“I know.”
“It hurts.”
“I know.”
“Does it hurt you?” she asked.
“Not anymore.”
“You don’t feel it?”
“I’ve been killing for a lot longer than you’ve been training. I had my first kill at seventeen. It wasn’t a planned kill, but I was at the casino when it was attacked. Three guys tried to get to my father, and I used a guard’s knife to slaughter them. Killing never gets easy. It’s always hard. You shouldn’t have had to kill Bruce.”
“He killed my brother, and he was the one who arranged for Tamsin to be taken.”
“We’ll make an example out of him.”
“I want to go to sleep,” she said.
“Okay.” He was about to leave when her next words surprised him.
“Will you hold me?” she asked. “I don’t want to be alone, and I’d really like your arms wrapped around me.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Wrapping his arms around her, Oliver held her close as she fell asleep. He was going to be there for the rest of their lives, but he understood what she had to do.
Chapter Twelve
Everything always looks better after a good night’s sleep. For Ruby, nothing was better, just right. She had gotten the man responsible for killing her brother, and Lewis came by the Dentons’ house the next day to prove it as well. Bruce had been working for the Coltons for a long time, ever since he was a young boy, working for the great-grandfather, working up the ranks until he was giving the assignment to become one of them. His real name wasn’t even Bruce. It was Howard. There was so much they didn’t know about him, and Ruby was pleased no one else had gotten hurt.
She had killed someone, but she had stopped him from killing anyone else. There was no going back from taking a life, and even after a week since it happened, the memory never faded.
“What do you think of their proposal?” Ruby asked.
Lewis was staring out of her family’s study window. She had brought her best friend to the place where it all went wrong for her, and her life.
“They want me to set up division of security, and find fellow science nerds that would be willing to work for them.”
“It was my idea. I hope you’re not angry.”
“I’m not angry with you, sweetie. I could never be angry with you. I love you, you know.”
“Oh.”
“No, not like that,” he said, chuckling. “You’re like the sister I ne
ver had. It’s probably really selfish of me, but I’m pleased I got to know you, even if it meant your brother dying.”
“Thank you.” She moved toward him, wrapping her arms around him. “If you’re loyal to the Dentons, they’ll be loyal to you. I know they’ll protect you as well.”
“I’m going to take the offer. Hacking into government databases gets boring after a while.”
She chuckled. “Don’t get caught. I only think their forgiveness goes so far.” She winked.
He laughed. “So, you and Oliver?”
Biting her lip, she couldn’t help the heat that filled her cheeks. “We’re a thing. You know, I have a thing now.” For the past week they had been like every other couple. She no longer slept in a separate room. Her place was in his bed, by his side, and her virginity was long gone. “I know it’s probably too soon to say this but … I love him.”
“Why is it too soon?”