“You—” she gasps for breath, glancing down at the blood covering me with wide, frantic eyes. “You—youslaughteredhim. Just…” Her eyes dart around like she’s trying to figure out what to say. “Just like you did to Greg and Marcus.”
I sink to my knees before her, feeling the wet earth seep into my pants as I tug her hands to my chest, ignoring the way the splinter digs deeper into my skin. “Do you see what I’d do for you? You drive me crazy—I’mfucking crazy. For you. Only you. Tell me you get that.Tell me you get that?”
She shakes her head slowly.
No, no, no, no. She can’t look away from me. She has toseeme,seethat there isn’t a line I wouldn’t cross for her.
“I did this for us, Bella. Foryou.” I try to pull her down with me, but she refuses to move. Refuses to pull her attention away from the corpses. “Look at me.”
“How many?” she shudders out. “When will people stop dying around us?”
“No one else was meant to die.”That you needed to know about.“I don’t know how they got here or why they were here. You have to believe me. This wasn’t part of the plan. I didn’t tell anyone about this place.”
She tries to snatch her hands away, but I don’t let her. “What is the plan then, Mickey?”
“To stay here.” Just until we figure out what we want to do. The place needs a lot of work, and I didn’t have time to fix everything before I got here.
“And then what?” she snaps.
“We’ll figure it out.” Leave, go somewhere new, get a fresh start.
She looks at me blankly, fear gone from her eyes. “We’ll figure it out,” she echoes. Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath. “So you’re telling me that you planned to do up a house, break into my house, torture and kill Marcus and Greg, then tie me upandkidnap me, butnot what to do afterward?”
I can’t help it, I grin. Those were all greatly executed things she listed. “Well, I didn’tplanon tying you up. That was just an added bonus.”
Wrong thing to say.
That wasdefinitelythe wrong thing to say.
I’m pretty sure there’s steam coming out of her ears. She’s so cute when she’s angry. Her face goes red, and she does this little scrunch with her nose, always cocking her hips, all sassy. The best part? Her attention is completely on me.Score.
“An added bonus,” she says slowly, wrapping her tongue around each syllable like she’s making sure she says it right. “An added bonus?” There’s a flare with how she says the words. And now, cue the fireworks. “An added bonus?You—”
“Baby, you’re so good at repeating things.”
At this rate, she might shoot me. I could blame my stupidity on the combination of post-coital bliss, blue balls, and bloodlust. I said she’s cute when she’s angry, right? Because shit, even the way her eyes light up is adorable. Bella’s like a mad little puppy that, though she can be mad all she likes, she’s stuck with me.
For the second time, she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, muttering to herself, “No, nope. I’m not going to go there.”
I nip her finger, and she snaps her eyelids open. “Let’s go there, baby.”
“No, Mickey, we will not be going there. So, pray tell, what did you see as the exit plan if and when someone came knocking on the door, and you had to kill them.” She’s practically vibrating with barely restrained anger. It’s kinda hot, but I don’t like the tone she uses. It reminds me of a teacher telling a kid off.
Rising onto my feet, I attempt to wrap her arms around my neck, but she refuses to comply. So instead, she stands there, stiff as a board, while I hold her waist.Butshe doesn’t lean back when I close the distance, so there’s only an inch between our faces.
“I guess we’re going to Mexico, baby.”
Her jaw drops, completely floored by my response, and suddenly, she’s all wiggle-and-fight-Mickey again, slapping my arms and shrugging out of my grasp.
Fine, I’ll let her have this little victory.
I let go, and she goes flying back, crossing her arms with a crazed expression. “My mother almostdiedtrying to get out of that country, and you want us to go therevoluntarily.”
I squint at her, considering her point. “You’re right. Well, I hope you like maple, mooses, and mountains then. Canada, here we come.”
“Moose,” she corrects. “The plural of moose is moose.”
“You’re so sexy when you get all nerdy on me.” I wink.
