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“You probably shouldn’t get to kill people either,” he says so quietly, I know I’m the only one who can hear him, “and expect a homicide detective to high-five you over breakfast and sex.”
“You don’t get to declare love,” I counter angrily, “then so easily discard me because we have a difference of opinion.”
“It’s not a difference of fucking opinion!” He releases me with an almost throw, so my head whips around, and I jostle back a step. “That was not a difference of opinion, Minka! It’s so much more than that, and you fucking know it.”
And still, he doesn’t label that particular opinion for Aubree and the rest of my building to hear.
“I warned you.” I stand my ground and flatten my lips. But the emotion in my eyes, the tears that make them dance, remain uncontrollable. “I told you from the moment we met that we were not compatible. I told you we would not work out. And still, you pushed it. You insisted on my compliance, and now you’re calling yourself a victim because you don’t like that things I warned you about have come true.”
“What things?” Aubree remains on the couch, watching and listening to every single word we speak. “What are the things you disagree about?”
“Go away, Aubree.” Archer looks straight over my head and pins her with a look. “Take your drink and let yourself out.”
“I was here first!” She spins on the couch and plops down so she becomes hidden on the other side. “You can’t kick me out when we have food and smut TV lined up for the night.”
“Wanna fuckin’ bet?” He charges past me so his jacket whips my arm and his aftershave fills my lungs, then with long strides and enough bottled-up rage to last him a lifetime, he circles the couch and picks Aubree up with a single arm.
He snatches her drink and throws her bodily over his shoulder, then storming back toward the door, he forces me to step aside or risk a kick to my face. Moving into the hall and placing her on her feet, he blocks the entrance to my apartment and points toward the stairs. “Go away.”
“Archer!” she snarls. “My shoes are still inside.”
“Go next door and ask for Tim’s shoes. You know he’ll give them to you.”
“Tim can kiss my ass and fuck his mother for all I care. I was here first, with plans to spend time with my friend. You can’t kick me out like this!”
“Yeah.” He backs up and bumps me when he moves too fast. Placing his hand on the door and his body in my way so I don’t even see my friend anymore, he snarls, “I can. And I will. And even though you’re really mad at me right now, someday, you’ll forgive me.”
Throwing the door closed, he slams it shut so hard that it rattles in the frame and the glasses in my cabinet vibrate. Then turning to me with eyes blazing with rage, he stalks forward, reminding me of the panther I once considered him.
Deadly, but in control.
Lethal, but graceful.
“Who the fuck is David May?”
“I thought we were arguing about the thing I did.” I lift my chin and toss back the rest of my alcohol to combat the hollow feeling in my stomach. “Are you only interested in owning me because another man wants a taste?”
“Who is David May?” Grabbing my arm, though he’s careful not to squeeze, he tugs me across the apartment and pushes me down to sit on the couch. He doesn’t join me. He doesn’t stop his pacing or calm down enough to face me. “I need you to tell me who the fuck David May is.”
“Why? So that if I tell you he means something to me, you can throw a tantrum, but if I tell you he’s nothing and your ego has been soothed, you can go back to pretending I don’t exist?”
“I’m not trying to ignore you!” He reaches up and shoves a frustrated hand into his hair. “I’m backing up so my anger doesn’t hurt you! I’m taking space so my words don’t cause damage to what we have.”
“What we have?” I choke out a laugh that surprises us both. “What we have?”
I push up to stand and slam my empty glass to the coffee table. “We have nothing, Archer! Because we are not compatible, and you’re unwilling to hold true to your word or listen to anyone other than your own over-inflated ego. I said we won’t work, you insisted we try. I told you I didn’t want a boyfriend, because I was busy and my life was complicated, but still, you wouldn’t leave me alone!”
I charge forward and don’t stop until my toes are just inches from his. “I spoke to you a dozen times about my thoughts on vigilante justice, and you refused to consider anyone’s opinion but your own. You swore nothing on the outside would hurt us, because your love was enough to conquer all andblah blahfrickin’blah! Then I tell you the truth about me—I wasn’t caught out, I wasn’t sneaking or lying,I told you!—and you bail. So what the hell is that, Archer? What the hell do we have but a pushy guy who can’t take no for an answer, and a woman who refuses to be surrounded by more victims if she can help it?”
“You don’t get to take the law into your hands,” he spits out. “You don’t get to make those decisions.”
“No?” I take a step back and snatch up my glass from the table. “Seems I already do. And will continue to. And there isn’t shit you’re gonna do about it… unless you wanna put me in prison.”
Spinning and making my way to the kitchen, I reach for my bottle of tequila and pour another drink. “You’re not gonna turn me in, Archer, because deep down, beneath your bullshit self-righteousness, is the truth that you’ve done the same. For an innocent, you’ve done the same. And if you drop me in a cage, you’re gonna have to confess to your crimes, too.”
“Blackmail?” He stalks into the kitchen, his hips moving and his chest rippling beneath the tight shirt he wears under an unbuttoned coat. “I turn you in, you flip on me?”
I snort. “No. I’m not a spineless weasel… unlike others I’ve met in Copeland. But if you want to arrest me, you have to admit to yourself that you’re the same. And if you leave me to my freedom, then we both know you agree with what I do. Not your ego, and not the oath you swore to your badge.” I twist the cap onto the bottle and go to the fridge for juice. “But your heart and soul do. The fabric of who you are knows what I did to Dowel was justified. I killed a killer, Archer. What I did to him and the others was the right thing to do.”
