The bodies were lying surprisingly elegantly in the sand and Marko looked at them with a mild, curious frown.

His own kill that night had been an exhilarating one, a tough guy looking for a fight. It was always fun when someone pegged him as a lesser man. If the roles were reversed, if Dwayne or David had been assumed to be a weak, fragile, easy target, they would take great offence but he loved it. He lived for it. The moment the macho man, the self-styled alpha male realized he was out of his league, that moment of realization, the fear flashing in his eyes...well, that just made for the perfect kill. He was partial to a beautiful woman, of course. Who wasn't? The slow, drawn-out seduction, the moans of pleasure, the lust and need, the gasping, heavy breaths, the taste of blood mixed with the cries of an orgasm...who could deny the joy in that?

But the bodies before him?

They were certainly unusual.

They were nobody's type.

Not his, not David's, definitely not Paul's.

What the fuck had compelled Dwayne to hunt these men?

He couldn't imagine.

Their deaths had clearly been quite brutal but neat at the same time and Marko knew the sort of dedicated control it took to make a kill like that.

A kill so bloody, so painful but with little clean up?

Dwayne had been angry.

Not raging. Raging anger made mess.

This was the result of focused fury.

Dwayne had needed an outlet and apparently, that outlet took the form of some podgy, generically dressed middle-aged men.

An odd choice, that was for sure and even odder, still, was why he was angry in the first place.

Dwayne was generally slow to anger, which was good because he was built like a tank.

Marko considered the bodies before him.

They had left Elizabeth laughing and happy. She'd been the victim of a prank, then she'd been the victor. She'd been proud of herself and rightly so. She'd gotten them back fast and pretty well done, too. The tears? He'd been petrified for a second. It had been fun. Sure, she'd left with the fear of more pranks but she'd been happy.

There was nothing there to upset Dwayne.

She'd told him about her plans to turn after graduation and he'd been elated. The happiness had been radiating from him when he'd returned, much to David's disdain. Though he too had been surprised by the news. He'd been pleasantly surprised, but he denied it, of course. Still, it was rare to see the brunette with a wide, unwavering smile and so there was no cause for upset there, either.

Even when Paul had pried where he had no business prying and had shouted out, "you two fucked on the roof?! I didn't know she had it in her, look at you two! Sly dogs!" Dwayne had laughed and thrown the energetic blonde's arm away from his shoulder with no further protest.

Again, no reason for upset.

It was early in the night now but Dwayne had told them before he'd left that she was likely tired and that he wouldn't be long...so his mate needing sleep wasn't news to him.

Marko couldn't figure it out.

This was such a specific kill.

There had to be a reason behind it but he couldn't figure out what it was.

He'd only come to see Dwayne because he'd sensed him near but now, he wanted some answers.

Besides, he'd been stood there for a while already now - thinking and observing - and there had been no hint of movement or even acknowledgement from his friend.

It was odd.

"Are you going to say boo? Jump out at me?" Marko asked the night, nudging one of the dead men with the tip of his boot. He tilted his head, watching as the suit trousers wrinkled.

Suit looked good but it was cheap.

They were kind of hefty men.

Dwayne had done an excellent job with this kill but Marko figured he'd have needed to ask for help with the disposal. It was doable alone for sure but it would be annoying as all hell. He'd help but even just the two of them would be more effort than he was willing to spare that night.

Something was weird.

He looked into the shadows.

The silence of the night was pressing in on him now.

"...are you alright?"

"I'm just thinking"

Marko nodded.

He looked down at the bodies again.

"Very specific kill tonight"

"They served a purpose"

"I haven't seen you brood like this in a while" Marko said frankly, crossing his arms as he looked into the shadows again, "what happened? What 'purpose' did they serve?"

Dwayne was shrouded in darkness, sat perfectly still.

He looked meditative, almost peaceful. Of course, the blood that was violently splashed over his mouth, neck and chest dampened the impression.

It must have been a cathartic kill for him but Marko just couldn't figure out what was bothering his friend.

He was coming up blank.

"Paul's not far away" he warned, sitting a little distance from Dwayne, "and he's in a really good mood"

Sometimes that was a good thing, other times not.

Paul disposition rarely changed.

If you were in a bad mood and he was in a good one, he wasn't going to change to mirror you. He could read a room, he just didn't care to. Sometimes that kind of energy was great when you were in a bad mood, sometimes it brought you up again. Sometimes, it just really pissed you off.

