Cormac glares at Skyler, making it clear that he wasn't supposed to reveal the details of Cormac's crimes to me. At least not right now when I'm so fucking jumpy and distraught that I can't even eat.
"Cormac only liked to slice and dice people who deserved it," Skyler ignores his obvious attempts to keep him from talking about it. "Predators. Anyone who got kids involved. Andanyonewho tried to sell something harder than drugs."
"Like what?" Guns? People sell guns everywhere. That would be too hard to keep track of. All drug rings have some sort of weapon stock.Oh, my god."You meanpeople?"
Cormac breathes heavily out of his nose before looking at me. "Remember all that blackmail stuff you were accusing me of?"
"Of course."
"Well, as it turns out, we did that to find victims," he shrugs. "Everyone has skeletons in their closet, most of which can be ignored or held over someone's head to keep them in line."
It’s nothing I didn’t already know, but hearing them outright admit it is somehow different than all of us pretending we aren’t aware of what’s happening.
"But some crimes are unforgivable," Skyler continues. "And when those are revealed, that's when the bat man comes out."
"The bat man?" I hide my laugh with a tiny chunk of the scone.
Cormac shakes his head, his thumb drifting up and down my back again, sending little waves of soothing heat and raging desire through me.
"I hate their silly little name they've given him," Skyler waves his hand through the air as if wiping away the moniker. "But ithasgiven me a ton of new ways to make fun of him. Anyway, I'm gonna go. I just wanted to drop by to give you your things and bring my new bestie her favorite stuff."
"How could you possibly know it's my favorite?" I narrow my eyes.
His face fills with humor, his dark eyes blinkingtwice before responding, "Because while Cormac prefers his stalking in person, I like mine to remain digital."
My gaze drifts to the man beside me, wondering, not for the first time, if he's done more than just break into my house to taunt me.
The glare he's shooting at Skyler can easily be translated to him being furious that Skyler revealed something he shouldn't have, but it's not a secret that Cormac has been creeping around my apartment.
And maybe I'm lucky because of it. It only took Cormac a few minutes to get to me after I texted him last night.
Was it really just last night?
It feels like it's been forever. Like I've aged into a new person overnight. Like the woman I was yesterday died with that man.
"Do you know his name?" I ask, twiddling my thumbs to avoid eye contact with either of them. “I just can’t shake the feeling that I know him from somewhere.”
“Well you’ve probably seen him at Mingle,” Skyler shrugs. “But once I find it, I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks.”
If nothing else, I need to know whose death I'm responsible for. Maybe if he proves to be a piece of shit, I can feel slightly less horrible about it.
Skyler looks at his watch again and groans, pulling his phone from his pocket, "What?" he barks into it, walking away to have his conversation in the hallway.
Cormac takes the opportunity to turn me back to him, trapping my legs between his. "Why do you want to know who he really is?”
I blow out a breath, "I'm not sure. Even if I didn’t know him, I just think maybe I owe it to myself to find out who he was. I need proof that he was as dangerous as he seemed. I can't help but think I was being dramatic or something by shooting him."
Gently, he grips my chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing my gaze up to his. "He was going tokillyou, Brigit. If anything, I think maybe you could have been more dramatic. Youonly shot him once. Even in self defense classes, they tell you to empty the whole clip."
I crinkle my nose, "You didn't do that either."
With a grin, he leans in to whisper, "Yeah, but we both know I don't need to. Probably didn't even need the second shot since the first went right through his skull."
How could he possibly know that? He wasn't even looking. His eyes were on me the whole time.
Releasing me, he takes his coffee, keeping his body facing mine as he casually takes a sip.
