I’ve kept my desire to kill under wraps, not wanting to drag anyone into my shit for fear that they’d tell the police what I’d done if I broke up with them or if they were so inclined. But I killedforRemi. I don’t think he’d sell me out.
Remi is the perfect man—equal parts tough, sweet and malleable—but I don’t want to bend him to be my partner in crime. I don’t want to take away that innocent spark he has. I want to bend him to my pleasure.
A soft grin on his face, he says, “No. I don’t think I want to. The only person who’s been a dick to me is outside that door, over a cliff.”
“Over a cliff?”
He shakes his head. “Nevermind. He’s gone and there’s no one else I want dead.” A heavy, pregnant pause fills the air before he says, “Trevor was never a good person. He was… I kinda liked it at first. That assholeishness. I like it when people are a little mean, I think.” I tick up an eyebrow. “I thought it was a cute personality quirk, that it’d stop escalating once we were together.”
“It didn’t,” I fill in.
“It got worse,” he murmurs, his head hanging. He plucks at the threads of the blanket absentmindedly as he says, “Every time I let it happen, it got worse. Then I ended up here, on a fucking platter for his friends. If I’d been strong enough, I wouldn’t have given him the chance to bring me here, and you wouldn’t have had to kill him.”
“Don’t feel bad,” I tell him. “I liked having five victims in one place. Cuts down on the rising gas prices.”
Remi looks at me for a few beats, then breaks into loud laughter. I join him, inching closer and pulling his legs down flat. I lay my head in his lap, looking up at his happy face.
He threads his fingers through my hair almost absently, like we’ve been doing this forever. “I bet it did. I guess I’m glad to be of service?”
Anger fills me as I think about why he’s here. “Glad I could kill them for you. You deserve better than that, Remi.”
“Hmm.” His tone says he doesn’t think so, but before I can convince him otherwise, he says, “I’m glad you killed them, though. Trevor wouldn’t have changed. It wouldn’t have made a difference. And if they’d… done what they wanted, I don’t think they would have stopped until I was nothing. His friends were always so shitty to me, eyeing me like I was a piece of meat, and Trevor liked it. I thought he was showing me off at first, but… I should have known it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. It makes me feel better that they’re… gone.” Remi looks down at me, conflicted feelings crossing his gaze. “Does that make me a bad person?” he whispers, tears now brimming his eyes.
Reaching up, I swipe away the droplet that falls from his lashes. “No, Hummingbird. It makes you a survivor, and it makes them assholes.” I pause for a moment, then add, “Dead assholes now.”
He gives me a watery smile before he bends to kiss me gently.
When he pulls back, I ask, “What’s your favorite book?”
Remi starts, his face the picture of surprise. “You… want to know more about me?”
“Everything, Hummingbird.”
His smile is brilliant, warming my cold heart. Yeah, I’m definitely keeping him around.
“I… oh.” He bites his lip like I asked him to solve world hunger instead of a simple question. Finally, he answers. “I read this romance book recently calledAnywhere But Down.”
“Why?”
He blushes. “It’s about two men who meet, and it’s like an instant connection. Only it turns out one of them is supposed to kill the other.” Remi’s expression goes faraway. “But they’re soulmates, so it doesn’t matter what was supposed to happen.”
I hum. “I’ll have to pick it up.”
A blush blooms across his cheeks. “You don’t have to. It’s just a silly book.”
“I know,” I say. “But I want to. I like to read too.”
“Yeah? What’s your favorite book?” The way he’s looking at me, with fucking heart eyes, sends off a strange sensation in my belly. I’m not sure what it is, so I push it down.
“It’s calledLove in the Time of Death.It’s about?—”
“Oh my God!” he exclaims, his face bright. “I love that book. What’s your favorite part?” Before I can answer, he says, “Mine is when the male love interest finds his girlfriend at the bar, and she’s kicking the shit out of the woman who got him fired. That’s a ride or die right there. Or what about when…”
Remi goes on to describe every part of the book, and I watch him with a smile on my face.
Not only can I talk murder with Remi, but I can talk books too? I wonder if he likes women of pop and R & B. If he does, Remi will be fucking perfect.
I’ll ask him later. Right now, I’m enjoying listening to Remi tell me all his favorite things about my favorite book.