Marko never knew how it was going to go with Dwayne and Paul, especially when Dwayne was in a funk...but then, he didn't even know if Dwayne was in a funk.

Still, it was a mystery.

He pulled a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of his jeans, took one for himself and offered the pack.

"Thanks"

Marko nodded, lit his smoke and passed the lighter on, too.

Dwayne's face was briefly illuminated by the spark of the lighter.

"I'd wait for you to talk but I gotta ask. What's with them?" he jerked his head towards the dead men.

Boring, uninspiring businessmen.

"I don't get it. You had to have gone out of your way to hunt them but why?"

"It's been a bad night"

"It's barely even started" Marko shrugged.

"Yet it's bad"

Marko hitched up a knee.

Dwayne exhaled a plume of smoke, "Elizabeth cried herself to sleep. She was upset...very upset. She tolerated me for a while but asked me to leave. I waited on the roof, just incase she changed her mind but she didn't"

Marko frowned, "she asked you to leave?"

"Not directly but yes" Dwayne shrugged, "I needed to work through my anger, so..."

"...so you killed two boring suits?"

Dwayne nodded.

"I think you have to start from the beginning, here"

"Yesterday, when I left, Elizabeth went to the bathroom. She's particular about brushing her teeth"

"A good habit"

"Nanook attacked her.

Marko froze, "the dog?"

"Yeah" Dwayne took another drag, "I didn't get the full story but between her tears, she told me Nanook bit her. Really went for her, apparently. He took a good chunk out of her hand and she spent the day in hospital getting stitches"

Marko frowned in confusion.

This wasn't the story he was expecting.

"Is it bad?"

"No. Less than ten stitches, her hand was bandaged so I couldn't see the wound directly"

Marko's cigarette burned steadily.

Fuck.

That was gnarly. Even if it wasn't a bad bite, there was the pain of the bite itself, the swelling of the hand, the stiffness that came with healing.

A not so bad dog bite was still nasty.

Still, that didn't explain the dead men.

"Elizabeth was with her grandfather at the time. He's an early riser, apparently but the commotion woke everyone up. Her brother was very concerned about the dog, he had a few choice words for her. Said she must have done something for him to bite her. They had a fight and he wasn't there when she got home from the hospital"

"Asshole" Marko said with a shake of his head.

Dwayne agreed with a tilt of his.

Elizabeth was sensitive, Marko was sure the fight with her brother was upsetting her more than the bite was. Siblings fought, that wasn't unusual. He didn't want to belittle her upset but she was probably just overtired and-

"-when Elizabeth got to the hospital, she found out that she was newly transferred to her Grandfather's insurance plan. The receptionist was sure there was some sort of fraud taking place"

"Fraud?" Marko pulled a face.

Elizabeth was as straight and narrow as they came.

That was laughable.

Even if her grandfather was a weirdo, fraud just didn't make sense.

They weren't that kind of family.

"What? She gets new insurance and gets injured right after for..." he trailed off and flicked some ash onto the ground, "...what? I can't even think of what fraud that would be"

Dwayne nodded.

"Poor Liz" Marko shook his head, feeling bad for her but still confused.

Was that was made her cry herself to sleep?

Was that why she was inconsolable?

He felt horrible for her because a bite and a fight was no laughing matter but he was sure Dwayne was holding the most pertinent information because it didn't quite add up.

"Poor Liz" Dwayne repeated, staring at the bodies of the two men, "she's on her grandfather's plan because her father took her off the family plan. Elizabeth and her mother. Her mother had a final payment invoice sent last week and that's how she found out. That's why Elizabeth was moved to the old man's plan and the dog bite is how Elizabeth found out. The receptionist almost interrogated the grandfather about it"

Marko froze, taking in Dwayne's words.

"He kept her brothers on it"

Marko clenched his jaw and looked at the bodies.

There it was.

Dwayne was imagining he was killing Elizabeth's father.

That was the purpose they'd served, that was the cathartic kill.

Marko scoffed.

So, Elizabeth was cut off but the offshoots of the guy's sperm were kept on? She was adopted, she wasn't his so in the divorce he was cutting her off just like he was cutting off his ex-wife?

"What a cunt"

Dwayne nodded.

Marko threw his head back and winced.

They joked about it a lot and it was a hot topic among them, how nice she was and how she was going to fit in with them, how she was going to kill and how it was funny that she got along with them so well, considering they were so different...but it was a fact. She was nice and she was kind and yes. Yes, she had some sass about her, she was certainly growing and changing, her personality was shining and getting stronger but still, she was nice and kind of sensitive.

