His smile was mocking. “You’re underestimating my determination here.”
Oh, he did not. She settled down. Heat filled her chest. “I understand there’s too much focus on you right now. Whatever or whomever you’re running from might catch up. So leave. Just get out of here and leave me to do the job I vowed to do.” She could work with Malloy and the FBI. Heath could get to safety.
“I don’t care about the focus on me, and you’d better understand that right now.” He leaned down, his nose just inches from hers, his anger riding the oxygen around them. “The second I discovered the FBI was warning law enforcement about your crazy plan, I realized it had gotten too big. Too dangerous.”
“How?” she snapped. “The more cops, the better.”
“Wrong.” He shook his head. His hold was unbreakable yet somehow still gentle. “I’ve studied this asshole for months, Anya. He’s calculating and willing to mix things up. Oh, he has his ritual, but I can see him giving another big old ‘Fuck you’ to the FBI by shooting you from afar. This. Is. Too. Dangerous.”
“He’s not going to shoot me,” she said quietly, giving up on breaking free. “I understand him better than you do, and he needs his routine. I challenged him. You’re not the only one who has studied him, and I even got my hands on the reports from the other profilers. He won’t be able to turn away from the challenge—especially since I’ve always been his end goal.” A shiver chilled her spine at the thought.
“All the more reason to get you out of town,” Heath said quietly.
She shook her head. “No. I’m staying.” Her words were brave, but her chest hurt. No way could she deal with a serial killer all on her own. She could train every day for the rest of her life and not end up as practiced or as deadly as Heath already was, and she knew it. “I understand you have other cases and people after you. So leave, and I’ll handle this myself.”
“Those are big words, baby,” he said softly.
Her lip quivered, and she bit down on it. “I know. I promised her, Heath. It’s all I have left to give to her.”
He paused, understanding crossing his expression. “Ah, sweetheart. Your sister wouldn’t want that for you.” His voice turned velvety and soft. Soothing.
Anya nodded. “I know. But she was my sister. We shared blood and part of a childhood. She took me trick-or-treating when I was five, and it’s one of my best memories. Then when I needed help as an adult, she didn’t hesitate. She came to me right away, like family. She was the first person I really cared about in far too long, and it hurts like hell that I got her killed.”
He breathed out, the emotion in his eyes deepening.
She swallowed. “I have to do this for her. Either you understand that or you don’t.”
“Why don’t you just let us handle it?”
She pressed her point. “I could, but you need me. I’m the bait.” Inwardly, she winced at the description. That wouldn’t help her to convince him. “Also, here’s the deal. This could be a long op. At some point, you have to leave and deal with whatever is haunting you from your past. When you do, I’ll just challenge him again, and next time you won’t be around to assist.”
“That’s extortion,” Heath said, amusement curving his lip.
She grinned. “Apparently I’m getting quite good at it.”
Heath shook his head. “You’re putting me in an untenable position, baby.”
“No, I’m not.” She shrugged out of his hold. Finally. “I’m not yours to protect, Heath. We’re not together, and we’re not responsible for each other.” The words sliced through her even as she said them. “You’ve been more than clear on that score.”
“There’s something here, Anya. Maybe something real and lasting, if I get everything done I need to do.”
She blinked. “What’s that?”
“The less you know the better. Believe me.”
“What a bunch of bullshit. Go back to your ‘This is fake’ proclamation,” she all but yelled. “Your position is one of work . . . and this is just work.”
His chin lifted. “You think this is just work?” The tone—low and filled with tension—zinged through her body.
Her legs trembled with the urge to take a step back. “Yes.”
“Want me to prove otherwise?” His eyes darkened to the color of the sky right before midnight hit.
As a threat, as a warning, it was damn good. But she’d gone too far to give in now. “You can’t.” Yeah, she’d just waved a red flag in front of a bull.
He didn’t move a muscle. His focus on her was so absolute, she wanted to squirm. “You’re into challenging dangerous men these days, aren’t you?”
She kept her stance. “You’re not all that dangerous, Heath.”
