Page 28
Silence.
Then he clears his throat. “Yes, I know she needs someone.”
Everything stops. My heart. My lungs. The fight drains out of me.
“You know?”
“I’ve arranged for a nurse. Discreet. Top-tier, with round-the-clock care.”
The air leaves me. “You…didn’t tell me.”
“I didn’t need to.”
This close, I can see silver flecks in his dark eyes. His chest rises and falls against mine…steady, controlled. Mine is chaos.
This man, this enforcer, is a walking contradiction.
He could’ve used that information to break me, but he didn’t.
My hands flatten against his chest to shove him away. Instead, I feel his strong, quick heartbeat. Not the calm control he wears on his face.
“Why would you do that?” My voice comes out small.
His hand slides from my waist to cup my jaw, his thumb grazing my cheekbone. “Because you would’ve done anything to protect her. And I didn’t want you to have to.”
That messes me up more than threats ever could. I need to push back before I start seeing him as something other than a monster. “How did you convince her? The nurse.” My fingers curl into fists. “I don’t want my mother cared for by someone who’s scared or being forced. I couldn’t live with that.”
One corner of his mouth lifts mockingly. “She’s not afraid.”
“That’s hard to believe.” I tilt my head. “People don’t usually volunteer to report daily to a man like you unless they’re being leaned on.”
He exhales through his nose, amused. “You think I only know how to threaten?”
“I think,” I say lightly, meeting his gaze, “that ransom and fear make for careless caretakers.”
He closes the gap. Not enough to touch, but enough that I feel his presence. “I have other ways.”
“What other ways?”
His eyes flick to my mouth. Just for a second. Long enough that my pulse stutters. “You want me to show you?”
“Oh?” The teasing tone slips out before I can stop myself, and my throat dries up. “That sounds dangerous.”
“It can be,” he agrees. “Strength,” his voice drops lower, “isn’t just violence. It’s also knowing when not to strike, Sophia.”
I nod my head, my mind racing erratically.
Is he thinking of kissing me?
He clears his throat and backs away, snapping the moment like a twig as he composes himself again. “Your mother’s safe. That’s what matters.”
Then he gives me some space, and I’m no longer pinned against the stone wall. “We can take this walk again tomorrow. I’ll come pick you up at the same time.”
After that, we return to my basement quarters, and he ushers me inside with a hand at the small of my back that feels almost protective until the lock clicks shut behind me…and shatters the illusion of normalcy.
On my cot, the room still feels warm, almost charged from his presence. I curl my arms around my chest and hold myself together. I should be plotting, planning my escape, mapping exits and weaknesses, but instead, I’m thinking about how his body felt up against mine in that warehouse. How his eyes didn’t judge when I told him about my mother, how his hands didn’t hurt me even when he had every reason and opportunity.
I don’t know what I’m more afraid of…that I might fall for a man like him, a killer who should repulse me, or that he already has a piece of me I’ll never get back, one I gave without meaning to and can’t reclaim.
