This is the third in a series. A lot of people offered up suggestions and originally I was going to end the series here, but with the help of several, I decided not to.
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Veronica had an excuse all ready for him. "I'm sorry, I just forgot the time, then had to walk all the way back here from the other end of the casino. You forgive me?" She asked sweetly.
Mark was amazed that his wife could act so innocently after having sex with multiple men. This was something that only came with practice, he was sure, and something he would mention to a divorce lawyer. He didn't want to do this, but felt that her actions warranted it, and that guy Andy, was something he needed to deal with quickly. They got drinks at the bar and Mark was about to tell her what he knew, but he honestly didn't know where to start. Suddenly his phone rang and he had to take call from his boss, but as he did, Veronica got up, saying "I'll be back," as she walked into the casino. He wasn't concerned until he saw that Andy had just walked by and she went out to see him.
Mark finished up his call to his boss, then watched as she and Andy entere a conference room off to the side and several yards down the hallway. Mark walked over, and opening the door quietly and looked in. He expected to find his wife and Andy here, but he heard his wife's voice coming from one of several small cube rooms along one side of the conference room. Even with the door closed, the cubes did not extend to the ceiling, so he could hear his wife and she was angry. "...staying with Mark, and I don't want you following us around."
"But Viv, (her nickname) you know how I feel about you. I told you, I think he's fucking another woman. You know how great the sex between us is. Can't you just tell him that it's over, that you want me instead?"
"I told you, I can't leave Mark, I love him, he's done nothing wrong"
"Well I'll tell him then. Tell him what we've been doing for weeks, who you've been doing for weeks," Andy sneered. "How do you think he'd take that, hearing who you've been screwing. Think that would hurt him?" Veronica went to slap him, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her close. "You're mine."
"I don't think so Andy," Mark said, walking into the room and pulling his hand off Veronica's arm. "If I ever see you grab my wife like that again, I'll fucking put you in a hospital. In fact, you need to leave right now and I don't want to see you talk to her again. Do you understand what I'm saying, dumb ass?"
Veronica simply stood there in shock. She had never seen Mark this angry. She knew he had heard the conversation when he walked in; it was stupid of Andy to do that in such an open place, but now she knew the cat was out of the bag and she worried how he would take it.
Andy didn't seem to care what Mark had heard and he didn't like being told he couldn't see Veronica anymore. "You can't tell me what to do. We work together asshole, so go piss off. I'll talk to her anytime I want to and there's nothing you can do about it."
With that, Mark move in and put his fist into Andy's stomach. The man doubled over, as Veronica started shouting at Mark to stop. She looked at her husband's face, she saw the hurt there, the betrayal, and she was certain her life was about to come crashing down. "Mark, please don't hurt him," she said, begging him to stop.
"Why, Viv? Why?" Mark asked. Three simple words, but not the words she wanted to hear at the moment. "It's complicated. What do you know?" She asked, her face staring at the floor.
Mark was about to answer, when he saw Andy get to his feet holding a large plant pot which he threw at Mark but missed and it crashed into Veronica's face. Mark heard her grunt as she fell, and now he had to be a Corpsman again. Luckily he had treated head injuries in Afghanistan, but this was different. This was his wife. More people suddenly came into the conference room, hearing the commotion of a moment ago and they responded quickly, calling for the casino medical team and helping Mark to stop the blood flow from his wife.
In all of this, Andy stood there, the man who had fucked his wife, tried to convince her to leave him, then had assaulted her and now he was responsible for hurting her. Andy looked down at the blood now rushing from her head. He looked at Mark, and shouted, "You..you bastard! You did this. It's your fault. If you had been a better husband..." That was all he managed to say before Mark hit him with a hard slap that shut him up immediately. The people trying to help his wife looked at each other before looking at him.
"Call an ambulance and get the cops in here. My wife is in bad shape, we need medical help," Mark said, using some napkins to cover the wounds. During this, Andy stood to the side, crying as he tried to explain. "I didn't mean to. This prick told me I couldn't see her anymore, and I love her," he said to them all, as he cried.
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Mark raised his head off his arms, noticing the time. It was almost 5am, and he looked at his wife. Part of her face was covered with small bandages and bruises, but thankfully the doctors could find no shards of porcelain in her eyes, which meant she would not lose her sight, and more importantly they had sutured two deep cuts on her face. She was unconscious, but the shift nurse told him he should go home to get some rest and that she would call him personally when she awoke.
Mark thought about it for a moment, then decided to take the nurse up on the offer. Slowly he got to his feet and kissed his wife on the lips, before turning and heading out into the dark. He got a cab to his apartment; he was too tired to drive his own car and figured he would go back in the morning to retrieve it. Once at his apartment complex, he saw a car pull in, it was a woman named Amanda who worked with his wife. She stopped on her way in when she recognized Mark, and walked quickly over to him. Mark always thought Amanda was a nice woman but didn't know why Veronica wasn't so friendly toward her.
Amanda walked up, "I heard about Veronica, and I also heard you know pretty much everything," she said, holding up her hand to stop his question. "It's a small town, word travels quick."
"Where are you coming from?" Mark asked.
"The party at Mr. Thomas' house. Veronica should have come with us there and she wouldn't be in this fix if she had."
"She did go," Mark replied. "Only you probably didn't hear that she there was another party in a different part of the house."
"Oh my God. Are you sure? I didn't see her there at all."
"I'm sure. I followed her to the house. Actually, I didn't see anything, just heard it," he stated, then explained about vent, and then how he convinced her to leave and head to the casino, and how he confronted Andy and what happened to Veronica.
"Well that ass, Andy deserves to go to jail. I know he had this thing for her, but what he did with Veronica, that wasn't right. She's your wife and he's a dirt bag."
"I know all about him. What do you know?" Mark asked, wondering how much was common knowledge.
She sighed, then looked him in the eye. "I know everything. I know about him, and a few others. I'm sorry Mark, I shouldn't be saying this."
Mark smiled. "It's okay. I found out about her sexual exploits last night."
"You found out about all of them? Damn, Mark, I'm sorry. I wanted to say something, but didn't think it would be right, since I work with her."