Chapter 1

"Honey, you're finally home," a woman said.

Cody Welch dragged himself inside, his legs feeling like they were made of lead, barely steady on his feet.

He had barely put the key in the lock when the door was yanked open from inside, and a sweet voice greeted him.

A rush of steamy, shower-scented air hit him as Danielle Reese threw herself into his arms.

Danielle clung to him with both arms and legs, her cheek rubbing against his neck. The soft, springy feel of her made Cody's knees go weak.

He barely managed to stay upright, pressing his back against the cold door to steady himself. He forced out a dry, hoarse laugh.

"Yeah, honey, I'm home," Cody said, his voice so faint that even he could tell how pathetic he sounded.

Danielle looked up at him, her eyes shining like searchlights, staring straight at him.

"You must be exhausted, huh? So tonight..." she said, her voice trailing off, her fingers playfully circling the edge of his shirt button. "Are we still on?"

A sudden jolt shot through Cody's scalp.

That familiar, drained feeling deep in his lower back hit him all over again.

He swallowed nervously, his Adam's apple working overtime.

'No way, I can't say no,' Cody thought.

His man card was practically blaring sirens in his head.

He sucked in a breath, scraped together whatever dignity he had left, and forced a "brave" smile onto his face. "Sure."

That single word drained the last bit of strength he had left.

Danielle whooped and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him inside.

Cody was half-dragged, half-carried into the living room, his vision swimming in and out of darkness. "Honey, wait, let me shower first."

"Oh, please. I don't care if you're sweaty, honey. Get over here," Danielle said, her voice full of excitement and impatience.

The sound of the bedroom door closing behind him felt especially heavy.

*****

The next day, Cody practically floated into the office.

He slumped into his chair, staring at the wall-to-wall code on his screen. It felt like the characters were taunting him with their little dance, right in front of his eyes.

And his back?

It wasn't a back anymore. It was a piece of rotten wood about to snap.

He massaged his aching temples, thinking, 'This is not a life for a human being. And we've only been married for two years. No way, I have to save myself.'

His eyes swept over the few unlucky souls still stuck working overtime in the office, and suddenly, a desperate idea popped into his head like a lifeline. 'Overtime. I can work overtime voluntarily.'

"Erick," he cleared his parched, aching throat and leaned halfway out of his cubicle. "That database optimization thing. It's due next week, right? Need a hand tonight?"

His tone was all about being there for a friend in need.

Erick stared at him like he was watching a monkey in a zoo. "Cody? Are you okay? You look like a ghost."

He couldn't believe that Cody, who usually sprinted out the second work was over, was actually volunteering for overtime.

'Did hell freeze over?' he wondered.

"I'm fine. Full of energy." Cody puffed out his chest, which felt like it might fall apart any second, and slapped it hard, his voice shooting up a few octaves as if he were trying to hype himself up.

"For the company, right? The project comes first," he declared.

From that day on, the nickname "Cody the Overtime Freak" spread like wildfire through the office.

Every time the clock punched out with that beep, while everyone else bolted for the door like they'd been pardoned, Cody stayed put.

He was glued to his desk, staring at the screen with a look so intense that it could've been the face of a recruitment poster.

But only Cody knew that behind that laser-focused gaze lay pure relief, as if he'd dodged a bullet.

The sound of his fingers tapping the keyboard was like the most beautiful lullaby he'd ever heard.

He greedily breathed in the office air, smoky, takeout-scented, and dusty. He felt it was a million times better than that suffocatingly sweet, deadly perfume at home.

He'd drag it out as long as he could. If he could stall until Danielle finally gave up and fell asleep, that'd be a win in Cody's book.

*****

While Cody was working overtime like a madman at the office, Danielle was at home, her delicate brows furrowed. 'Something's off. Seriously off.'

For almost two weeks now, Cody had barely made it through the door before collapsing into bed, coming home in the dead of night, so wiped out that he could hardly keep his eyes open.

Whenever she asked, it was always the same: "overtime," "urgent project," rinse and repeat.

At first, she felt bad for him, but that sympathy slowly got replaced by feeling neglected and suspicious.

"What kind of crappy company is this?" she complained.

Danielle sat cross-legged on the couch, gnawing on an apple, her sharp eyes fixed on some boring variety show, but her mind was somewhere else entirely.

"His boss is seriously heartless. Treating my husband like a workhorse. No way. I need to find out who this boss really is, daring to ruin my good times," Danielle muttered.

Once that idea took root, it grew wild and unstoppable.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got, squeezing the apple core until she nearly crushed it flat.

'No way, I have to go,' Danielle thought. 'I'm going tomorrow. I'm gonna teach his heartless boss a lesson.'