“But what I do know,” I continue, “is that I will find the network. And then I will find every person who belongs to it . . .”
Her fingers curl into my shirt. “You’ll kill them.”
“Yes.”
Her voice trembles. “Doesn’t that scare you?”
I lean back just enough to look at her.
“If I have to become a monster to protect you,” I say quietly, “then I will.”
She studies my face like she’s seeing something new. “I love you,” she says softly.
The words hit harder than any bullet could. “I love you too,” I reply, voice rough. “But this means . . .”
Her brow furrows. “What?”
“No one can know about you,” I say. “Not yet. Not until every single threat is gone.”
“No one?”
“No.”
“What about”—she swallows—“your family?”
“No. No one. I can’t keep you safe if anyone knows. They are all a liability. Someone can use them to fulfill—”
“The hit.”
He nods.
The decision is final.
Her eyes search mine. “Can you live with that?”
I don’t hesitate.
“If I have to choose between them and you,” I say, “I choose you. Every time. You’re my reason to breathe. Now . . . canyoulive with it?”
Her breath shudders. “Yes.”
“Good. Because I will scorch the earth for you,” I whisper, pressing my forehead to hers, “to make sure you’re alive. And mine.”
She pulls me down into a kiss.
We don’t speak after that.
There are no words left that matter.
Instead, I kiss her everywhere. My mouth touches and licks every inch of her body.
First down her neck, across her collarbone, down to her chest. My tongue laps at her pebbled nipple, running circles around it. Swirling over the peak, sucking it into my mouth.
Victoria grasps my hair with her hands, her body trembling beneath mine.
With a pop, I pull off her breast, and press a kiss to her other nipple before continuing to where she wants me most.
Down her navel.
