“I can’t say here, too many people.” Then, glancing back at me over his shoulder, he asks, “Do you have any idea what I do for a living?”
Hesitantly, I say, “I have a few guesses.”
“Are any of them something you can’t live with?”
I glance at the people we’re moving past. He’s taller, so he has longer legs and is moving much faster, but I’m jogging to keep up.
I’m not positive what he’s getting at, but I sure have an idea. Everything Paul and my mother have implied about him circles my mind, but even with the evidence, it’s a hard thing to believe.
But it doesn’t matter.
“No,” I tell him.
“Are you sure?” he asks, still moving.
We’ve made it to an exit so he pushes open the door and we hustle out to the parking lot.
“We’re outside now, can’t you just tell me?” I say, since I’d prefer we speak plainly.
He yanks me up against him and my breath catches, my hands moving to his hard, muscled chest. My eyes melt with desire at the exact moment he states, “I’m a contract killer. I kill people for money. Good people, bad people, doesn’t make a difference. I’m supposed to kill you. I’m not going to. This is my car.”
He lets go of me and I stumble, my jaw slack as he opens the passenger door and heads around to the driver’s side, sparing me a glance once he gets there.
I haven’t moved. A lot to process in the space of a few seconds. I force my feet into motion, heart hammering, and fall into the passenger seat, yanking the door shut. I feel vaguely sick, but I don’t want him to see it and think… I’m not even sure.
He stabs the key into the ignition and fires up the engine. “Still want to go with me?” he asks one more time.
“Yes,” I say softly, though not without trepidation.
We’re on the road for a few minutes before I find my words. He’s preoccupied anyway, checking mirrors and changing lanes.
Greg will have made it back to the store by now. If he isn’t already, Pietro will be looking for me.
The first question I ask isn’t the one I was expecting to fall out of my mouth after such an admission.
“Where are you taking me?”
He glances over at me and looks a little unsure. “I have a cabin a couple hours away. It’s remote so it’ll be a good place for you to lay low.”
“Are you staying there with me?”
He’s quiet for a full minute. Finally he shakes his head no. “I can’t. I’ll come check on you as much as I can, but… I have some things to take care of first.”
I nod, thinking of what he said earlier. I don’t know what to ask. I don’t know what I’m allowed to ask.
“Who hired you to kill me?”
Liam sighs. It’s drawn out and tired, and I almost feel bad for asking, but then I don’t, because… well, it seems like the kind of thing I should know.
“It wasn’t specifically to kill you. I can’t give you all
the details right now. I don’t want you to worry about it.”
But I want to know. I really want to know. I want to know what job he is going to finish up, because if one of his ‘jobs’ was killing me, it’s not too hard to guess what that other one might entail.
“Who are you going to kill?” I ask quietly.
His gaze moves to mine wordlessly, and I can see the skepticism on his face. Normally he hides his thoughts, his feelings, so I’m not sure if it’s intentional or not, but I have a feeling it’s important either way.