“No. I want you to know.” I blew out a breath and finished the story. “Sarah got serious with this guy. When he wasn’t around her, he gambled, he drank… he cheated. I couldn’t just knock on the front door and warn her away. I mean, she didn’t even know me. One night he showed up at the house after he’d been at the bar. Sarah told him she didn’t like his drinking. He hit her.”
I clenched my fist at the memory. I could still hear the slap against her skin. I could hear her cry.
“I killed him.”
“You were protecting your sister.”
“Yes, I was. But killing him is no different from killing anyone else. Except he wasn’t a Target. One of the Reaper’s rules is to never kill anyone but a Target. I walked around for days, terrified he would find out, that he would Recall me. But he never did. He never said a word. And so I went on killing and sending the money to my family.”
“And then Sarah died.”
“She didn’t just die. She killed herself.”
Frankie sucked in a breath. “But why?”
“Because I killed her boyfriend. I heard my mother talking to one of her friend’s right after the funeral. Seems that losing me and then losing the only other man she ever loved sent her over the edge.” Why she loved that jerk was beyond me. I thought she had better taste than that. Maybe I didn’t know her as well as I thought. I was silent for a few minutes. “Because of me, my sister killed herself.”
Frankie pushed up against my chest to stare down into my eyes. “You are not responsible for what your sister did.”
There was no point in arguing what I knew to be true. “After that, I stopped caring. I figured out a way to shut down my feelings and just focus on my job. On death.”
“What about your mother?”
“I sent money every week right up until the day she died at age eighty-five.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, stroking my cheek. I liked when she touched me.
“Don’t be sorry. Everyone dies sooner or later. My mother lived longer than most.” I wasn’t about to let this conversation turn to pity. I wanted Frankie to know my story, but I didn’t want her to pity me for it. I realized my life hadn’t been easy, but it certainly could be worse.
“Come on, love,” I said, reaching down and patting the side of her ass. “We’re naked and you’re cold. Why don’t we take this conversation to the kitchen where the coffee is?”
She made no attempt to get up.
“Frankie?”
“I’m afraid the minute we step out of this ring that Olly is going to disappear. That Charming is going to come back.”
Her words caused something inside me to tighten. “A part of me is always going to be Charming. I’ve spent more time as him than I ever spent as Olly.”
“I know,” she said softly, “and I’m sure you’re going to drive me insane.” She flashed her teeth at me. “Just promise me you won’t let Olly run away from Charming.”
I laughed and got to my feet, pulling her up alongside me.
“I’ll make you a deal. You walk around naked all the time, and I’ll forget Charming ever existed.”
“Spoken like a true man,” she said with a sigh. “I need coffee. With sugar.”
I jumped out of the ring first, landing like a cat, and held open the ropes for her to step through, and then I lifted her off the platform, letting her body slide down mine. Just before her feet hit the ground, I caught her and captured her lips with mine.
She had full lips and she kissed like she did everything else, with passion and attitude.
It turned me on.
Her laugh caused me to break away and look down.
“You keep kissing me like that and we’re never gonna leave this room.”
I growled and bit her bottom lip. She returned the bite with one of her own.
