“Thank you for saying that,” I tell her.
“So do you kill people?” she asks again.
“If I have no other choice, then yes,” I say, telling her the truth.
“But you don’t like it?”
Again, I tell her the truth. “No. I don’t take pleasure in killing.”
She brings her other hand to my face, brushing her thumb along my cheek. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, Van. I spend most of my days behind a screen. I’m perfectly safe, and no one in my family kills for sport, not even Sasha. The men we take down are very bad men, and they deserve everything they get from us, but, no, I don’t take any pleasure from it.”
“I’m glad you don’t.” She leans closer and kisses my nose ring again. “I like that you’d rather not kill if you’re given a choice.”
“Don’t put me on too high a pedestal,” I warn her. “Just because I don’t crave it doesn’t mean I won’t do what’s necessary, and just because I don’t take pleasure in it, doesn’t mean it keeps me up at night. There are a lot of men out there that I would happily kill if given the chance.”
Dragging my thumb along her cheek, I say, “And if anyone ever hurts you, I will kill them, and I can promise you I’ll take an obscene amount of pleasure in it. I’m not a very good man, Van, and you deserve far better.”
She turns her head just enough to kiss the pad of my thumb. “I think you’re a very good man, and I think it’s sweet that you want to protect me. I don’t think you need to worry about it, though. No one is after me.”
“You were almost drugged at a club not that long ago,” I very gently remind her, and then feel like an ass when I see guilt washacross her face. “That was not your fault, Van, not even a little bit. I’m just saying things happen, they happen all the time, and usually it’s quick and without warning. I will always worry about you, but I swear I won’t ever let anything happen to you.”
While she thinks about what I’ve said, she cuddles up against me so her head is resting on my shoulder with her face tucked up close to my neck. I will never get tired of feeling her soft breaths on my skin.
“That night at the club when Cindy took my drink by mistake and then I realized she was missing, god,” she says, letting out a shaky breath, “I’ve never been so scared. When your family showed up, I kept wishing you were there. Sasha looked completely unhinged, and I’m pretty sure he killed that waitress that was in on it. Val had me leave with him and told me everything was fine, but I saw the look in Sasha’s eyes. There’s no way he left her breathing after what she did.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I wanted to meet my niece, but I knew as soon as I got on that plane that it was a mistake. When I heard what had happened, I was so mad at myself for not being there for you.”
She rests her hand on my chest while she says, “I’m glad you got to meet your niece. I’m sure your brother was thrilled to have you there, and your family was very nice to me. They made sure I was okay and got home safely.”
Her fingers slide up to play with the collar of my hoodie, and my cock gives a healthy twitch when I feel her fingers brush along my collarbone. After a few seconds, she says, “When Sasha was interrogating that woman, he asked about Cupid. Who is that? She said he was the one supplying the drugs to the Alpha guys.”
My whole body tenses at the sound of his name and my hand grips her thigh a little tighter. “He was, yeah. I was trying to find him, but he went to ground.”
“He just disappeared?”
“He did,” and even though I keep my voice calm, she can sense my irritation.
She kisses my neck and says with complete confidence. “You’ll find him.” And then because she’s as brilliant as I’ve always known, she asks, “Did he know the pills were for me? Cindy told me about that night, about the other women who were being held at that house. They were going to sell them, right?”
I hesitate, not wanting to lie to her but also not wanting to scare the hell out of her.
“Please tell me the truth.”
I turn so I can kiss her forehead. “Yes,” I say.
She grips my shirt a little tighter, no doubt replaying a million different horrible scenarios that could have easily been her fate. I think about all the photos I’ve seen of trafficked women, feeling nauseated by the mere thought of it being Savanna’s face in those images.
“Am I still in danger?” she asks.
“I would never let anything happen to you,” I say, trying to avoid the question.
“But we’ve barely seen each other since Cindy’s wedding. I’m by myself on campus all the time.”
I give her hair a very soft tug. “That’s what you think.”
She lifts up to see me. Her brow is scrunched in confusion, and she looks so goddamn stunning that I can’t help but close the distance and kiss her. Without hesitation, she softens at the feel of my lips against hers and opens for me, letting me kiss her for as long as I want. When I pull back, her face is flushed, but she’s still determined to get some answers, so I’m not surprised when she says, “What do you mean by that? Have you been watching me?”
