Remo drove like he always did, fast enough to make corners flinch and debris fly then the mountains gave way to a valley, and he eased off the gas. He brought the car to a halt where the ground slanted toward a spill of green, a light breeze combed the grass, and a river shaded the boulders below.
“Wow.” I stepped out, shoes sinking, eyes captivated. “Youbrought me here?” It came out as a shocked whisper.
He shrugged, lit a cigarette, seemed to think about it for a moment then killed it without smoking. “Found it by accident.”
“Yeah right.” I laughed. “You don’t find places like this by accident.”
Instead of arguing, he rounded the car to the rear, opened the trunk, retrieved something and walked to the back door.
“You came prepared,” I grinned, tipping my chin at the blanket tucked under his arm.
“I keep one in the car,” he muttered, visibly annoyed.
I figured the idea of an actual date irked him and that tickled me pink. “For dates?” I bit my lip to hold back the laughter bubbling in my throat.
“For dead bodies,” he snapped and I burst out laughing. Shaking his head, he grabbed a picnic basket from the back seat and walked away.
Wiping the tears from my eyes, I followed him until he came to a stop closer to the river. “Wow.”
Slowly, I rotated, my eyes enthralled by a paradise you’d witness in dreams. White rocks cocooned the water forming a natural jacuzzi and sunlight peeking through overhanging willows created the perfect lighting, not too dark and not too bright. Silence, broken only by the soft gurgle of the clear waterflowing over the rocks, was soothing to the ear. Each of my senses experienced some dramatic shift that didn’t belong in our reality.
I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply. After yesterday, this was exactly what I needed. The fact that Remo knew a place like this existed left me speechless.
“Come here.”
I didn’t turn, just inhaled, letting the untarnished air fill my lungs. “It’s breathtaking.”
“Yeah, it’s my hideout. The one place I can disappear and not think about the shitty world I live in.” The quiet words pulled my gaze.
“How did you find this place?”
“I don’t think you want to hear that.” He set the picnic basket down.
“Tell me,” I pushed, eager to learn something about him.
He spread the blanket and while I helped, he talked. “My men chased a man into the surrounding woodlands after he escaped their watch. He stole from us and thought he could vanish into the mountains. I followed at a more leisurely pace intent on killing the fucker here.” I grimaced and he chuckled. “Told you, you wouldn’t want to hear the how.”
I rolled my eyes, unstrapped off my sandals and took a seat. “Go on.”
Removing his shoes, he untucked his shirt from his pants, sat down next to me and leaning back on his elbows, he glanced around. For the first time since I’d met him, I witnessed a serene expression like no other. Clearly, these surroundings turned him into a man.
He looked at me. “Fog rolled in so thick I couldn’t see my hands, forcing me to take a seat on that boulder. He tipped his chin at a large rock hanging over the water. “I sat down for abeat, letting the silence kill the noise in my head and the buzz in my shoulders.”
I imagined him then, alone, breath ragged, violence still humming under his skin, finding his salvation in this place. “What happened to the man?”
He shrugged. “Killed him,” he answered like it was the most natural thing to do.
“And here I thought you brought me here to be romantic,” I blurted.
Eyes on me, he slowly straightened. “You think this is romantic?”
Silently kicking myself, I sidetracked. “I think you don’t do anything without a reason. Was there no other outcome?”
Unperturbed, he withdrew a pack of cigarettes from his pants pocket, slid one out and studied it for a second. “In my world, trust is a commodity, little fox. Hesitation gets noticed, weakness gets tested. And once that starts, it doesn’t stop, not until it dehumanizes you, makes you a–”
“A monster?”
He chuckled, slid the cigarette between his lips and turning his body to lie on the blanket, he surprisingly, rested his head in my lap. The action drew a smile from me which he questioned with a raised brow.
