. Quickly grabbing the bag of yeast rolls and pouring enough for dinner into a bowl and running them through the microwave just enough to heat them up once I had set the table.

"No, Betty, you sit there. I want to keep my eyes on my stupid husband," Maggie walked into the room as I was about to sit down beside Wane. I didn't think Wane was going to wait for them. "Wane, I'm sorry; if I had known Griffin was doing that, I would have agreed to the motel. You two are just now getting back on track; I don't want this idiot ruining the progress you two have made." I noted how Maggie roughly pushed Griffin into the chair I normally sat at. I watched how Wane didn't say a word as he set the plate that held the steaks and the shallow dish that held the potatoes onto the dining room table. I leaned forward, wondering which one I was going to choose. They all looked so good! I felt my mouth watering at the meal to come. I don't know how Wane chooses such good cuts of steak, but I'm not complaining, would you? Flashing him a smile when he looked at me, waiting for me to make my selection. Blowing him a kiss when he placed the one I pointed at onto my plate.​