This was brutal.

He felt horrible for her.

"Fuck, poor Liz..."

"She could barely talk about it; she was crying so much. She obviously feels..." Dwayne trailed off.

"...thrown out with the trash. Abandoned. Like she never mattered to him, like she was never his daughter. Like he never thought of her as such...and now, she's had a fight with her brother and he cares about his dog more than her, so she's wondering where she stands as his sister"

Dwayne nodded again.

What a fucking cowardly act.

The dull, aged men - corpses - really made sense to him.

He felt like he could make a kill like that now.

Fuck, he wanted to.

It must have been hell for Dwayne.

"We could go to Arizona and kill him"

"I'm debating it"

"What's there to debate?"

"She said not to"

"She might change her mind"

"I hope she does"

Marko shook his head again.

"Piece of shit" he muttered.

"He has a new car, a new girlfriend. A new house. A new life, apparently. He took 'the boys' for lunch before they moved to Arizona, a father-son talk, she said he'd called it. Michael filled her in, he was just assuring them that he still wanted them in his life, that he was still their father and that in the future, he hoped they'd have a good relationship with his girlfriend. Apparently, he'd said she might be their new step mother" Dwayne exhaled a plume of smoke, "Elizabeth assumed it was just what he said it was. Father-son bonding"

"And now she realizes she didn't mean shit to him, that he doesn't care to have a relationship with her. She's not his, he's got no obligation towards her" Marko smirked and raised his eyebrows in anger, "piece of fucking shit. He has a new life and she doesn't factor into it because she was just adopted"

"That was the general gist of what she said, yeah" Dwayne said, "she was crying so much, her breath was catching. That was all I really got out of her and that was difficult"

"What about her mom? Grandpa?"

Dwayne shrugged, "she said he was wonderful and that was the end, really. She told me she was fine, that she just needed some time. She told me she was fine - again - and said she'd see me tomorrow"

Marko nodded, "politely dismissed you?"

Dwayne kept his head forwards, eyes on the corpses as he said, "I think she was embarrassed"

"It's not you" Marko said quietly, "she probably doesn't want you to see her at her worst"

"I'm her mate"

Marko smiled a little. Dwayne was her mate and he loved her unconditionally, so he couldn't see it. In his eyes, Elizabeth would always be beautiful.

"Yeah, and she's a girl. She probably cares about how she looks. She'll speak to you tomorrow. She probably just needs to cry tonight...it's so raw for her"

Marko flicked his smoke to the ground.

He shook his head.

"Regret coming to see you, man. I was having a good night. Now I wanna hurt somebody"

Dwayne stubbed his smoke out, "tell me about it"

"Tell you about what?"

Marko and Dwayne both looked up at the same time.

Paul announced his presence with a laugh, undoubtedly at their expressions of surprise. Marko had been so absorbed by Dwayne and Elizabeth's story, he hadn't even heard the blonde approach.

Paul looked down at the two dead men and grinned, "one each, huh? Did you give or did you receive?"

He dropped to sit on one of the dead man's chest and Marko stared at his friend.

"Who am I kiddin'? We all know you two received. You like it, don't you? The hot breath on the back of your neck"

Marko watched him, half in amazement and half annoyance.

Dwayne was scowling at the newcomer.

Apparently, Paul didn't care.

"What's up? You two look like you're in the midst of breaking up or something"

Marko glanced at Dwayne.

He was in a somber, serious mood and Paul was never serious and never somber.

He had a feeling their meeting was going to go the wrong way. Dwayne was angry and he was going to stay angry. Marko hoped Paul would not only take the hint but accept it and tone himself down.

"Elizabeth had a bad day"

"Well let's go see her-"

"-no"

Paul looked at Dwayne, blinking, "why not?"

"She's sleeping"

"It's not even eleven. We can wake her up"

"After being awake all night last night?" Dwayne asked.

Paul shrugged, "well, why'd she have a bad day?"

Dwayne said nothing.

"I will literally fly there and ask her myself" Paul warned.

"Elizabeth's..." Marko didn't know how to phrase it so as to not make Dwayne feel even worse than he already did. He knew why he wasn't expanding on Elizabeth's upset. Paul would definitely make a joke of it. Parts of it, at least "...her scent was stronger than usual and she didn't get to bed or change into her pajamas so she was quite..." he shook his head. He didn't fucking know what to say. Elizabeth stank of Dwayne and the dog didn't like it? Keeping his gaze on Paul, he murmured a diplomatic, "...Nanook got confused and attacked her"

"Oh fuck" Paul breathed in understanding and mild shock. He looked at Dwayne, "the dog thought she was you?"

