He’s a force to be reckoned with when things get serious, but when it comes to his kid, Patch is impossibly soft. He doesn’t show just anyone that tenderness, but Parker brings it out effortlessly.
After wishing him a happy birthday and saying our goodbyes, we finally head out again, and Elena is noticeably quieter than usual.
We roll back into traffic, merging back into the heart of the city again.
After a long moment of silence, her voice cuts through the quiet. “That was…unexpected.”
“Which part?” I ask as I pull into the mall parking lot.
“All of it,” she murmurs. “You act like some criminal mastermind one minute, then the next you’re…you’re feeding stray cats and giving gifts to small children.”
I glance at her once I put the car in park and turn the engine off again. “What, disappointed I’m not some evil character?”
“No,” she admits, sounding surprisingly sincere. “I’m just confused.”
“That’s fair.”
“You know a lot about their lives,” Elena continues, almost like she’s pulling back the curtain on me, whether I like it or not. Maybe she’s finally seeing there’s more to me than strategy and killing. “Patch and his son. Their routines. I assumed everything between you was strictly business.”
“I keep tabs on people I care about,” I tell her, finding a strange satisfaction in this moment as everything unravels for her. “Parker’s mom walked out on them when he was only two. Patch has been doing it alone, so I do what I can to help. It’s what people do.”
She studies me again. “It is. But, is it caring or monitoring?”
“Both. They’re not mutually exclusive.”
Her eyes linger on me, still in disbelief. “You don’t have to do it.”
“I know I don’t.”
“But you do it anyway.”
I nod. “I do. And that won’t change.”
That silence stretches between us, settling within the car. Though it’s thoughtful rather than tense.
Finally, Elena takes a breath, relaxing her shoulders a bit. “You aren’t what I expected.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised,” I murmur, pocketing my keys before looking at her again. “So do you still want to shop, or are you too rattled about this new revelation?”
With a huffed breath, her lips pull into a reluctant smile. “Yeah, yeah…let’s go.”
Getting out of the car now, we head for the entrance, and throughout that short journey, I catch her watching me. Looking at me differently.
She’s still cautious, of course, but there’s a sort of curiosity beneath it now. A reconsideration, even.
I don’t need her approval, but somehow, it feels like she’s starting to see me as something more than a villain in her story.
That’s dangerous too.
With an evening of something different ahead of us, I let myself savor the strangely familiar weight of her presence next to me, regardless of how reckless it might be.
I’m still a ghost in all the ways that count, but with Elena, I have someone attached to me.
She’s doing this out of no choice of her own, and yet, it’s getting increasingly harder to imagine letting her go.
Chapter 12 - Elena
I have no intentions of enjoying myself tonight. That, I’m supposed to remember.
