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Very quietly she asked, “So you’re an assassin?”
“Not anymore. After I was recruited into ORUS, I started out low level but quickly worked my way up. Most of the hits I was on were sanctioned by the government. I only had problems twice. Once, there was this girl who wasn’t supposed to be in the house. When I took out my target, I found her there.”
She swallowed hard. “Rafe, what did you do?”
“I knew what the FBI protocol was: call it in, have her taken from her home. Away from any family who might be able to look after her. Have her questioned. After losing her father, I didn’t think that was the best course of action for her. And then, of course, my ORUS orders would’ve been to take her out.” He shuddered. “I was a killer, but I wasn’t going to hurt that little girl. She was an innocent. It was her father who was the dregs of society. So I put her in a closet and made a point to put the fear of God into her. It was the only way to keep her safe. If she ever mentioned she’d seen me there, both my organizations would’ve taken action. And I didn’t want anything to happen to her.”
Next to him, she shook. “You did that to save her?”
He nodded. “I may be going to hell for the things I’ve done, but I’m not taking anyone el
se with me. I’m not a complete monster.”
Diana closed her eyes, looking pained. “I’m sure she didn’t understand at the time, but if she had known, she would’ve loved you for what you did.”
“I’m not so sure about that.”
“What about the other case?”
“That’s the one that got me killed.”
She frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“It wasn’t a sanctioned hit. The leader of ORUS was going after someone who was actually an undercover FBI agent. I tried to deter him, but it didn’t work. He sent Noah to do the job.”
“Noah? Your brother-in-law? But he runs a security firm.”
Rafe smiled ruefully. “He didn’t always run a security firm. He was ORUS once. I was his mentor in the organization. I taught him everything. He was like a brother to me. But that day, they sent him to do a job they didn’t intend for him to come back from. They intended him to die there. But I was able to stop him from executing the hit. And instead, I died.”
“How?”
“I was wearing a special type of ultrathin Kevlar. So when he shot me, he thought he’d killed me. But I managed to live through it.”
“Noah killed you?”
“He didn’t mean to. It’s a long story. But that day, Rafael DeMarco died. The feds had to clean up after everything went down, so I was given a new name and identity and sent to work overseas. But I had no life. No family. No friends other than people I worked with. It’s been only recently that I came back into Noah and Lucia’s lives. We brought the leader of ORUS to justice. The organization is still around but with a new leader and back in the fold of the government.”
“My head is spinning. This is so much. Why did you tell me all this?”
“I know you have things that you don’t want to tell me. Things that you’re scared of telling me. Things you think will make me walk away from you. And I want you to know, that after everything I’ve done, the lies I’ve told, the people I’ve hurt, killed, there is nothing that can make me walk away from you. I love you. It’s as simple as that.”
“I want to tell you. I do. I’m so scared.”
“I still have my FBI contacts. I can help you.”
She looked stricken, like she might be ill. Her skin went a chalky white. Was she afraid of law enforcement? He needed to do something.
“Okay look. We don’t have to do anything right this second. All I need you to do is promise me you’re not going to run. Whatever happens, you and I deal with it together. And you tell me in your own time.”
“Why are you being so good to me?” She searched his eyes, and he smiled.
“Because I love you. You touch me in a way no one else has. And I’m not going to let you go.”
Rafe decided that they were past the talking stage. Diana wouldn’t understand how serious he was about her until she had time to witness it. There was no greater proof than the past.
He’d seen the look on her face when she found out he’d been law enforcement. It was a look only seen on the faces of people who have been in trouble. Rafe knew what it was like to be afraid of police and other authority figures. Although he had to admit that it was shocking to think of Diana as the type of person who would be a criminal. She kept telling him that she’d done bad things, but he wasn’t sure he could believe it. What kind of bad things could she have done before this? If anything, she had been forced to do things for others. He’d seen it before, criminal groups that used innocents to do their dirty work. But no matter what she’d done or what she’d been forced to do, Rafe didn’t care. They were kindred spirits.
Once they’d been together for a while and she had assurance that he wasn’t going to ditch her when it was convenient, she’d trust him.
