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He coughed a laugh, and it took me a second to realize what I'd said. And despite myself, I laughed in the tub with my captor. The man who had thrown me in a dark place and left me there.
But with the simple act of looking after me truly, it was like the terrified girl could finally rest if even for a moment. And maybe just maybe I could forgive him.
"Well, I guess you know all about shrinkage."
He chuckled and said, "To some degree."
"Ah, so you're a grower?" I said with a smirk.
Daphne, you twit. Why the hell would you say that? Why would you reference his dick at all? This whole time you've been trying to avoid thinking about him like that, and you just brought up his dick.
I closed my eyes, hoping he didn't notice. When I cracked one eye open, he was grinning at me. "Oh, for fuck's sake, can we just forget that I said that?"
"Nope. Absolutely not."
When he was done with the mask, he pulled out a plastic shower cap and put it on my head. "It says to leave it on for a few minutes."
The stab of disappointment that he was done so soon surprised me. I liked the intimacy. "Right. Honestly, you've done enough. I can just try and rinse from here."
"No, we've already covered this. I broke it, so to speak, and I will fix it."
The joke was on the tip of my tongue. "Now look at that, a kidnapper with a code." Jokes were easier to hide pain with. Instead, I went with sincerity. “Thank you. No one’s ever done my hair for me since gran got too old to deal with it.”
"I like it. Your hair is so soft. And I could play with your curls for hours. Also, I know you don't think so, but I do have a code of conduct."
I narrowed my gaze at him. "Clearly, it doesn't exclude kidnapping."
"I know. I'm an arsehole. But I need you, and you need me."
I had nothing. I didn’t know what he wanted from me. "Why do you need me?"
He rinsed his hands at the sink and then sat down on the counter while we waited for the conditioning mask to do its work. "Massimo is someone from my past."
That one statement told me I needed more information. If he’d gone so far as to kidnap me, I wanted it all. I turned to face him. "Who are you, really?"
We sat in silence for a long breath, and at first I thought he wouldn't answer me. But when he started talking, my heartbeat started to tick up. And for the first time since I jumped out the window, I could breathe.
"My real name is Drake Webster. Up until a few months ago, I was a deep-cover operative for MI5. I was undercover with an organization called the Syndicate. Massimo Igno is the son of a man who used to work with the Syndicate. Massimo's father has been arrested. Up until then, no one knew I was a deep-cover operative. But I was burned. Almost killed in the field. I had to watch someone else that they'd taken die because someone revealed my identity. No one in my organization would have done it.”
He paused, his voice going flat and his eyes narrowing as he shook his head.
“Antonio Igno is the only person who knew I wasn't who I said I was. I believe he told his son."
I shivered in the warm water. I’d known he was dangerous, deadly even. I’d even called him an assassin. But I’d never imagined this.
“You almost died?” The idea that there was a possibility that he and I might never have met made me feel oddly hollow.
When he met my gaze, his eyes were grave. “I was ambushed, captured and tortured. Came to chained and hanging upside down. There was a woman they were holding as well. Turned out she was the daughter of a Syndicate member. I helped her escape, but they killed her in front of me before we could be rescued.” He shook his head. “She was a kid. I chose this life she didn’t. I got her killed.”
“No, you didn’t. You tried to save her.” I might not know anything about him. But I could sense that much.
“I should have known better. Something.” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing up down.
“You’re going after them now?”
His eyes turned hard. “They stole my life. And that girl’s life. They have it coming.”
“I’m so sorry.”
