That was easy.“I see blood and death.”The red splattered across the canvas just like blood.
“Yeah, me, too.”
She turned toward him.“Maybe we are more alike than we realize.”
But he shook his head.No.And her heart seemed to sink.
“Lily Gallo,” Atlas said her name as if tasting it.Savoring it.“I will give you my secrets,” he promised.“I’ll let you slice open my skin and dig into my heart.I will let you leave me as bloody as that painting.”
“That’s…not exactly what I’m intending to do.”She wasn’t a killer intent on slicing him open.
“I’ll let you in, but you have to let me do the same with you.To you.You have to show me all of the secrets you’ve hidden so deeply.That’s what the strip show at the hospital was about, right?Us being equal?On even footing.One scar for another.”
Yes, it had been about pain for pain.Secret for secret.Scar for scar.
“I like that idea,” Atlas rumbled.“I want us to continue that way.”
She dipped her head.“Fine.”
“There will be a nondisclosure agreement you have to sign.”Casual.“It’s standard for people who are close to me.”
A nondisclosure agreement?“Uh, that goes against the whole purpose of my work.”She was trying to learn from the children of serial killers.To develop case files that could potentially help others out there.
“Yeah, well, too bad.”
Too bad?Her temper began to stir.“You could be ash right now if I hadn’t gotten us out of that cabin!”
“The way Benedict is ash?”
Savage attack.She sucked in a hard breath.She’d had nightmares about Benedict, too.In one of those hellish visions, she’d been crying over Atlas, begging him to live.Only he’d transformed into Benedict in a flash.A Benedict who burned right in front of her.She blinked quickly, aware that sudden tears had filled her eyes.
Atlas’s jaw tightened.“Stop feeling guilty,” he ordered her as his watchful stare did not leave her face.That stare hardened as he seemed to note the moisture gathering in her eyes.“You told him to get out of that cabin.Several times.You told us all to leave.I listened to you.I will always listen to you.So you should listen to me, too.Benedict Swain chose that fate.He should have gotten his damn ass out of there.For some reason, you have yourself convinced he was a good guy.In truth, he was a pain in my ass.He made it clear on numerous occasions that he thought I was as fucked up as my father.He kept pushing into my business because he wanted to takemedown.”Atlas raked a hand through his hair.“You should look a bit harder at some of his previous cases.All the facts might not align the way you expect.He might not be what you expect.”
“What are you saying?That he was dirty?That he broke the law?”
“I’m saying take a look for yourself.Don’t feel guilty because he didn’t listen to you and get the hell out of there when he had the chance.”
“Too bad,” she snapped right back at him.She blinked again, aware that one of the tears had slid down her cheek.She swiped it away.“I do feel guilty.I can’t turn that emotion on and off.It just is.”
“You can’t turn any of your emotions on and off, can you?You just feel them all the time.Do they ever threaten to rip you apart?”
His words had just pierced through her.“Can you turn off your emotions?”Something that made her very, very curious.
“What emotions?”A shrug of his broad shoulders.“I typically don’t feel much at all.Isn’t that the hallmark of a psychopath?”
She inhaled.
He raised his hand, and his fingers brushed away another teardrop.“He’s not worth your tears.”His hand pulled back.“Here are some fun facts about me that you can add to your Atlas file.Or book.Or whatever the hell you want to call it.Fact one, I lack empathy.As a general rule, I tend to be exceptionally cold-hearted.Ask anyone who has done business with me.I’m a straight-up bastard.I have no regrets in life.I don’t feel remorse.Guilt isn’t a companion I carry.”
“Four percent of the population counts as being, um, under the psychopathic umbrella.”Something she felt compelled to note.“Not all psychopaths are killers.Most actually make for great CEOs.Doctors.Lawyers.”
A soft chuckle.“Oh, it’s an umbrella, is it?Didn’t realize it was raining psychopaths.Good to know.”
“Don’t mock me, Atlas.”
He leaned toward her.His crisp scent teased her nose.“Then don’t bullshit me.You think I’m a psychopath?Call me on it.You think I’m a bastard?Call me on it.You want to know me, the real me, then you say what you think.You hold nothing back.I’m giving you my terms.We didn’t get to discuss them fully before, so we are doing it right now.Agree or we’re done.”
Well, well.“Awful moody for someone who claims not to feel very much.Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”
