Page 67 of Power of Shadow

“I’m sorry about today. It all got out of hand. Never in my life—I would let none of my brothers hurt Zoe. I swear to you.”

Ash blinks, and she’s trying hard to keep her composure. “Then why did you do it?”

“Because you love danger. Because you get wet when you see a knife. You’re just like me! I’m sure you’re not being completely honest with yourself about what turns you on. At least not about the fact that danger turns you on sexually. Ash, you’re not broken. You’re perfect. You’re perfect for me. And I want you to be proud and confident.”

Her parted lips tell me this isn’t the answer she expected. I give her a moment to let it sink in. Finally, she says, “Don’t ever do that again. I take it very personally. Any threat to Zoe is my own.”

I nod to show that I understand her.

You idiot! I scold myself in my mind. You think exactly the same thing about Aisling.

I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.

“So why did you bring me here?” She snaps me out of my thoughts.

My hand drops from her chin, against my wishes

I shrug.

Back at her house, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her yet. We could have talked in her bedroom—but I preferred to bring her here. To have her all to myself.

My obsession and greed are exceeding the limits I know.

“I want to talk about Charles Baker.”

“What about him?” she asks, rolling her eyes.

“We should join forces to find him. There’s no point in getting in each other’s way and fighting each other.”

Ash unbuckles her seatbelt and turns. “You want us to work together?”

“Sure. Why not?”

My gaze lingers on her lips, and I find myself unable to look away. They look so soft, tempting... Instinctively, I lick my lips, and her attention focuses on that motion. She holds her breath.

I love that this woman is as affected by me as I am by her.

“Your job is to kill him,” she guesses after a moment. “As far as I can tell, there’s a conflict of interest between us because we’re both trying to get to him first. How are we supposed to handle that when we find him?”

Thirty-one years of life have taught me that telling the truth often leads straight to the grave. My grave.

Telling Ash the truth, even though I don’t really know much about her, is risky. Not only for me, but also for my brothers. And for her as well.

Just because we’re attracted to each other doesn’t mean she’s with me.

Before I finish my thought, I ask her, “Does it matter which one of us slits his throat? Does it matter which one of us delivers the final blow?”

“And each of us gets our fee?” she asks.

“Why not?” I reply with a shrug.

“So you’ll help me find him and let me take the initiative and finish him. Am I right?”

I can see her distrust, and I’m not surprised. Despite the tension between us, we’re still two ruthless murderers, liars, and manipulators.

“If you let me watch, don’t see any problem with that.”

I don’t want to lie to her, but I can’t tell her the whole truth either. Later, I’ll worry about the fact that I have no intention of killing Charles. The key point is that he must be alive when I deliver him to the red room.