Tav surprised me, standing right out of sight at the doorway. He narrowed his eyes to the gun in my hand before responding. “We’re in the wilderness, it would be weird if there wasn’t a gun.”
He took it from my hand, not looking the least bit surprised that I’d found it, before propping it in the corner of the hallway and kitchen.
“Do you think it’s loaded?”
Tav was already stalking away, shoulders bunched and tense.
I should give him a massage like I used to when we first started dating.
Instead, I followed him, dwarfed in his shadow as he stepped into the bright kitchen light.
“Have you ever shot a gun like that?”
He only grunted.
Evasive bastard.
Steph had been right about men like him, how hadn’t I seen it before? Secrets simmered behind the twinkle in his denim blue eyes.
“Have you?” I pressed.
“No.”
“You seem comfortable with it,” I commented casually.
Tav took an unopened bottle of vodka down from the cupboard and twisted it open. “Compared toyou.”
“Have you taken classes?”
“Classes?”His tone was demeaning, I could hear it from across the granite island.
“You know—at a gun range—with targets.”
“Sure I’ve been to a gun range with the guys a few times.”
“The guys?” This was the first time he’d mentioned hanging out with any guys. It was always work meetings, work dinners, work acquaintances.
“From work.”
“Right,” I said.“Work.”
“What are we really talking about here?” Suddenly he was in my face, his breath hot on my neck. What once turned me on now struck a chord of fear in my heart.
“Work. Guns. Lies,” I said in a jumble.
His fingers tightened around my wrist. In that moment I realized he was more powerful than me, so powerful he could snap the bones in my wrist and leave me abandoned for dead on this godforsaken mountain.“Whose lies?”
I felt every beat of his heart like it was connected to mine. My vision turned dark, my breaths shallow. I suddenly felt faint, overwhelmed with not knowing if he was my knight in shining armor or my deranged captor.
“Freya,” his thick voice grounded me in reality. “Freya, have you been taking your meds?”
I hated when he asked that.
I shook my head, heart still beating against my eardrums as Tav cradled me to his chest, more tender than he was only a moment ago. His eyes turned from chilly to warm, handling me like I was a delicate bird as he guided me across the kitchen and laid me down on the leather sectional.
“I’ll get some water.” His words were calm and measured. He knew how to handle me when paranoia stole my reality.
I gulped the water he handed to me. He watched me intently before he shook his head. “When’s the last time you took your pills?”
