be seen or heard from again, like a ghost. A sexy, badass ghost. I’m in enough trouble as it is. No need to add heartbreak to my struggles, even if it would be nice to spend even one night in the arms of a man who is making sure I’m safe.
“I gave up on seeking the thrill to be normal,” I announce both to him and as a reminder to myself. “I swear that is not how I ended up working for Harold Cox. I didn’t know anything about his enemies. All I knew back then was that I needed the money and he was offering a lot for me to cook one meal for him. I had no clue it would blow up in my face so epically. I’ve learned my lesson once and for all. Thrills will get me killed eventually, and I don’t want to die. Actually, now I’m sort of scared of dying before I have something worth living for, you know?”
Agent Sheppard clears his throat before responding. “Ah, yeah.”
“Kind of wish I had learned self-defense or something, but that probably wouldn’t have done me any good when a gun was pointed at my head.”
“You had a gun pointed at your head?” he asks.
“Yes, and it was terrifying. This guy, I couldn’t see his face, but I could hear his voice and he was ready to do it, to pull the trigger and just kill me right then and there if not for another guy stopping him. I still have nightmares about that moment when my life hung in the balance, in someone else’s hands, literally,” I confess.
Hardly a night goes by that I don’t think about the man with the gun, making it impossible to sleep. Is that a good enough reason to try and get this man, who is just here with me trying to do his job, into my bed as a nice distraction? Of course, if his superiors found out, it could get him fired, but no one but us would ever have to know. And I wouldn’t let myself get attached knowing he would have to leave me in the morning.
Silas
* * *
Fucking hell.
Cora has nightmares? I gave her nightmares? The temperature in this hot as hell attic seems to suddenly go up a few more degrees.
I didn’t mean to scare her like that. Devlin was freaking out trying to find his girl, and I just wanted to help. We assumed everyone in Harold Cox’s house except Jetta was a threat and needed to die. Looking at Cora now, I don’t know how I could think for even a second that she was anything but innocent. The kind of beautiful innocence that makes me think of doing bad things to her.
I still remember hearing her screams, and because I’m a sick bastard, they still make me hard.
“If you want, I could teach you a little self-defense and how to use a gun,” I find myself offering for some unknown reason.
“I don’t know,” Cora replies. “Guns are pretty scary.”
“Only if you don’t know how to handle it.” Or if one is pointed at your face.
“We’ll go over a few basics before I leave,” I assure her. It’s the least I can do to make sure she’s safe. I’m leaving her alone in a new town with a new name to start her life over, and it’s the Dirty Aces fault.
“Okay, thanks,” she says. “So what else is on the agenda for today?” she asks, her front teeth biting down seductively on her bottom lip.
“Well, if this house is acceptable, I need to make arrangements with the realtor.”
“I love this house,” Cora agrees. “All it’s missing is groceries. I can’t cook without food.”
“Then, if you make a list, I guess I could go to the store and round up what you need.”
“Will you…would you like to maybe stay for dinner tonight?” she asks, nervously. “I can cook anything you want.”
“Anything I want?” I repeat, noticing it sounds more like an offer for fucking than for food. Is she hitting on me?
“By the time I cook, it’ll be late if you want to just crash here tonight?”
Holy shit, she is! This woman has no sense of self-preservation at all. It’s a miracle that she’s survived this long.
“I know I would feel safer if you stay here my first night,” Cora says.
And fuck, how am I supposed to say no to that?
“Okay, I’ll stay.” I’ll stay, but I sure as fuck won’t sleep with her.