Page 43 of Ballrooms & Blackmail

And maybe also because if she’s in the kitchen then it’s easier to keep an eye on her.

She’s not sneaking off, trying to clean a bathroom or do my laundry.

Ask me how I know she might try that?

I scowl, finish the email and send it off, then go back to watching her move around my kitchen. Liking her in my space. Hell, loving her in it. But seriously, for a woman whose hobbies include reading and watching movies, she sure likes to keep busy.

So…we’ve settled on her cooking—or well, baking.

She holds up a jar like it’s evidence in a criminal investigation. “Having cinnamon next to your cereal just seems inefficient.”

“I’ve never had a problem finding anything.”

There’s a beat of silence.

Then River bursts out laughing.

The sound is so fucking beautiful that I lose my train of thought entirely.

“I imagine that’s true enough,” she says through her amusement, shaking her head and setting the cinnamon on the counter then turning back to the concoction she’s creating.

She’s laughing at my expense.

But she’s laughing.

So, I’ll take it.

Hell, I’d reorganize my kitchen a hundred times over in whatever system she wanted if it kept that smile on her face, that laughter in the air.

My phone buzzes and I glance down at the screen.

UNKNOWN NUMBER: Does your girlfriend know about your past?

And just like that…the laughter’s gone. The smiles can’t penetrate the darkness. Because my past, my fucking past is right here to remind me of what cannot be.

Clenching my jaw, I barely resist the urge to launch my phone across the room.

If—when—River finds out who I am, what I am, she won’t be laughing, won’t be smiling.

She’ll be running.

From the violence in my blood.

From the monster I am inside.

She should. She fucking should.

“Thorn?” she asks quietly. “Are you okay?”

I force my voice to remain neutral. “Yup. Just a work call I need to take.” I hitch my thumb down the hall. “Be right back.”

Her gaze lingers on mine and it’s gentle. She knows I’m bullshitting her, but she doesn’t call me on my lie. Just smiles and says, “I’ll be right here.”

That’s what I’m afraid of.

Fourteen

River