That was as close to confirmation as I would receive from him. “So, you did.”
He continued his hard stare, facing the consequences of his actions head on—like a man. And even though I was shocked and irritated by this turn of events, I was deeply attracted to his integrity. If he’d said no, I would have believed him without a second thought. But he chose not to lie, chose the hard path instead of the easy one.
“Why?”
“Because no one should work for free.”
“Well, I’m not qualified to do anything besides free work right now.”
“You would be if your life hadn’t been savagely taken from you—and that’s not fair.”
“It’s also not fair to the other person in the office who deserved that promotion?—”
“If you don’t want the job, then don’t take it. Don’t come at me like I’m an asshole for helping you.” He didn’t raise his voice, but he could shake the room with his tone and presence. “Let me give you a life lesson. Those who get ahead don’t get there because they play the game by the rules and patiently wait their turn. They know people, they hustle to know people, they’re connected, and they cut in front of people to seize what they want. That’s my advice.”
“Is that how you got to where you are?”
His stare deepened and turned thunderous as storm clouds. “Absolutely.”
He’d told me his profession, but I knew nothing about what he really did. Didn’t know what he did at night while I slept soundly in my bed. How many people he killed or how he killed them. “I appreciate you helping me get the job. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. I just wanted to know if you interfered.”
“I did interfere,” he said harshly. “Are you going to take it?”
“Yes.”
A hint of surprise moved in his gaze.
“I don’t deserve it, but I’d like to have a steady paycheck for the first time in eight years. And I’d love to do something elsebesides waiting on assholes and working late hours and walking home in the cold. I’m not upset that you worked your magic. I just wanted to know if you did, and I’m not mad at you for doing so. Thank you for telling me the truth.” In that moment, I could tell he was incapable of lying, and not just because he said that was the case. He didn’t have charm or diplomacy. What you saw was what you got with Luca Fournier. And I loved that.
The silence passed, slowly becoming less tense as the minutes ticked by.
“Have you been in a long-term relationship before?” he asked.
“Yes, kinda. But also, not really.” I grabbed the bottle of wine on the table and refilled my glass.
“Elaborate.” He sat there with his fingers around his glass, relaxed in the chair now that the tension had dissipated.
“A couple years ago, I was seeing this guy for a couple months. It was moving fast and he wanted forever, but I couldn’t give that to him, so I walked.”
He was one hell of a listener, studied the movements of my lips when I spoke. “Why couldn’t you give that to him?”
“It was only a matter of time before the Oath found me and came for me again. And he’d be another body to add to the list.”
“So, you didn’t want the relationship to end?”
“Technically, no. But what choice did I have?”
“You never told him?”
I shook my head. “He either wouldn’t have believed me or would have felt paranoid for the rest of his life.”
“Did you love him?”
“No,” I said honestly.
He didn’t challenge me, but I saw a slight change in his eyes like he wanted to.
“I knew we would never have a future, so I didn’t fall the way he did. My heart was never open. My walls were never down. We argued about that a lot. When he left, he assumed I was some coldhearted bitch.”
