Page 20 of Run

David pushed away from the sink and pulled off his sweater. It was black. Like his jeans. His shoes. His life. A life lived in darkness. A life spent hiding in shadows, hiding his identity, being invisible. There were days when he wondered if there was anything of substance left of him.

He barely registered the sting of the antiseptic; his mind was so deeply entrenched in his thoughts of Elle. She was everything David wasn’t. Color to his black void. Light to his darkness. She was bright, full of life, bubbling over with joy. Even now, when her world was crashing down around her and the people she loved were in danger, she still couldn’t help spreading sunshine. It was in her teasing jokes and witty sarcasm, her self-deprecating comments, and the way she cared for those around her. What could a man like him offer someone like her? A bitter laugh escaped him at the thought.

With no family, no friends, and no government willing to accept his service, he was as far from a catch as a man could get. His enemies were legion, his sins a stain that tainted anything he touched. He was a man whose past had been erased and whose future was uncertain.

A man who got his own wife killed.

Damn. He hadn’t let himself think about Celeste in years. Nineteen years old and married to the first woman who’d loved him. The firstperson. Even now, he still wasn’t certain he’d felt the same way about Celeste as she had about him. All he remembered was that he’d found something he’d never had before, and he’d wanted to keep hold of it.

Then, the government had recruited him.

Work had followed him home.

And Celeste had paid the price.

No, he’d never put someone he cared about in danger ever again. He’d never watch them die. All he could offer any woman was his ability to act as a weapon in her defense. After all, he was a blunt instrument, one his government had pointed at the enemy—until his handlers had turned their backs on him. Washed their hands and left him alone to deal with the price on his head.

David stared at his scarred hands. They’d been drenched in blood for most of his life. A stream of it from the bodies he’d left in his wake. Hell, today alone, he’d killed five men. There was no getting around the fact he was a monster. In any other line of work, he’d be labeled a serial killer and locked away indefinitely.

And yet, he’d let his blood-stained hands touch Elle. Let his lying lips kiss hers. Twice. He’d given in to temptation twice and craved her ever since. His eyes closed with the heaviness of it all. He never should have kissed her. Never should have teased her. He blamed his lapse in judgment on the shock he’d felt when she treated him as a playmate rather than a killer. An enemy. A target.

Had he ever had a playmate? Not that he could remember. There’d been no carefree laughter in his childhood. No fun of any kind. Even Celeste had been careful around him, as though he were broken. Then Elle had appeared, all wild blue hair and teasing smile. With sparkling eyes filled with mischief, she’d challenged him to play with her.

And he’d been weak, given in to temptation.

It couldn’t go on.

If losing Celeste had nearly killed him, losing Elle would destroy him completely.

Taking a deep breath, David tugged on his sweater again and faced himself in the mirror.

“You do the job, then you leave,” he ordered. “And this time, you never come back.”

If he’d had a heart, the words would have broken it. Instead, he felt resolved. It was time to stop playing and do the job; before he left—forever.

With a steadying breath, he opened the bathroom door and strode down the hall to the living room. Elle sat on the sofa beside Megan, a chocolate bar in her hand. Her eyes shot straight to him, and the look in them felt like a battering ram against the walls he’d just built. But David was ready for it, and this time, he didn’t go to her side. He didn’t call her Ellie or Blue, didn’t even smile. He simply nodded before turning away.

“Callum’s on his way in,” Joe said from the window.

The front door opened, then slammed shut, and Callum strode into the room. His gaze went straight to Elle.

“Good. You’re alive,” he said. “Thanks for letting me know. I just spent hours of my life stuck in a room, answering daft questions from people who clearly had an agenda but weren’t willing to share what it was exactly. And then, as they’re about to free me, they tell me that Elle’s disappeared, and there are three dead bodies in the garage.” His frown shifted to David. “Your work, I assume.”

David inclined his head but said nothing. It seemed Callum was on a roll and didn’t need his input.

When David didn’t provide an explanation, Elle jumped to his defense. “A cop handed me over to three of Tommy’s guys. He was saving me.”

“He could have bloody well done it without the body count!” Callum roared.

The Scotsman was indeed on a roll. David hadn’t spent a massive amount of time with Callum, but he knew enough to realize that in situations like this, it was best to stay quiet and let him get it out of his system. Obviously, Elle hadn’t gotten that memo. Or she liked to live dangerously. Probably the latter.

“We’re in this up to our necks,” Callum ranted. “We don’t need some hotshot coming in and making things worse.” He glared at David. “You’re only here because I trust Lake, and he says you’ve got information we need. If you’re going to help us with this shit show, then you will follow orders like everybody else on this team; am I clear?” Apparently, he didn’t require a reply, as he kept on going. “That means no more random assassinations. No more covert bullshit. No more secret crap, full stop. Am I clear?” It seemed Callum had run out of steam.

“I can be part of a team when I have to,” David said evenly.

“Aye, and that’s a half-arsed answer if ever I heard one.” Callum stalked over to the coffee pot on the table and poured himself a mug. “Spit it out then. What’s this information you have for us?”

The rapt attention of everyone in the room didn’t faze David. This, he could easily talk about. It was his area of expertise. “There are several factions after Elle. Her family. The Russian Mob, who thinks she has information that will help them steal her family’s operation out from under them. Countless government agencies who want to use her to take down the James Syndicate. A couple of terrorist groups who believe she stole information on them when she ran from her family. There might be more, but those are the ones I know for sure. I checked with my sources on the way here.”