He jerked, his eyes tightening at the softness in my tone. “I’ve told you.”
I shook my head. “No, you haven’t.” I looked away. “You’ve threatened me. You’ve made me come in a room full of men, andyou’ve told me the method of my death. None of that—”
“You’re saying that isn’t being honest about your future?”
I glared. “I wasn’t finished. I was going to say, before you rudely interrupted, whatelseis there?”
His mouth parted in surprise. “Else? You’re asking what else there is to this debt?”
“Forget the debt. Tell me what to expect. Give me that at least, so I can prepare myself.”
He cocked his hip, trailing the whip through the rotten leaves by his feet. “Why?”
“Why?”
He nodded. “Why should I give you what you want? This isn’t a power exchange, Ms. Weaver.”
I bit my lip, wincing at the sudden hunger pains in my stomach. What did I have that he wanted? What could I hope to bribe him with or entice some feeling of protectiveness and kindness?
I have nothing.
I hung my head.
Silence existed, thick and heavy like the rolling dusk.
Amazingly, Jethro murmured, “Come down, and I’ll answer three questions.”
My head shot up. “Give me answers now, before I come down.”
He planted his boots deeper into the mulch-covered dirt. “Don’t push me, woman. You’ve already gotten more conversation out of me than my family. Don’t make me hate you for causing me to feel weak.”
“Youfeel weak?”
“Ms. fucking Weaver. Climb down here, right now.” His temper exploded, smashing through his iceberg shell, giving me a hint at the man I knew existed.
A man with blood as hot as any other.
A man with so many unresolved issues, he’d tied himself into untieable knots.
My heartbeat clamoured as Jethro’s ice fell back into place, blocking everything I just glimpsed.
I sucked in a breath. “Hypocrite.”
He seethed. “Whatdid you just say?”
“You heard me.” Standing on awkward legs, I hugged the tree. “Three questions? I want five.”
“Three.”
“Five.”
Jethro moved suddenly, stomping to the base of the tree, gripping the bottom branch. “If you make me climb up there to get you, you’ll be fucking sorry.”
“Fine!” I moved carefully, wondering how the hell I would climb down. “Call me Nila and I’ll obey.”
He growled under his breath. “Goddammit, you push me.”
Someone has to. Someone has to smash that hypocritical shell.
