“Hands on me like how? Why?” Her shoulders round as she shrinks into herself. I bet she’s not even aware of it.
“Because—”
“You said so,” she says, making the wrong assumption.
“Not what I was going to say, but that works too.”
“What were you going to say?”
“Stop interrupting me, and next time, you’ll know.”
“Are you like, a crime boss or something? A baby don?”
“I’m someone who’s not used to being questioned. I’m making a lot of exceptions for you.”
“Why?” She tilts her face up, looking deceptively sweet and naïve. I wish I didn’t notice how beautiful she is.
“You ask too many questions.”
“I’m not around people often. Itwasof my own choosing, I don’t really like people, but lately there’s thisguywho seems to think he’s running my life.”
“He must be a real asshole, making sure you didn’t die, feeding you, and ensuring your safety.”
“I can do all those things myself,” she retorts.
“Then how did the guy in the parking lot get the drop on you? He could have killed you.” Anger seeps into my tone just from thinking about what could have happened.
“That’s your fault. You distracted me,” she accuses, insulted by my insinuation.
“You should have killed him the moment you had the chance.”
“I was trying to get him to tell me who hired him,” she snaps.
“So you knew someone was after you and still let him get to you?”
“I didn’t, not until he told me he would get paid either way—wait a minute. How do you know?” She takes a step back as if she thinks I had something to do with the hit.
“I got info off his phone.”
“Who marked me?” She leans in, hyperaware.
“No way to trace it back, they used a texting app.”
“Damn,” she hisses.
“You don’t have any idea who it could be?”
“I have a list of people it could be.” She looks off to the left as she thinks. When her attention returns to me, she says, “Let’s go get that list.”
“I expect you to follow the rules, Max.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be a good little girl,” she sneers.
“I don’t want you to be a good little girl. You’re a grown fucking woman. I want you to be smart and recognize you’re in danger, and not to do anything stupid that puts yourself at risk.”
Her eyes grow wider with each of my words until she’s gaping at me for a long second. Right before she speaks, her eyes narrow. “Why do you care about what happens to me?”
“Nobody fucks with what’s mine.”
