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“I don’t need it.”
“I’m being serious here.”
“And so am I.” He squints. “If you truly want me to leave, then I’ll leave. Just say the word and I’m gone, but I’m here for you, love.”
My lips twitch. Somehow, I’ve grown to like him calling me that.
“Is that all?” I ask.
He tilts his head slightly. “I’m here for me, too, I suppose.”
“What do you mean?”
“Part of me never left that box…” he says. “Just like part of you never left that car.”
I look away, willing myself not to remember, but the next breath I take reeks of black smoke and burnt hair.
“I know a thing or two about darkness,” he continues. “Light is a luxury people like us rarely ever find but I see it and I feel it when I look at you.”
A lump grows in my throat. “You’re an idiot.”
“Yeah, well, I’m your idiot,” he says. “And that’s good enough for me.”
“Archer, if you stay here… everyone that’s ever gotten close to me has—”
“Don’t do that, Lilah,” he says over me. “It’s so cliché.”
“It’s true. If you go now, you still have a chance.”
“For what?” He leans against the wall with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. “A normal life?”
“For life. Every day with me is dangerous. I wake up in the morning and I don’t know if it’s the last time I ever will.”
“Well, I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention…” he pushes off and steps toward me, “but my life up until this point has been exactly that.”
“Archer, that’s—”
“I used to wake up and wonder if I’d ever find a family. Sixteen years in the system and no one ever wanted me. Then, I’d wake up and wonder if I’d be able to eat that day, but I worked hard because that’s what I had to do to survive. For years, I’ve woken up and it’s been all about the job. I was only as good as my next bounty… until I saw you.” His eyes grow softer. “Now, I wake up and my first thought is your face, love. So, if you’re asking if I could live with waking up and wondering if it’s the last time I ever will, then my answer is yes. Waking up next to you on the day I die doesn’t sound all that bad.”
I bite my lip to try and force the tears away, but they fall down my cheeks as he cups my face.
“I understand, I do, but…” He pauses. “You can’t let what’s happened to Elijah break you.”
I step back, trying to put some distance between us but he keeps his hold on me. “Elijah was a part of me.”
“And he always will be. That will never change.”
“He took care of me,” I say, choking back a sob. “Him and Dante, but… his death is just as likely. Always has been.”
“All the more reason to let me in.” He guides my head up. “If you ask me, love, you don’t need another man to take care of you. Even without your brothers, you’re more than capable of handling yourself. What you need is a man who’ll put up with you.”
I chuckle as he quickly wipes away my tears with his thumb.
“Lilah, you’ve spent your life surrounded by rogues and killers,” he says. “You had to be just as fierce as them or else they’d walk all over you… or worse.” He shakes his head. “You don’t have to be like that with me. You can relax and smile. You can close your eyes and trust that when I lay my hands on you, it’s not to hurt you. You can submit to me knowing that I’ll put your body first.”
I shiver beneath his touch. “Archer…”
He leans in and kisses me, softly caressing my lips before pressing in hard. It shakes me to the core, lulling me even deeper into his arms. I don’t have the strength to stop it.
