I twist the cap off the bottle and take a drink. The cool liquid soothes my dry throat.
“Tell me what you want me to do.”
“That’s to be determined. Until then, I want to get to know you.”
“I can’t walk around waiting for you to decide. Let’s just get this over with.”
“You know this is going to tie us together forever. There’s no reason to get in a hurry. Being in a rush results in sloppiness.”
“Is that why you made a mistake last night?”
“Who said I made a mistake? Maybe I knew you were there.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“You’re right. I didn’t. You know you haven’t asked me why.”
“Why what?”
He smirks at me, and we both know what that unspoken question is. And it’s a damn good question. Why hasn’t it crossed my mind?
“Honestly, I don’t know. What’s that say about me?”
“Do you believe in an eye for an eye?”
“In some cases, yes.”
“What if I told you that he beat and raped a woman and she wasn’t the first?”
“But you made certain she’d be the last?”
He nods.
“So you’re a vigilante?”
“If that’s what you want to call it.”
“The world is down one evil man. I can live with that.”
He smiles. “Me too.”
“I’m not going to tell anyone.”
“I know.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I know what I want from you.”
“Okay,” I hedge.
“I need a wife.”
I nearly choke on my own spit. “Like you need help finding one or…”
“I’ve got a pain in my ass in form of a cunt named Cassie. I can’t be forced to honor the agreement my father made to hers if I’m already married.”
“And a wife can’t be made to testify against her husband,” I piece together aloud.
