“No.” I picked up my fork. “Just ashamed to be seen with you.”
He grinned before he took another bite. “I used your toothbrush this morning.”
“You what?” I blurted.
“Yep.” He drank his coffee then set it down.
“Gross.”
“I eat your pussy then kiss you and you’re fine with that, but sharing a toothbrush is drawing the line?” He spoke at his normal voice level, so everyone could overhear if they were paying attention.
“Shut up.”
He grinned wider. “If it bothers you that much, pick me up a toothbrush.”
“I’m not welcoming you into my home.”
“Just your bed?”
My eyes narrowed.
He took another bite, still wearing that arrogant grin. “Let’s stop pretending this isn’t consensual. You went out last night, hit a few bars, and went home alone. A woman like you doesn’t go home alone unless she wants to be alone.”
“You’re drawing stupid conclusions.”
“Or I’m being completely logical. You could have taken home any guy you wanted, but you didn’t. You went home and missed me.”
“What makes you think I didn’t take anyone home?” I countered. “Maybe he already left.”
Bones chuckled. “If the guy already left, then that would explain why you were so happy to see me…”
I almost chucked my fork at his head. “Fuck you. You aren’t the king of the world.”
“Just the king of your—”
“Stop it.”
He heeded my warning, still grinning, and then went back to eating. “Alright, baby. You get so sexy when you’re mad, it’s hard for me to play nice.”
I bit into my toast even though I’d lost my appetite. “My brother keeps an eye on me. You better hope he doesn’t see us.”
“Wouldn’t care if he did. Actually, that would be delightful.” He drank his coffee again before he returned to eating. “And now that he’s got a kid on the way, I’m sure he’s got more important things to worry about than his sister.”
He really did know everything. “Doesn’t matter how many kids he has. He’d die for me. And I’d die for him.”
“Cute,” he said sarcastically. “And I may just end up killing both of you.”
“Can we not talk about stuff like that right now?” I asked, lowering my gaze to my food. Christmas was just a few days away, and I would spend it with my family, trying to pretend everything was perfectly normal.
Bones didn’t say anything else as he ate in silence.
The silence was so damn nice. I preferred him when we were fucking. The sex was good, and he didn’t talk. If he did talk, he said things I liked to listen to. But when the hormones were gone, he reminded me of how vile he was.
And the fact that I had to kill him.
“Where were you?” I asked in an attempt to make conversation.
“Why? Miss me?”
“If I just say yes, will you answer the question?” I asked sarcastically.
“No. You already proved how much you missed me last night.” He wiped his plate clean, his eggs, bacon, and pancakes long gone. “I had a hit in Switzerland. It’s been taken care of.”
“A hit?” I asked.
“That’s what I do for a living—kill people.”
“You’re an assassin?” I asked coldly.
“I wouldn’t call myself that.” He kept one hand on his mug, comfortable talking about this sort of thing in a crowded restaurant. “A hitman is a better description. People commission me to do their dirty work.”
“And you just kill people?” I said harshly. “Without a single thought to who they are.”
“You really shouldn’t judge me, baby.”
“Too late,” I snapped. “That’s disgusting and wrong.”
“Then you must think your uncle is disgusting and wrong.”
I lost my confidence, shaken by what he said.
He knew he’d successfully planted some doubt. “It’s how I survive, and I’m not ashamed of it.”
“You should be. And my uncle would never do that.”
“Maybe not now, but he did when he was your age. He worked for the Skull Kings. He was a Skull King. And he murdered all kinds of people.”
Uncle Cane was a good man who had been another father to me. He was affectionate, kind, and never showed a hint of violence. “No, he didn’t.”
“Don’t believe me?” he asked. “Ask him.”
“I don’t need to.”
He grinned. “Because you know I’m right.”
“That’s not why.”
“Yes, baby. It is.”
I stared into my mug, feeling my heart beat so fast. I knew my parents had criminal ties, but they wouldn’t kill people for money.
“And your brother and cousin aren’t as honorable as you think they are. They go to the Underground where women are for sale and they—”
“Don’t. Talk. About. My. Family.” I grabbed the butter knife even though there was very little I could do with it. “I have every right to hate your father, but I’ve never said a bad thing about him. You told me about your mother, but I’ve been nothing but respectful toward her memory. My family is everything to me, and I don’t give a damn who you are, don’t speak of them that way. I’ll stab this knife in your neck right now if that gets you to shut up.”