Page 47

“It’s a long drive back here,” she says, a smile teasing her lips.
I shrug. “I don’t mind. I’m not working until late, anyway.”
She pauses for a minute. Longest damn minute I’ve ever experienced. “Are you going to take me home when I want to leave?”
I swallow hard, past the lump in my throat. Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with me? Did I really think we were gonna play sleepover? My insides are twisted like a pretzel right now because of this woman…because I need to be around her, and I’ll agree to just about anything right now. “Yeah, whenever you want,” I lie. I’ll figure out a way to hide her in my bed…er, my house.
She nods and drops her keys into her handbag. “Okay. Lead the way.”
I blink fast. “Uh, yeah. Right over here.” I lead her to the spot where I parked my car. I open the passenger side door for her and watch her slide into the seat before I jog around the front of the car. “Goddammit!” I pull out the parking ticket from my windshield and groan as I sink into the driver’s seat. I shove the ticket into the center console.
“You didn’t read the sign?”
I roll my eyes and press the ignition button to start the car. “I did, but I figured I’d be in and out of here before my time was up.”
“Why?” She turns a curious glance my way, and I snicker, maneuvering the car onto the road.
“I kinda figured you’d have sent me packing after kicking my ass for last night.”
“Oh.” She giggles. “Yeah, I was a little distracted, I guess.”
“Rain check?”
“Definitely.”
We laugh for a minute before the silence consumes us both, leaving me to my thoughts. Again.
Christ, maybe I’m the one who needs the wine.
I don’t know why I even bothered to look for her today.
This thing between us isn’t the forever kind.
Time is running out.
At least for me it is.
“Rocco.”
“Yeah?” Even hearing her say my name makes my cock twitch. It’s like being sixteen all over again.
“I’m glad you came looking for me today.”
“Me, too.”
“You ever wonder how things might be different for you if your family never knew the Salesis?”
I press my foot on the brake and slow at a red light. “Sometimes. But it’s not like it keeps me up all night or anything. I mean, it is what it is. I just worry about my sister Lindy. We keep her pretty much in the dark about a lot of shit that goes down, but it’s not so much my dad anymore. He got hurt years ago. Really fucked up his leg in a car accident. So now he works pretty close to Nico’s dad, but he’s out of the day-to-day stuff. Plus, he’s kinda on the old side.” I snicker. “Not really in good enough shape to go toe to toe with the schmucks we deal with, you know?”
Kat nods, staring out the window. Is she wishing for a different life, one where her mom and sister are still alive? One where she doesn’t have to slit throats or pop caps or bash in skulls? One where she can just be normal?
What the fuck is normal, anyway?
“I don’t ever wonder,” she whispers. “I already know the answer.”
I can’t say anything. I’m not supposed to know about her past, why she’s here in Jersey, and why her father has turned her into a lethal assassin.
And most of all, I’m not supposed to know who killed her family.