He nodded, his gaze still piercing. “I have more than I used to.”
She needed some sort of plan. Getting into his head was like dancing around land mines. But she just needed to distract him long enough for her to make a break for it. The deadbolt on the door wasn’t engaged. Where was that knife? “Loretta’s death made me so sad. Have you been sad lately?” she prodded, her breath almost burning her throat and lungs.
His face darkened. “Yes. I lost my father.”
“I’m so sorry,” she burst out. “Is that when you started, ah, playing a game with me?”
He took another sip of wine. “I’ve done more than play a game. I arranged all of this.” He paused. “Well, I hadn’t thought you would sleep with Heath. You’ll have to pay for that.”
She shivered. Fear pricked along her back. “You, ah, know Heath?”
“Yes. Your boyfriend and his brothers are part of my job.” Daniel took a healthy drink of the wine, and color burst across his chiseled features. “I guess I should say your ex-boyfriend now.”
Anya tried to interpret his words. “I don’t understand.”
Daniel set down his glass. “You’re not dating him now. That makes him your ex, and me your future. Or do you disagree?” His chin lowered, and his voice flattened out.
She sucked in air. Warning tickled through her. She couldn’t promise something she didn’t mean, because he was smart enough to read her, without question. Yet she really didn’t want to disagree with him yet. “I would only date one man at a time, Daniel. I’ve never played the field. It’s just not me.” God, she hoped that appeased him. She added some strength into her voice. “It hurts my feelings that you’d think otherwise.”
He blinked slowly. “Don’t try to play with my head.”
“I won’t,” she said, trying to put them on a level field. “It’s not fair for you to play with mine, either.”
His lip twitched. “Your sister was smart, too.”
Oh God.
She needed to turn his focus. “I don’t understand how Heath and his brothers are part of your job.” Her hand shook around her fork, so she set it on the plate and reached for the wine. “You said you were looking for Heath when you came to my apartment and tried to kidnap me.”
“Yes.” He cut into his steak again with a small steak knife. “I was hurt. You didn’t recognize me.”
“You were wearing a disguise of sorts.” She’d had no idea she was meeting a serial killer in that moment.
“True.”
“Was the other soldier with you that day part of your job? The other fake marshal?” None of this was making sense.
“Yes,” Daniel said.
“I don’t get it. You work alone with your, ah, hobby with redheads.” God, that sounded so wrong. “Why did you try to kidnap me with that other marshal. Wait a minute. Do you have a partner?” She looked frantically toward the door.
“No.” Daniel chuckled. “I partially told you the truth. We were bugging your phone because of your connection to Heath, and it made sense to approach you after that phone call. The other soldier was with me.”
She swallowed. “But you tried to kidnap me.”
He lifted a shoulder. “I know. At first, I just wanted to be in the same room with you. Touch you somehow. Know that I’d killed your sister and you had no clue. Hence the disguise.”
Bile lurched up into her throat, and she forced it back down. That was so sick. “That’s mean.”
“No. It’s part of the game. Then I just couldn’t help trying to take you.” He sighed. “This has worked out better.”
Man, he was crazy. “How are both Heath and I involved in your work and love life?” She had to play along to get answers. “That can’t be a coincidence,” she said softly, trying to keep her voice from shaking like her hands. The wineglass was heavy enough that she had to concentrate to lift it to her face.
“Per my orders, I found Heath and his brothers right about the same time I started the game with you, but I didn’t want to bring them in yet. I would’ve lost some freedom if I’d succeeded so quickly. So I suggested to one of the families of my redheaded dates that they hire the Lost Bastards to find their daughter, to keep Heath close and on the case, where I could watch him and his brothers.” He grinned. “She was already dead at that point, and I was just maneuvering pieces into place like in chess.”
Anya gagged.
“Are you all right?” he asked, his gaze on the sloshing wine in her glass.
