The smile dropped from her face like I'd slapped her.
She went pale. Actually pale. Like I'd insulted her family or her faith or something equally personal.
But then she recovered.
Straightened. Lifted her chin. And when she spoke again, her voice had an edge I hadn't expected.
"Flowers," she said carefully, "have the ability to lift spirits. To bring smiles. To change lives, even if it's just for a moment. They remind people that beauty exists. That care exists. That someone thought they were worth the effort."
I raised an eyebrow. "You get that from a Hallmark card?"
Her jaw tightened. "No. I got that from my momma."
Then she turned on her heel and walked away, disappearing back down the path she'd come from, sundress swishing, head high.
It was like a slap in the face.
And I knew I deserved it.
I stood there for a long moment, staring at the empty path, feeling something I hadn't felt in years.
Regret.
Not the kind that came from a mission gone wrong or a target missed. This was smaller. Sharper. More immediate.
I'd been an asshole to a woman who didn't deserve it, and now she was gone.
And for some reason, that bothered me more than it should have.
I thought about running. Getting the hell out of here and never looking back. This whole thing was stupid. Dangerous. Pathetic.
But then I thought about her smile. The way the little vein in her neck had pulsed when she talked about flowers. The way her breasts had moved when she shifted, the perfect curves under her dress that I had no business noticing but had noticed, anyway.
I slapped myself internally.
You're not a kid.
I wasn't. I was a grown man who'd killed more people than he could count, who lived in the shadows and didn't flinch when the world got ugly.
I didn't get distracted by pretty girls who talked about flowers.
Just like that, I was back to my darker self. The version that knew how to function. How to survive.
"Micah."
I turned. Silas stood a few feet away, hands in his pockets, expression unreadable.
"See anything else you'd like to look at?" he asked.
I shook my head. "I've seen enough. I’m ready to get started."
"Today?"
I almost laughed. Almost.
"Yeah," I said. "I'm ready."
Silas's mouth twitched, just slightly. "It won't quite go that fast. There's paperwork. Background checks. Briefings. That sort of thing."
