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Killing and violence. Those are the only concepts this man seems to know. Now that we’re finally talking, I understand the danger I sensed in him when we first met.
But who am I to judge him when I don’t know him or what his life must be like?
“When does the killing end?”
“Never, because darkness knows no good. Sometimes, death is the only way to keep people safe. Let’s take our present situation as a good example. Did you think I could simply talk to the man holding you at gunpoint in your garden and ask him to let you go? Or tell the men chasing us to stop because you had nothing to do with me or my life before last weekend?”
There’s only one answer to that. “No.”
“Good, it looks like we’re on the same page. Those men are hired to kill, and if they miss the mark, either they’ll pay with their lives or someone they know will. They won’t stop hunting until they hit their target. Understand better?”
“Yes… what happens after this?”
“I let you go either way, and it would be in your best interest to keep quiet. Can I have your word that you will?”
What choice do I have? “Yes. Won’t people have questions, though, about the dead? I’m sure the police would have been notified.”
“My people would have already taken care of that.”
Bile suddenly churns my stomach, and I imagine those mobster movies where they bury bodies in the desert, or they find some other way of getting rid of you.
The clash of thoughts and emotions inside me peaks when Nick sits beside me. The scent of him, and the sudden closeness, makes it a million times harder to quell my arousal.
I’m so conflicted, and whether I like it or not, I’m still attracted to him.
Even if I tried not to be, my body would betray me. It still remembers the unimaginable pleasure he gave every inch of my being.
I’m getting wet now just thinking about it. That can’t be normal. I wish I could say it was down to the situation not making me think straight, or even me just not being myself.
But it’s neither of those. It’s him, and I never expected to see him again. His presence in my world again has me twisted.
“What are you?” I hear myself say, and he returns his gaze to me.
“You know what I am.”
“But you just said you’re not a complete monster, so what are you, then?”
He smirks, and the sight of the mere smile sparks something inside me.
“I’m just a man. A bad one.” He drags in a breath. “But maybe I still have a soul.” He looks away and rests his head against the wall. “I’m sorry I brought this on you. I would have left you alone if I knew this could happen.”
The rule-following, law-abiding realist in me wishes he had left me alone, but the glimmer of the person I used to be thinks of the time we had together.
That part of me would scarily choose to do the same thing all over again, even knowing the danger and the threat this man represents.
That part of me would still choose him because if he had left me alone, I would never know him.
I would have gone to Vegas with my friends and had the girly weekend we set out for. I would have fake smiled my way through, gone shopping, eaten, and gambled, then headed back to Charlotte to slip back into the shoes of the woman who’d been cheated on.
After being with Nick, it felt like he’d breathed new life into me, which means he meant more to me than a man you forget after a one-night stand.
He must be something more if he came to protect me and called me his.
That didn’t escape me. I just haven’t entertained the thought because it’s nice, and a complete juxtaposition to the situation and us.
“I guess these things happen sometimes,” I mutter.
“They shouldn’t to women like you.”
