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“I don’t want you to leave, Keira,” he told her bluntly. “I know that I’m unusual. I know that my moral code isn’t like others. You intrigue me. I wanted to know you better. I’m used to taking what I want. I’ve just never done that with a person before. I was no better than the asshole we were sent to find.”
“That’s not true,” she said fiercely. “You’re not like him.”
He sent her a look of disbelief. “How can you defend me? After keeping you locked up for weeks?”
“You were protecting me from Bartolli. Not many people would keep me safe from a crime lord. You knew if I went back to Reyes, Bartolli would likely find a way to get to me, kill me. And you were protecting me from Reyes as well. He’s not a good man.”
“I think that you’re mistaken about Reyes and he would’ve protected you. And Kent wouldn’t have allowed you to be hurt by Bartolli.”
“I don’t even know Kent and after the way I treated Eden, I don’t think he’d feel very generous towards me. And you don’t know what Carl told me about Reyes and the other guys.”
“What Carl told you,” he said pointedly.
She frowned. “He lied to me?”
“I’ve never seen evidence that Reyes is abusive toward women. From what I have heard, he has a soft spot for women. He’s protective of them.”
“That would make more sense,” she whispered. “God, I can’t believe I was stupid enough to believe Carl. What an idiot. I should have told Reyes what Carl’s plans were. That he had cameras rigged in his office to get the combination for the safe. Why do I always make the wrong choices? I wish someone else would just do that for me. I can’t be trusted.”
He wished he could help her. Ease the burden. But after he told her, she’d leave. He knew she would.
Fuck.
He didn’t want her to leave.
So don’t tell her.
But he also didn’t want her to resent him . . . to hate him. Which she might do anyway.
Was it better for her to hate him now rather than later?
“Zander, you’re not like that man you were just sent to track. I know you wanted to keep me safe from Bartolli.”
“Yes, only, Bartolli is dead.”
She felt herself growing faint.
Stumbling back, she sat. “What?”
“Bartolli is dead,” Zander told her. He was watching her closely.
“When? How?” What did this mean?
It means that you can leave. There’s no danger to you anymore.
Or to Angie.
Her sister.
“He was murdered. I don’t know the details. Kent only told me that he was killed.”
“It just happened?”
He stared straight at her, and she knew that she wasn’t going to like what he said next.
“No.”
“No? Zander . . . when?”
