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“She’s not ready to give me details, but I need to be prepared.”
“Fuck, River, you’re in deep, aren’t you?”
I didn’t try to fuckin’ deny that one.
“Fuck,” he wheezed before he continued with a sigh. “You have that job, man. Next week.”
A boulder formed in the middle of my chest.
It was an extraction. We’d tried the normal avenues with her, trying to get her to safety without it getting messy, but her plans to leave had been uncovered by her piece of shit husband.
Now, there’d be no avoiding themess. These jobs were the most dangerous. Ones where any number of things could go wrong. Ones where my specialskillswere often required.
“I’ll be ready,” I told him.
“Good.”
It wasn’tgood, but we did it because it was right. No matter the consequence. No matter the price. I’d become a monster if it gave someone else a better life.
My ribs clamped around my heart as I thought about the woman who was back at my place. Wondering what treacherous shores she was battering against. If it was possible I could protect her from them, all while wondering if who I really should be protecting her from was me.
Silence traveled between us before he finally said, “You know, I’ve never seen you this way before.”
It was both curious and a clear insinuation.
I shouldn’t even honor him with a response, but I was taking his bait, anyway. “Seen me like what?”
“Smitten.”
A scoff jumped right out of me. “Smitten? Believe me, brother, guys like me don’t getsmitten.”
“Well, I guess some people call it obsessed.”
Irritation blazed through my system. “I’m not fuckin’ obsessed.”
He laughed hard. “Call it what you want, man, but I saw it written all over you this afternoon. Girl’s got you.”
My chest tightened. “That’s bullshit, and you know it.”
“Is it?”
“Just leave it, man,” I warned him.
We both knew the rule.
We could fuck and play, but we could never make attachments. Could never get too close or allow anyone to really know who we were.
We had to go this life alone because we couldn’t afford to have someone relying on us. Couldn’t afford to take them down the precarious path we’d chosen.
Most of all, we could never risk being exposed.
Raven had already been my responsibility…and well, Nolan? He’d come into my life wholly unexpected, and he was the one exception I could ever make.
“Just wonderin’ if it might be time to change up the rules a bit is all,” Otto said, his musing taking on a benevolent tone.
Guilt constricted, knowing the line I’d already crossed by bringing Charleigh to my place. I scrubbed a palm over my face as I made it back into the main area of town.
“You know we can’t do that.”
