He nodded, his gaze still intent, still burning deep, as if he were trying to make her see past his words, and make her believe. Believe what was the question. And one she wasn't sure she should ask. Not yet. Not until they'd cleared the air.
"Thirteen people had already died. In the end, duty had to take precedence over my own desires.” He hesitated. “I never meant to hurt you—not emotionally, and not psychically—and I'm sorry if I did."
Something inside her melted. “So why didn't you just ask?"
A car beeped behind them, and she glanced ahead to see the red light had changed to green. She drove on.
"Because of Nelle,” he said. “And your relationship with her."
"Nelle was my friend."
"Your friend probably gave you away last night at the club."
She shook her head. “It doesn't make any sense. If Nelle was in town, she'd contact me."
"Not if she thinks you were partially responsible for Rosehall's downfall."
She shot another glance his way. “Nelle is not behind the murders."
"Which murders are we talking about? Rosehall's or these?"
"Both. Besides, she hated the taste of blood."
"And you know this because she told you?"
She hesitated. “No. I witnessed it. She cut herself once and wouldn't suck the wound to clean it. Said it was unclean."
"Unclean?"
She shrugged. “That's what she said. Of course, there was a fair bit of dirt in the wound."
He was silent for a moment. “So why did you warn her about the task force raid later that night?"
"Why do you think I warned her?"
He snorted softly. “You were the only other person besides me who knew about that raid. Why else would she have run?"
"If you were so afraid of my relationship with Nelle, why tell me in the first place?"
He hesitated. “Because I didn't want you caught in the net. I owed you that, if nothing else."
Something inside her did a little happy dance. He'd gone against all the rules to let her walk away. That one action spoke far louder than words. If only she'd had the sense to realize it at the time, her life might have turned out a whole lot differently.
"Why did you warn Nelle?” he repeated softly
She took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Nelle came into my room not long after you'd left.” She hesitated, her thoughts drifting back. “I was packing to leave, and I was so hurt, so angry. She asked me what was wrong and I told her. It just all came pouring out."
"So you both decided to leave?"
"I left. I wasn't really sure at the time what Nelle planned to do. She did say she had things to finish."
He flashed her a frown. “What things? She was just another of Jontee's women, wasn't she?"
She shook her head. “She never slept with him. She was more a mother figure, and she handled the day-to-day running of the place. Jontee was never in the real world long enough to manage that."
"And yet you were quite happy sharing a dance with this fruit loop?” he asked, voice edgy.
She looked at him. Though his expression was flat, his navy eyes seemed to burn with a deep down fire.