Pale Boundaries by Cleveland Scott

Author:Cleveland, Scott [Cleveland, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Createspace
Published: 2010-01-06T08:00:00+00:00

Tamara Cirilo’s sleepy eyes lit up when she answered the door. “Hal! Come in.” The apartment was dim and quiet. “We had a scare while you were gone.”

“So I’m told. Where’s Sergio?”

“Sleeping. Would you like a drink?”

“Thank you.” Somehow the bodice of Tamara’s nightgown came unbuttoned between the time she let him in and fixed his drink. He caught a flash of breast when she gave him the glass. The alcohol burned on the way down, adding heat to his simmering rage. “I just talked to the Old Lady,” he said.

Tamara turned her face away and poured her own drink. “Oh?” The catch in her voice confirmed his suspicion. He gulped back the acid rising in his throat.

“You don’t have the right to report my private affairs,” he said.

“I’m the intelligence officer,” Tamara said. “I have the right and the duty to report significant observations and events. That includes your violation of a long-standing security policy.”

“Not if you do it to serve your personal interests.” The glass quivered in his hand.

“Hal, you put your own life and the Family’s interests in jeopardy for nothing more than an adolescent fling!”

Hal dropped the glass and slapped her.

Tamara’s face twisted in a grimace of shock that transformed to fury as they stared at each other. “You...! You—get out!” Hal knew he’d crossed the line. Tamara was Family, not an employee to be assaulted and threatened, but he didn’t care; truly did not give a damn, which in itself warned him that he had to leave before it went farther. “Enjoy your Minzoku slut!” she screamed at his back. “That was the last time you’ll ever touch me!”

Hal spun and hit her again.

She staggered back, dazed. Blood welled from her lower lip. He seized her nightgown and ripped it to the hem. She struggled weakly as he forced her down on the couch.

“Don’t,” she whispered. “Please...!”

“Isn’t this what you want?” Hal shouted. “Isn’t this what you’ve been after since I got here?”

“Get away from my daughter!”

Hal looked up into the barrel of a gun. His rage evaporated with astonishing haste. Tamara pulled her torn gown around her and folded into the couch, sobbing. Hal straightened up slowly, careful to keep his hand away from his needle-beamer. Sergio was a coward. A coward with a gun was a dangerous thing.

“Get the fuck out of my home!”

“Going,” Hal assured him. He backed to the door. “Just remember, Sergio: you were willing to prostitute her for what you wanted. Put that in your next report.”

The shakes caught up with him in the corridor. He paced the dark stone paths outside, struggling to put aside the emotions that Sergio’s intervention had momentarily diverted. Cold and discomfort dulled the fire after a few minutes; he was still angry, but trusted himself not to stalk back in and put a hole in both their heads.

I made my point, he decided. They would not trifle with him again, although he had to be careful not to give them any opportunity to come back at him.

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