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She tilted her chin up. “Look, I am grateful. I really am. You’re right. I could have died down in that ravine. But you came along. You did the whole Good Samaritan thing. But not everyone is like you.”
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Wasn’t that the truth? Along the way, she’d met better than him. And worse. He was just the asshole at the top of her list.
“There are guys out there who don’t think twice about hitting a woman. Unfortunately, I happened to meet one of those. And he did this.” That much was the truth. What she left out was that she’d gotten in a good groin kick as retaliation. “It won’t be happening again.” Yeah, she’d bet the fucker had learned some control now.
The look in his golden eyes was murderous, and a chill ran over her skin. There he was. The killer she knew he was didn’t linger too far below the surface.
She shivered as she remembered the first night she’d seen him. He’d had the darkest eyes she’d ever seen, almost black. Those vampire eyes had haunted her nightmares for years. Well, now she was about to be the stuff of his nightmares.
But he didn’t hurt you.
Again, she shoved down that voice. Never mind that he looked good enough to lick. Stupid vagina, there’s a reason you’re not consulted on these types of things.
One thing though… she’d always wondered why he’d left her alive. It would have been cleaner to kill her. After all, she’d seen him. Though she hadn’t seen his face. Why had he just left her in a closet when she was so obviously a loose end? She wasn’t supposed to be home that night, but the friend she was meant to stay with had gotten sick. Her brothers had been gone. It had been just her and her father in the study.
That’s what she needed to remember. Despite the fact that he hadn’t hurt her then, despite the fact that he’d rescued her today, Rafe DeMarco was a monster. It was hard to reconcile. At the same time, he looked capable of murder right now.
“Tell me his name,” he said quietly.
She shook her head. “No. I just want to leave that part of my life behind. I took everything I had when I left. Of course, now it’s all at the bottom of the ravine. Hell, I don’t even have any shoes.”
He frowned as he asked, “What were you planning to do?”
Diana bit her lip. She had a cover story ready. But she didn’t want to oversell it.
“I ran out and just started driving. I figured I’d lay low. Find a place to stay, get a job. I’ve been doing odd jobs and stuff since I graduated, so I’m trying to find myself anyway. Basically, I just needed to disappear for a minute.”
Rafe leveled an intense stare at her, as if he was trying to decipher the lies from the truth. “Okay. You’ll lay low here for as long as you need. In the morning we’ll head to the store and grab you the basics so you’ll at least have shoes.”
She shook her head. “No. You don’t need to do that. Besides, I can’t really go to the store without shoes. I can order stuff online. My accounts are tied to my credit cards, so at least I won’t be a burden for more than a place to stay. I’ll call my card companies in the morning and get them to send me replacements, I guess.”
This was all part of the show. This had been in the works for over a year. The fake ID she had procured came complete with a credit history and a previous rental history, just in case Rafe checked.
“I don’t mind.”
“You’ve been generous enough, just letting me stay here.” She lifted her chin. “I can take care of myself.”
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have to.” He held her gaze for a long moment, and something unexpected happened… Butterflies fluttered low in her belly.
What the hell? No. And this is why we don’t bring a vajayjay to a gunfight. Time to gird her loins.
Just because the guy was being nice now didn’t mean she could be attracted to him. This man was a killer. He had killed her father. Hell, he looked about ready to kill her fictitious boyfriend right now.
“Thank you. For everything. As soon as I have my cards and stuff, I’ll be out of your way.”
He shrugged and shoved his hands into his jeans. “Something tells me it won’t be so bad to have you around for a while.” He inclined his head toward the door. “I’m just down the hall if you need anything. The kitchen is to the left. I put out some soup on the counter. Figured you might be hungry. I’m not much of a cook, but I have a housekeeper and she leaves food for me.”
“Thank you. Again. You really don’t have to do all this.”
His lips twitched into a semblance of a smile. “Do you have to argue with me about everything?”
“Yep. It makes things more interesting.”
Rafe barked out a laugh. “Okay, fair enough. Get some rest. Everything will look better tomorrow.”
When he was gone, she sagged with relief. Holy hell. It was one thing to rehearse and research and watch him from afar. It was a whole other thing to face him. He was just a man. A good-looking assassin guy who rappelled down random ravines to save women he didn’t even know. Her problem was he came across as really sincere and decent. But she knew it was a lie. She’d have to watch herself with him. If he was this good of a liar, no doubt he was an expert at spotting liars. She’d have to be careful.
