Page 26 of The Triangle

“Maybe what?” My words come out hard. Accusatory, maybe.

He turns to face me once he’s in the middle of the small living room. “I’m glad you’re here. No,” he says, shaking his head. “Glad isn’t even close to what I feel about you being here. Fuckin’… fuckin’…” He holds his hands up, palms towards each other, like he wants to choke me. Because he feels something for me and he doesn’t even have a word for it. “I can’t lose you again. I can’t, Christine. I’ll fuckin’ die this time. I’m not gonna lose you again.”

“I’m offering myself to you,” I say, taking a few steps towards him. “All you gotta do is accept me.”

“Jesus,” he says, fingertips threading into his hair like his frustration has reached a new level. “Can we just take it slow?”

I smile at him. Not because I’m happy or anything. I am a little happy though. Because this all feels good. It feels right. I should be scared right now. And if I was alone and not with Danny, I would be scared. But I’m not alone. I am with him.

He smiles back at me. “I missed you,” he says. “So much.”

I nod, walking towards him. Trying to erase the space between us. Get back to where to where we need to be. Where we should be. But I go slow this time. Like he’s prey that might get away.

God, that’s a disturbing analogy.

“I want you, Christine. The way you want me. But I don’t want to give up what I just got back, do you understand that at all?”

I nod. Because I do.

“And hey, if when all this blows over you’re still interested, if when we get somewhere safe you still want this—”

“I will,” I say, feeling very sure of myself.

“—then we’ll… give it a try, OK? But business comes first.”

That stops me. “What?”

“We gotta take care of this situation. You have no idea how much shit we’re in. Both of us. And fuckin’ Alec is gonna get here soon and—”

“Alec is coming?”

He winces at my question. Because there’s excitement in it. And then the wince goes hard. “Yeah, he’s coming. But it’s not gonna play out like some family fuckin’ reunion. You’re never gonna see him again.”

“Why?”

“Because Alec van den Berg is the lying, cheating motherfucker who got you involved in all this, that’s why. He’s on his way to get what’s coming to him. And from this moment on, you’re out of this goddamned deal.”

“Wait,” I say, feeling a little irritated. Because he’s treating me like I’m a child. “I thought I was some kind of assassin.”

“You are, but—”

“And my right hand is actually a sniper rifle hidden somewhere in your bedroom.”

“Christine—”

“And I’m not ten years old anymore so—”

“Will you just fucking hear me out for once?”

“—if I want to get involved, I will.”

We stare at each other.

“I will,” I repeat.

He shrugs. “What can I say? The answer is no.”

“Who the fuck are you?”