Page 76 of Vicious Temptation

This isn’t how tonight was supposed to go. I followed her to the tattoo shop because getting closer to Remi is exactly what Elena expects of me, and sitting in her home while she willingly tells me about herself should feel like progress.

But it doesn’t.

The woman trying to steal a slice of pizza from my hand no longer feels like an assignment, and every minute I spend with her makes it harder to remember that I’m supposed to treat her as one.

“If I take it back, can I finish my pizza in peace?”

She pauses, as if realizing how far she’s intruded into my space. “Fine.” She eases back onto her side of the couch. “But you have one more chance to prove yourself. Diss my lollipop, and it’s over.”

“Noted.”

She casts me one last glance before we settle into a comfortable silence and finish our dinner. I watch her when she doesn’t think I’m looking, catching her humming along to a song I don’t recognize.

“So how are you liking Philly?”

I hear the question, but I’m too distracted by the movement of her lips to answer in time.

“Braga? You awake?”

“Yeah.” I drag my attention back to her eyes. “I mean, it’s great. I’m settled and getting my way around.”

She lifts an eyebrow but doesn’t look my way, suddenly fascinated by the rim of her glass of water.

“You’ve been going out, meeting people? Desiree shoot your other arm yet?”

“Really?” I laugh and sit up straighter. “What are you actually asking me?”

Remi sets her glass on the side table, then turns to me. “You think I don’t know what I mean?”

“I think you know exactly what you mean. Maybe I just want to hear you say it.”

She’s the one laughing now. “If you think it’s anything but morbid curiosity, you’re delusional.”

“And yet, I still haven’t heard you ask the question.”

She rolls her eyes. “Fine. Have you been seeing anyone since you moved here?”

“There it is.”

“Don’t make me regret asking.”

I grin. “No. I haven’t.”

Her expression barely changes, but there’s a hint of satisfaction she doesn’t hide quickly enough, and I file it away for later.

“And you? Are you seeing anyone?”

She shakes her head, smiling at first, but it fades a moment later as something heavier takes its place.

“Was there someone?”

Remi looks away. She draws one knee to her chest, wraps an arm around it, and rests her chin on top. I’ve only seen her like this once before, at the cemetery, when grief had stripped away so much of the woman she usually shows the world. Only this time, I don’t know if she’s mourning a person or what they had together.

“There was. He was…special.”

“Did you love him?”

She twists to face me. “He was murdered in front of me four years ago.”