Dwayne simply nodded.

"Well shit" Paul bounced once on the corpse, "is she OK?"

"Stitches" Dwayne said shortly.

"How many? Where?"

"Hand. Less than ten. Her thighs are bruised where the dog jumped on her"

Paul whistled, "gnarly. Is that it?"

"Isn't that enough?"

"All right, Big One, settle down" Paul laughed, "just with you two lookin' like you did I'd figured she'd lost a leg or something. Let's go drop off some chocolates and grapes so when she wakes up-"

"-no"

Paul looked at Marko and Marko shook his head, "we should give her space. Her brother was positive she'd done something to the dog and they had a fight. I think we should avoid the house for a bit. The dog might be more weary from now on"

"Yeah, I guess that's fair. Dog gets a whiff once, he's gonna be alert to it now. Well, was good while it lasted, huh? She's gonna have to come to us now. Guess you can't make gentle love to her in her bed...but hey, looks like you two do it anywhere but the bed! Lucky fucker. So...what was the fight about?"

"Her brother was positive she'd done something to provoke the dog" Dwayne repeated Marko's words.

"Well, the kid was right" Paul shrugged. He looked at Dwayne again, "did you tell her?"

Dwayne looked at Paul with a look of withering annoyance, "did I tell my heartbroken, crying mate that the dog bit her with good reason and that she was actually the cause of it, that she did provoke it by smelling so strongly of me, so her brother's vitriol was justified?"

Paul raised his eyebrows and lifted both of his hands in a gesture of peace.

"I never said it was justified" he said amicably, "I actually think her brother was a piece of shit for going off on her like that but hey. Isn't that what brothers do? You guys go off on me nightly. You're kinda goin' off on me now. I was just askin' if you clarified the situation"

Marko frowned and rolled his eyes a little. It was a reasonable question but there was a time and place for it.

This wasn't it.

Paul certainly enjoyed poking the bear.

He doubled down, "I'm just saying, it might be worth letting her know. That way it won't happen again.."

"Yeah. No shit. It just didn't feel like the right time, you know? I didn't want to heap guilt on top of hurt"

Paul flashed him a grin and Marko shook his head but he knew the blonde wasn't going to be stopped.

"This is kinda on you, if you think about it. You should have known better. You covered her in your scent. You were all rolled in her dressing gown. All inside of her. You smothered her in you and then you sent her into the house in the early hours knowin' the dog was there?" he sucked in air through his teeth, "it's like you wanted her to-"

"-shut the fuck up and stay the fuck out of it" Dwayne said flatly.

Marko shook his head.

"Chill, man. It's hot. I'm happy for you, when we met her, she was a shy little virgin and now-"

Dwayne snapped his head to look at Paul with such angry speed, the blonde instantly shut his mouth.

"I'm serious. Drop it"

"Fine" Paul said, raising his hands, "stopped. This isn't anythin' I wouldn't say to her and she'd blush and laugh, so I don't get why you're gettin' your panties in twist over it. I don't get it - she had a bite, she had a fight. Like, I know it sucks but...does it really suck this bad?"

Marko shook his head again.

OK.

That was fair.

Paul didn't have the whole story.

He looked at Dwayne, silently asking for permission.

He nodded curtly.

"Elizabeth's father took her off the insurance. She's been awake for literally twenty-four hours and at the tail end of a really long day, she found out she's been let go by the man she's called father for most of her life. She's really heartbroken"

"Poor Liz" Paul breathed, "what a fuckin' dick. Is she OK?"

"No. She's not OK" Dwayne snapped, "that's the point"

Paul flipped him off.

"She'll feel less upset in the morning" Marko muttered, giving Paul a little reproachful look. It was clear that Dwayne was reaching the end of his tether, "sleep will help her a little. Everything feels worse when you're tired, you know that. I'm sure she'll be more open to talk about it tomorrow"

Dwayne nodded, accepting his words.

"What? She didn't wanna talk it over?"

"No" Marko answered Paul.

"Well I can help her. I know what she'll like and the thing is...this is kinda good. I always got the vibe she was closer to her mom, anyway. She just need someone to walk through it with her, you know? Help her see clearly. When you're upset, you're clouded and I'm super clear. Zero clouds" he gestured to his head.

