Mafia in Death - an In Death series fanfic (J.D. Robb)

Chapter 8

"Don't start with me, Roarke. I have to go to work, and damn if I'm going to take a leave.", Eve spat as she marched towards her table, with spiky hairs she had continuously raked with her hands.

Roarke rounded her. "You barely recovered your senses for the past hours since we returned from Italy, and then you suddenly jumped out to go to work? Do you think I will allow that?"

"I'm fine, don't you get it? I know my capacity, and when I say I can manage, I can manage. So leave me alone!"

"The hell with it!"

Summerset and Mira entered the room in their own accord, and witnessed the quarrelling couple in a very distressed and distraught mood. They knew that the two noticed their entrance but nobody paid any attention.

"Listen ace, I might be your wife but have I ever dictated you when to go to your work? Did I ever touch your pies without your permission? No."

She always said that she hated to be called as wife, but when she used that term to herself, it was like a double-slap in his face.

"Don't you ever make me use my authority as a husband, because you will never imagine the things I can do. And you know that, my dear wife, that I'll enjoy it to the fullest.", he growled, releasing his thick Irish accent.

"Uhm...may I have your attention, please?", Summerset interrupted.

"What?!", Eve and Roarke replied in unison and looked at the butler with utmost irritation, a notion that could plant a fear to any mankind.

It was a miracle that Summerset did not buckle down from their intensed glares. "Dr. Mira is here per your request, sir."

They acknowledged her presence, and then Eve said, "I will see Mira, but I did not mean it to be today."

"Don't be a gobdaw, darling."

That comment snapped her.

"Are you trying to impose your cockamamie and that ever-proud manliness you call there?"

"Not if you're civil-minded rather than a hard-headed, sassy one."

Mira knew, even without personal observation, that when these two proud and hard-headed people clash, it would be a no-holds-barred battle. No sane person would dare to go in between and stop them, not even herself.

Summerset offered her a seat and placed a cup of tea beside her. "Would you enjoy an Earl Grey or a Darjeeling?"

"Any would do, Summerset.", she replied with a smile. "It seems that you're used to this kind of...scene."

"I lived with them for years now. Besides, stopping those two is like committing a suicide. I have several years to live by.", he shrugged. "If you'll excuse me, I have some things to attend below. I believe you can handle the situation, but if you'll need assistance, you may buzz the intercom."

Summerset left the room without an impact to the tension inside.

Eve was too pissed for Roarke, much because he wouldn't bulge off. "When you discovered the truth about your mother from a social worker, did you ever have a notion to share it with me - if I did not ask?"

That caught him by surprise.

"This is different, Eve.", he muttered.

"Different? I call this unfair! Dammit Roarke, when you went to Dublin alone, did I get mad at you? When you asked for Brian's aid instead of mine, did you hear me complain?"

He was about to say something that she was handling a serial murder case that time, but stopped himself when he noticed the tears that formed in her eyes.