“Because it’s ugly shit. You need your room to be a refuge. In my world, you learn to keep a space that feels peaceful.”
They were in his world now, weren’t they? In her world, she’d lived her work, 24-7. It defined her life, as she’d intended. Greer wasn’t just a wrinkle she hadn’t planned for—he was a cliff she was terribly afraid he was going to ask her to jump off.
He sat on the bed, folding his legs as he faced her. “Want to tell me what happened downstairs when you saw Whiddon?”
“No.” The shock had been terrible. Prophet Josiah had lectured long and passionately about the spiritually corrupting power of the secular world, but all the while he was living in both worlds, rising in the ranks of the nation’s political leadership and keeping a harem in the Grummond Society.
She would never forget the day he selected her for his wife. All the twelve-year-old girls had been presented to him, in their little white dresses…the only dresses to that point in their lives they’d been allowed to adorn with lace and ruffles.
They’d stood in line in front of him. He’d picked three of them. She had no real understanding of that event’s significance. Her mom had gone pale when the news was delivered to her.
“You said you would end him,” Remi whispered, hoping she’d misheard him.
He neither confirmed that promise nor denied it. “What did he do to you?”
“I don’t want to talk about this.”
He took hold of her hands, threading his fingers between hers. “Remi, we haven’t known each other long, but we’ve been through a lot together already. You know you can trust me.”
“He isn’t worth the cost of ending him,” she said, watching Greer. “Let’s just leave it at that.”
Greer didn’t answer, but his face said it all. She could tell his mind had already been set. She shook her head. “Sometimes, you look like a college student, like any of my students. And other times you look like an ancient warrior with eyes that see the fire that made the glass, never the glass itself.”
“You can turn the conversation away from yourself, but the question remains, and I will get an answer.”
She ignored that. “I don’t want to talk about me. Let’s talk about you. What happened after the home invasion you told me about when you were a kid?” She rubbed her thumb over his. “Having been through that now—more than once—that had to be devastating as a kid.”
“It was. After Gramps and I got my parents and sisters into the panic room, we took care of the bad guys.” He sighed. “When my family came out, there was blood everywhere, all over me, Gramps, the walls, the floors. A baptism in hell.”
“You had to be in shock.”
He shook his head. “Two of them got away. I wanted it finished. Gramps and I went after them. They showed up dead a few weeks later. One had a lethal allergy to bee stings. Sadly a bee got in his car and stung him. The other wrecked his car, wrapped it around a tree.”
“Did you kill them?”
“That would be illegal.” He shook his head, giving her a look that said he was shocked she thought he was guilty. “They were on Interpol’s top hundred wanted. I suppose karma caught up with them.” He brushed his thumbs down the sides of hers. “After that, my parents became skittish around me. Like you, they thought I was guilty. I was allowed to go to my sisters’ weddings, years later, but only if I promised no one would die.”
Remi’s eyes widened. “Did anyone die?”
“No.” He grinned like they weren’t talking about murder and assassinations. “It was a wedding.” He looked at their hands. “Gramps was gone by then. I think he outlived his enemies, for none came to make trouble.” He looked at her over their hands. “My folks threw a welcome home party when I got back from Afghanistan. They were so careful to keep up appearances. They wore their fake smiles and perfect clothes and all the neighbors came.”
“I’m sure they were happy to have you back in the States.”
He shrugged. “Would have been cleaner for them had I not returned.” He looked at their joined hands. “When my fiancée left, it was as if a divide was carved between me and them, like if she couldn’t even stand me, then they’d been right in their judgment of me.”
“Doesn’t mean they’re right. I think you’re pretty awesome.” Tears distorted the seam of his sleeve, where she’d locked her eyes. “Besides my mom, you’re the only other person I’ve ever felt safe around.”
He looked into her eyes. “I’m glad I got to meet you. You’re different from any woman I’ve known.”
She blinked and met his eyes. “I’ve never known anyone like you, either.”
Greer smiled. “That’s probably a good thing.”
Her gaze lowered to his T-shirt, then she met his eyes and asked, “Does it bother you, what you do?”
“No.”
“What happens if you make a mistake? Kill someone who’s innocent?”
“Karma works the same for everyone. But I can usually tell the guilty from the innocent when I’m standing at the business end of a knife or a gun.” He held her gaze. “We’re going to be lovers, you know, not just fuck buddies.”
Remi started and almost pulled away, but his hands tightened.
“If that means you want one of the other guys posted on your guard duty, let me know, but it won’t change our fate.”
Remi slowly smiled. “You seem rather certain of yourself.”
“I am.”
“How do you know?”
“Besides the way you kiss me?”
She nodded.
“Because you’re the first woman who’s willing to touch me without being paid.”
Remi frowned. “You frequent prostitutes?”
“No. I hire women to sleep with me. No sex. Just sleep. They’re sleep partners.”
She studied his eyes. “Why?”
“I don’t like being alone when I sleep.”
“You could just find yourself a girlfriend.”
“It’s not that easy. You’ve seen why. I’m not exactly an asset to a woman interested in building a future.”
“You think I’m not interested in a future with a guy?”