"It's not good you vapid piece of shit" Dwayne said, his hand stretched out in warning, "and if anyone is going to talk with her about it, it's going to be me"

"If anyone's gonna talk to her about it, it's gonna be me" Paul sniped with a roll of his eyes, "well, stop fuckin' sulking and get on it. Help a girl out for fuck's sake, it ain't so bad"

"Of course, it's bad" Marko said, shaking his head, "are you insane? In what world is it not bad?"

"I'm saying that when Lizzie has a clear head, she'll see it's all for the best. I've been in Lizzie's house. I've snooped. We did face masks, remember? I saw some letters from Lizzie's mom's lawyer. Her ex got a Rolex and a red Porsche. Her lawyer was advising an audit but her mom didn't reply yet. I think she's dropped the ball a bit with the move and everything but that's by the by. The lawyer sent her a letter, askin' her to call him"

"Fuck you. Everything's a joke to you" Dwayne said in annoyance, "you know nothing, so you laugh about everything. You're right: you don't have clouded vision, you don't even have a brain. Who gives a shit about a Porsche? Who cares that you read some letters? What? You just think you can fix everything? You're that special?"

"If you wanna ride me so bad, buy me dinner first" Paul told Dwayne, "fuck you're jumping all over me"

"Are you-"

Paul rolled his eyes, "-you two are driving me crazy. Christ on a fucking stick. Look at you! I get it, you're her mate so it hurts you to see her sad" Paul touched his heart, "but can you both take a step back, get offa my dick and realize that your own bias is stopping you from seein' everything clearly?"

Marko stared.

"You had abandonment issues" Paul told him frankly before looking at Dwayne, "and you, you're so in love with her you can't just take a step back for a second. I'm not raggin' on you for the fun of it here, I'm bein' serious. She doesn't need you two to be all offended for her, she's taken care of that herself"

"Are you for real?"

"Seriously! She's overtired. She's crazy overtired and she's embarrassed. She's mortal, OK? She cries and gets all snotty and blotchy and ugly and she's embarrassed to cry like that in front of you, man" he said to Dwayne, "it's not that she doesn't wanna talk to you. She just doesn't want you to see her with fuckin' boogers and shit. Let her have some space tonight and she'll be OK to talk tomorrow. Of course, she wants your support, she just wants to look pretty when gettin' it. So, calm down. Jesus. You take some time, too. She'll be better tomorrow, so just wait before you get all pissy. You'll see. Tomorrow will be different. She'll be calmer and you'll regret your little bitch fit tonight"

"Oh fuck you, man" Dwayne said, "you patronizing shit"

Marko had to agree with Dwayne.

"You had it easy" Marko said, "you had the easiest life ever, you say so yourself all the time. You've never felt hurt like she's feeling now, you're so confident but you don't know what you're talking about this time"

"My mate is heartbroken and I think she needs more than some pseudo-psychological bullshit from a guy who's thicker than a plank of wood"

Paul drew himself to his full height, rising up from the corpse he'd been using as a bench.

"Right, listen here you fuckin' colon worm-"

Both men stilled at the unexpected insult.

"-just because I'm blonde, vivacious, got a rockin' bod and legs that go on for days doesn't mean I'm stupid. I know everything. I know how the world works, I was the fuckin' world, you dig? I was rich. Richy Rich, rich. Monopoly Man, rich. Yeah, I had it fucking easy! And you know what? That's why I'm in the know here! My Pa had ten times the wealth that the public knew about. Wannabe rich people scream it out but real rich people wanna hide it. That bitch she used to call dad ain't hidin' shit. He's a fucking faker. Lizzie's ex-pop works in finance, right? Right. But we're talkin' small fish Arizona finance, not some young, coke snortin' stock broker in New York. He's probably a bank manager or some shit. He's a middle-aged waste of space who spent his years bein' a solid middle-class guy and now - now - he's goin' around with tailored suits, a Rolex and a convertible and a young, hot girlfriend. Where's he gettin' the money from? If he didn't have it before, he shouldn't have it now. So that's suspicious. That fuckin' reeks of embezzlement or insider trading or something. Probably ain't even that glamorous. He's probably frauding old women. Whatever! You don't have to be a genius to get a whiff of fuckin' off, there - so that's strike one. Now, he's gone and kicked his kid - and OK, she ain't biologically his but he adopted her so as far as the court's concerned, she fuckin' is - right offa his insurance but kept the other two squirts on it? Holy fuck is that a big ass strike two. And we all know he ain't payin' any child support or spousal alimony or shit. Uh, hello strike three! Fucking hell, if Lizzie's Mom's lawyer ain't havin' a field day with this, I'll fuckin' represent her. Lizzie's hurt now, yeah, I get that. Her heart's breakin' and it makes me wanna go on down to Arizona get her some revenge but you know what? Let her cool down for a couple of days, let her figure out for herself what I'm saying and she's gonna realize that him fuckin' her over like this is gonna fuck him over big time. Judges hate deadbeat dads and this fucker just proved he's not only a deadbeat but he's a raging little cunt, too. Judge is gonna bitch slap him with some stone-cold law and it'll be epic. Lizzie's mom's gonna get paid, big time. Lizzie loves her mom. Sometimes revenge is a slow burning joy and she's gonna absorb this pain but she's gonna grow from it and she's gonna watch as he fucks himself over and it's gonna be beautiful. She's gonna have the last fuckin' laugh"

