A Muscle

Fu Heng threw his head back and laughed.

"Big brother, did you tell your men that you'd cut their dicks off if they looked at your fiancée? Excuse me, you aren't even married to her yet."

"She's mine," Fu Shao said quietly, sending a chill down my back with his voice, not to mention his eyes.

He looked at Fu Heng , who shook his head.

"For the next three years, you'll be in B country and she will be here. You can't always keep an eye on her, or do you intend to threaten every man in this W City. You can't cut off all of their dicks. Maybe Lu Bi knows of a few Eunuchs who can keep watch over her."

"I'll do what I have to," Fu Shao said, swirling the drink in his glass.

"Fang, find the two idiots who are supposed to guard Shen Mi."

The way my name rolled off his tongue made me shiver. I didn't even know that I had two guards now.

As Martial Zhen had always protected me and my sisters.

Fang left immediately and returned ten minutes later with Martial Zhen and Gengxin, both looked butt-hurt that they'd been summoned like dogs by someone from B Clans.

As my Father was a step behind them.

"What's the meaning of this?" Father asked.

"I want to have a word with the men you chose to protect what's mine."

Qina huffed beside me, but I pinched her.

Nobody could know we were listening in on this conversation. Father would throw a fit if we revealed the position of his secret door.

"They are good soldiers, both of them. Gengxin is Shen Mi cousin, and Martial Zhen has worked for me for almost two decades."

"I'd like to decide for myself if I trust them," Fu Shao said.

So I held my breath. That was as close to an insult as he could get without actually insulting my father openly. Father's lips thinned, but he gave a curt nod. He remained in the room as Fu Shao stepped up to Martial Zhen.

"So I hear you are good with the knife."

"Zhen was best," Father interjected.

A muscle in Fu Shao jaw twitched.

"Not as good as your brother, as rumours has it," Martial Zhen said with a nod toward Fu Heng who flashed him a sharp grin.

"But better than any other man in our territory," Martial Zhen admitted eventually.

"Are you married?"

Martial Zhen nodded.

"For twenty years."

"That's a long time," Fu Heng said.

"Your young kiss must look awfully delicious in comparison to your old wife."

I stifled a gasp.

Martial Zhen hand twitched an inch toward the holster around his waist.

Everyone saw it. Father watched like a hawk but didn't interfere.

Martial Zhen cleared his throat.

"I've known young miss since her birth. She is a child like my children."

"She won't be a child for much longer," Fu Shao said.

"Young miss will always be a child in my eyes. And I'm faithful to my wife."

Martial Zhen glared at Fu Heng.

"If you insult my wife again, I'll ask your father for permission to challenge you in a knife fight to defend her honour and I'll kill you."