“Several,” I grunt.
“Then this is my chance,” she says fiercely. “You look surprised.”
“You called me a good man before,” I say. “I thought?—”
“I want him dead,” she snaps. “For what he did, our parents. For what he did to Mira. And I want to help.”
I take a step back, shaking my head. What I want to do is very different…
Pull her into my arms, kiss her hard, let my hands roam all over her body. I thought she was going to hate me, but that look in her golden eyes is different. Hunger almost. Curiosity. A sprinkle of danger and sin.
“I told you because I’m sick of lying. And I don’t want to lie to you when Conti suddenly leaves you alone. Not so that you could help.”
“He wantsme, Rhett,” she says. “He’s stalkingme. Tell me there’s a better way to draw him out. Clearly, the little asshole is clever. He always has been. Annoyingly.”
“I’m not using you as bait,” I snarl.
She folds her arms, glaring. “The boyfriend-and-girlfriend game is ten times more effective now. You get that, right? If Lucian sees us going on a date together, he’ll have to follow. We can lure him somewhere and…” She swallows.
I step closer, sink my hands into her hips, and pull her flush against me. “It’s not an easy thing, taking a life,” I tell her. “You shouldn’t be so eager to do it.”
She places both hands against my chest, holding on steady. “You shared this part of you with me, Rhett. You didn’t have to do that. And now you’re going to be mad at me for showing you the same thing in me?”
I lean down, brush my lips along hers. She makes a soft murmur of pleasure, but pulls away slightly.
“I don’t want you to have to do it,” I say. “I can do this for you.”
“He’s doneenough,” she hisses. “To me. To my sister. To my parents. To other people too, God knows how many. I deservethis. We were going to trap some idiot trespassers, but now we cankillthe piece of shit who killed my parents.”
She grips my chest, digging her nails in. The bite mark she left stings, though she’s not touching the same place. A brutal, beautiful reminder of what this woman is capable of.
Is there a future for us?
Or am I just your weapon?
The questions bubble up inside me, but I force them down.
“If we do this, you might be in harm’s way. It’s easier if I handle?—”
“Are you Lucian Conti?” she hisses, digging her nails in deeper. “Well, are you?”
“Sunshine…”
“Heis the one who thinks he has the right to tell me where to go, what to do, who to be. That right was precious to him, he took… he took everything to claim it. That’s not you, Rhett.”
I grind my teeth. For a sick second, I want it to be me. To be capable of locking her in a room somewhere, keeping her away from all this ugliness. But her fire has woken one in me too. She’s right. I know this hunger. It was hercasethat finally triggered it in me.
“No,” I growl. “It’s not.”
“You can control everything, but not me. I’m a person. Do you agree with that?”
“Elle.”
“I’m not trying to talk down to you,” she says.
“Yes, I agree. Goddamn it.”
“Then…” She steps back, folds her arms. “We need to make a plan.”