Paul stretched and rose to his feet.

"Now, if you two plebeians don't mind, I'm gonna go get my girl a present. I do know just what she needs. Me and my easy life experience" he grinned at Marko, "I know just what to do and it involves cash. Yeah. Easy cash. I'm gonna throw money at the problem because I know she'll like it. Hell, maybe she should be my mate?" he turned to look at the brunette, "I know how to make everything right. Catch up, Dwayne. As always, you're not even approachin' first place"

He shot them both finger guns, then a middle finger each and was gone into the night.

Quick than he came, he left nothing but silence in his wake.

The silence stretched on.

Marko was stunned.

That was probably the most in-eloquent speech he'd ever witnessed but there was an odd ring of truth to it.

Reason and logic.

Was Elizabeth close to her mother? Certainly.

Did she want to see her mother happy? Very much so.

Would her father's actions be looked down upon by a judge? Without a doubt.

Did her mother and grandfather love her? Marko had no reason to believe otherwise. She was a happy, pleasant girl and it was clear she came from a loving home. There was no doubt that her family considered her their own, her father's actions would definitely be repulsive to them.

Would she be mortified to have Dwayne see her with a runny nose and all the other unpleasantries that came with serious tears? No question about it.

Marko shifted.

Maybe Paul had seen it with clear eyes?

Maybe Elizabeth just did need time to cry it out and then she would realize that such a cruel act would undoubtedly benefit her mother's case. Perhaps that would help soften the hurt, the pain of the rejection she felt.

"I hate him. I really hate him" Dwayne said lowly, "...but I think that helped"

Marko nodded slowly, "I didn't...I didn't think of it like that"

"She's definitely closer to her mother"

"And the ugly crying..."

Dwayne nodded.

Marko nodded again.

Paul had been and gone with such an energetic, insulting flair but in the tornado of his words, Marko had to admit that he really had spoken a lot of sense.

"I hate him" Dwayne repeated, looking and sounding visibly less upset, "...she was treated poorly by her Grandmother on her father's side. She was hurt...but she realized she was a sad old woman who was suffering in life and she admitted to me that knowing the old crow was suffering made the pain easier to deal with..."

Marko looked at the bodies, a small smirk tugging at his mouth.

Fucking Paul.

Of course, he would swoop in and solve it all.

He seemed to have hit the nail on the head.

Perhaps Elizabeth would just need a little bit more time to process it but maybe she was stronger than they were giving her credit for?

Perhaps Dwayne had jumped the gun? Perhaps he had, too?

"He can never know"

Marko turned to grin at Dwayne, "what? That he helped or that he's right"

"Maybe right" Dwayne corrected, smirking lightly before adding, "...both"

"Agreed"

"Do you feel better for it?"

Dwayne nodded once, "yeah. I'm still angry. I'm still upset for her..."

"But he's taken the edge off of it?"

Dwayne smiled briefly, "I can't wait until he gets a mate. I'm going to give him hell"

"Well, for now you might want to wonder about what he's gonna buy for her"

"Help me with the bodies?" Dwayne asked.

Marko nodded.

He knew that Paul had wounded both of their pride and they were too arrogant to ask for his help now. Hell, he may have already filled David in on everything. That would be embarrassing.

It was more work but it was probably better to just get it done together.

The two of them.

With a rueful smirk, Dwayne shook his head and said for the final time that night, "I really fucking hate him"

A/N: I love, love, LOVE writing Paul!