“I answered your questions, I told you the truth about not planning on killing you, and I’m even willing to show you the damn list because I have trust issues myself and can understand why you need to make sure nobody put a hit on you, but what about your good faith offer to me?”
“I don’t have one. Tell me where the list is.”
“No.” She shakes her head this time.
I grit my teeth. “Max.”
“You can’t get to it without me.”
“Try me.”
“You can’t.” She’s confident now and even has her little nose stuck up in the air.
I decide to play her game. “Why not?”
“It’s in a safe deposit box that can only be accessed by me.”
A grin tilts my lips. “I can get someone to pretend to be you.”
She leans forward, making sure I’m reading her loud and clear. “It wouldn’t matter if I don’t give you the code.”
I lick my teeth, wondering how I find her so damned annoying and admire her tenacity at the same time.
“I suppose we’re at a stalemate, Winger.” She says my name flippantly, and it bothers me.
“I suppose I’ll just call back one of my men to feed and babysit you for a few weeks. Maybe you’ll change your mind when or if I remember to come back.”
Her eyes slit, concealing the vibrant blue. “Every name is on that list because they took something from me that I didn’t give. You belong right there with them.” With a look of utter disgust on her face, she stands up and willingly walks back into her room, slamming the door behind her.
“God damn it.” I punch my hands down on my thighs. I wasn’t expecting her to call my bluff or to see the truth to her words.
CHAPTER18
WINGER
Ihave two options—I can pretend to leave her here, like I said I would, or I can let her take me to the safety deposit box. I don’t even know what possessed me to demand it like I did. That’s a lie, I do know. What confuses the hell out of me is how fucking angry I got when she mentioned it. I’m not an idiot, I don’t need her to tell me why she killed those men and wants to kill the others, but she doesn’t know that.
Iron told me everything I needed to know about her past. I want the list so I can hunt the bastards down myself and kill them for fucking with her and make sure they can’t do it to any other girl.
I stop myself from banging my fist on the door and knock instead. “What?” she snaps in response.
“May I come in?”
She rips the door open but blocks the entrance with her body. “You love to remind me how you can do anything you want, so why bother asking now?”
“We need to set ground rules,” I tell her in lieu of answering her question.
“Goody, I can’t wait.” She leans against the door, rolling her eyes.
“If I take you, you need to behave.”
“Or you’ll frame me for murder.” She sounds bored. “Be real with me, do I have any hope of getting out of here?”
“I’m not going to kill you,” I insist.
“You’ll just farm the job out to one of your men or send me to prison.”
I don’t agree or disagree with her. I’m not ready to tell her that I wouldn’t do either of those things. “I’ll be with you every step of the way. There will be no unscheduled stops or bathroom breaks, and I will have my hands on you the entire time.” I tilt my head back, ready for her insults or denial, especially about the last part. I doubt she would even want to be seen with me.
