Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 57257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“Maybe it would be better to heal it than let him break it.”
“Are you broken, then?” She challenges, still smiling.
I keep my rictus grin on my face too. From the outside, we must look like a loving couple, happy to be in each other’s company.
“Well?” She challenges.
“Taking lives changes you, beautiful.” I pause before I say my next words. “Maybe you won’t have as much sunshine when this is over.”
“I’ve seen you with Mira,” she replies. “I’ve seen the joy in you. The happiness and fulfillment when you play with her, when you teach her archery. That looks a hell of a lot like sunshine to me, Rhett. Is that all fake?”
“No,” I grunt.
“So it’s possible, then, to do this and still be capable of happiness.”
I shift in my seat. “You’d make a good cop, Elle.”
Her smile reaches her eyes. “Thank you. But none of this feels very date-like, my perfect, loving boyfriend…”
I grin, nodding. “You’re going to have to coach me. I’m not much of a dater.”
She snorts. “And I am? I’ve never even set foot in a place that doesn’t have prices on the menu. And look at these people, Rhett… they’re from a different universe. I’m pretty sure that guy’s in Congress.”
I reach across the table and take her hand. It’s like I need the physical contact to remind myself that some part of this is real.
“You deserve the best,” I tell her.
Even if it’s fake.
She nods, looking down at the menu. “So the plan is to make a show here, make him jealous, then leave and lure him someplace?”
“The plan right now is to pick something to eat,” I tell her.
“Okay, snappy,” she murmurs, tilting her head.
“I’m sorry, beautiful,” I say. “This is all new to me.”
“Just remember to smile, Rhett.”
I realize she’s right. I’ve let it slip. I put a smile on my face again.
“I’m going to get the steak,” I say.
She laughs, and it sounds real. “You didn’t even look at the menu.”
“I don’t need to.”
“Why? Did you look at it before we got here?”
“Nope. I just always order steak.”
She laughs again. “The big, strong, macho man needs meat to feed those big muscles, huh?”
“Something like that,” I tell her. “Or maybe I just need blood to be fully satisfied.”
Her smile falters for a moment. “Are you okay?”
Goddamn. What am I doing? I need to turn off the jerk switch. Whatever else is happening here, I’m on a date with a woman I actually like. That means something.
“Sorry, Sunshine,” I mutter.
“It’s okay,” she murmurs. “I know this can’t be easy. But… but thank you for doing this with me.”
I smile widely. Fake as hell. “So, girlfriend, what are you going to have?”
CHAPTER 24
ELARA
It’s difficult to read Rhett as he cuts into his steak. He stares down at his plate like he’s trying to crack it with force, but the smile hasn’t left his face in almost twenty minutes. From the outside, we’re everything. On the inside, things are much more complicated.
“What do people talk about on dates?” I ask, smiling, smiling…
“Apart from—” When he cuts himself off, I know he was about to reference our macabre plan. “I’m not sure,” he goes on. “Favorite colors. Holiday destinations. The… future?”
“The future,” I mutter. “Now there’s an idea. I have to admit, I haven’t let myself think too deeply about that for a long, long time. Maybe you should start.”
“We’re in the same spot, beautiful. I’ve never given it much thought either. I’ve always lived day-to-day. My legacy, my future, what I’m going to do when I’m an old man… well, an even older man. Yeah, I’ve never really thought about that.”
“Maybe this is your chance,” I tell him. “Do you want a family?”
“I always thought I was too cold, too distant,” Rhett mutters. “And since I started my current line of work…” A pause as we both silently acknowledge the fact he’s not talking about his bounty hunting. “I always thought I was too dark. Too broken. Too corrupted by what I’ve done and what I’m going to do.”
“You’re talking in the past tense,” I point out. “You thought you were too dark. Has something changed?”
He looks at me for a long time without saying anything. A tingle dances up my spine and settles between my shoulder blades.
“Has something changed?” He finally echoes. “Sunshine, everything has changed—” He stops, not giving me time to let the compliment fill me with love and belonging. His gaze moves across the room. “What the fuck…”
I turn and follow his gaze.
My heart clenches into a tight, painful fist in my chest. My stomach clenches like it’s trying to force vomit up my throat.
Lucian Conti is striding across the restaurant, head held high as if he’s not a man on the run. I move to stand, but Rhett tells me, “Stay where you are. He hasn’t got a weapon. Not one he’ll be able to get to before I kill him.”