His cell phone beeped and he blindly picked it up. “Darkness here.”

“How are you?”

He growled low. “Fine.”

Fury paused. “I heard you destroyed a poor weight bag today. What did it do to you?”

“Don’t you have anything better to do with your time? I bet Ellie and your offspring would enjoy you talking to them.”

“I’m worried about you.”

“Stop.”

Fury growled back. “I can’t help it. I wish it wasn’t so but those are the facts.”

“I’m fine. I hit the damn thing too hard. End of story.”

“This female is getting to you. Do you want to assign her to someone else?”

It was tempting.

“You think you’re the only one who has ever experienced this? There are things you don’t know about me.”

He watched Kat rise from the chair and begin washing her dishes. Darkness kept his gaze on the screen but he was curious about Fury’s remark. “Like what?”

“I hated Ellie once. I believed she’d betrayed me.”

That actually amused Darkness. “That female is so in love with you that I don’t buy it. She’s also very easy to read. She’s about as dangerous as a kitten.”

“She worked at Mercile.”

“I’m aware. She was the one who provided the evidence that blew the lid off them and got us freed.”

“A technician had it out for me and came into my cell. He…” Fury cleared his throat. “He did bad things and was about to do worse.”

“They were ass**les.”

“He sexually assaulted me,” Fury snarled.

Darkness closed his eyes and leaned back. Pain stabbed at his chest. That was one indignity he’d never been subjected to. A strong sense of compassion rose in him over what Fury had suffered. “I’m sorry.”

“Ellie came in and bludgeoned him to death with her testing kit.”

That astounded Darkness and he opened his eyes. “Ellie?”

“Ellie,” Fury confirmed. “She killed him and then set it up so it appeared that I’d done it before the paralytic drugs he’d given me took effect. She’d been kind to me up to that point but as I lay there helpless, realizing what she was doing, I felt betrayed.”

“I can’t believe she’d do that. I mean, you were mistaken, right? No female is more loving than she is toward you.”

“She’d acquired evidence that day that she needed to smuggle out to save all of us. She felt sure that I wouldn’t be killed for the crime and had to blame me. They would have killed her if they’d known she’d taken the male’s life. I didn’t understand that until much later. I attacked her on sight after Homeland opened. It was the first time I’d seen her since the incident. I couldn’t let it go even after I learned the truth. She’d seen what that male had done to me. It was a matter of pride and rage. I never got the chance to make that male pay. She became a target to me.”

“I understand.” He did.

“I became obsessed to the point that I stalked and kidnapped her. I took her to my home for payback.”

Darkness flinched. “You hurt her? I can’t see you doing that. You love that female.”

“I was f**ked up,” Fury admitted. “I had her tied to my bed but I couldn’t follow through with all the horrible things I wanted to do. Luckily. I still wake up some nights in a sweat, imagining the horrible consequences if I’d allowed that rage to take control. She’s my life. I would have lost her forever.”

“I’m glad you regained control of your emotions.”

“Me too.” Fury took a few breaths. “Kathryn Decker must remind you of the female who betrayed you.”

“They look nothing alike.” He lifted the laptop off his thighs and quickly stood. “You are out of line with that comment.”

“She’s here under false pretenses for an unknown reason. You’re attracted to her but you know she’ll betray us in some way. We all expect it. It has to make you relive the past. Tell me I’m wrong without lying.”

“Fine. I have been having issues with the past but I know she’s not Galina. I did have the ability to get my revenge on her.”

“You never told me that part.”

Darkness wanted to toss the phone into the wall and smash it into a hundred pieces. “She’s dead.” He left it at that.

“You killed her?”

He clenched his teeth and spun, pacing the confines of the room. “I don’t want to discuss this.”

“I’m not judging you. We’re brothers,” Fury rasped. “You did what you had to do.”

“We share the same human DNA. That doesn’t make us brothers.”

“Does that make it easier for you if you say that?” Fury growled. “We are brothers. Not all of yours are dead. I’m still here.”

“I’m fine. Good night. I have a job to do.” He hung up and resisted smashing the phone.

It rang just seconds later. He looked down and saw the name. He used his thumb to turn off the ringer. He didn’t want to speak to Fury again. Not while he was in a bad mood. It had been a trying few days. He needed to be calm. Fury had gotten under his skin. He glanced down at the phone a minute later and saw a message had been left. He turned it on and dialed Security.