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Without hesitation, he lifted his pant leg, revealing the leather knife sheath strapped to the outside of his calf. With practiced ease, he linked his finger in the loop, turned it to the side, and flicked the curved blade out and open.
“This is all I need,” he stated, his voice steady as he stepped away from her.
He gripped the deadly steel and moved it in arcs in front of him. “I’ve learned to rely on my own skills. No mistakes, no collateral damage.”
Nita’s complexion paled, a mix of fear and unease etched across her features.
“That looks pretty deadly,” she said, leaning closer when he held the knife out for her to look at.
“It’s a Karambit. It’s a tactical knife meant to slash and kill. I can talk my way out of most situations, but if it gets to deadly force, nobody expects someone to come at them with their hands down. But that’s how I get this knife close enough to slice their Achilles or knick their femoral artery,” he explained, his voice cold.
“Jesus, you’re serious,” she said, her pupils narrowing to pinpoint.
“I’m always serious,” he agreed.
“It looks deadly, but the blade looks strangely beautiful,” she said, and pointed to the engraving he’d etched in it.
“I forged the blade myself,” he said proudly.
“You did?”
“It’s a hobby of mine. I have a home forge and a shit ton of knives, if I’m being honest,” he said with a laugh.
She smiled, but he didn’t miss her shiver.
“Does that scare you?” he asked.
“The engraving reminds me of the knife in the kill kit Becca found,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
He closed and re-sheathed his knife. His gaze locked with hers.
“The knife in the kit was engraved?” he asked.
“Yeah. Pretty intricately, although with the blood on it—” her voice trailed off, and she shivered again.
“I’d like to look at it sometime. Do the owners still have it?”
“Montgomery is having it tested. I’m not sure what will happen to it after that. Why do you want to look at it?”
“Engraving a knife is a personal thing. It could be a clue who the owner is,” he replied.
“Unless it was stolen,” she said with a shrug. “Anyway, whoever used it to kill that cat didn’t do it by mistake. I can’t imagine using a knife to hurt anything, cat or human. It’s so… up close and personal.”
“It is,” he agreed, thinking of the countless times he’d used it. If he was honest with himself, he was lucky he hadanyvisitation rights with Blaze. He had a dark past. But the irony was it wasn’t anything to do with his knives that fucked him over with the law.
“What do you want to know now?” Nita asked in an upbeat tone as she shook herself. “We could go over the details of the engagement, although they’ll probably change another twenty times before the event.”
“I think I want to go back to my hotel, checkout, and move in here. You should do the same,” he said, giving the place one more look.
He walked over to the galley kitchen, opened the fridge, and noticed two bottles of water, but nothing else.
“Probably get some food, too,” he added.
Nita was quiet, so he glanced over and saw she stared at him with narrowed eyes and crossed arms.
“Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to do anything domestic,” he murmured. “I’ll pick up some food on my way back.”
Her chin lifted and he swore he heard her mutter, “Hmph,” before she swiveled and strode to the elevator. She punched the button and went back to folding her arms, her back rigid.
