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“You have another place?”

“I have a lot of places, Poppy. In my line of work, you can never be too careful.”

“Your line of work. You mean killing people.”

“You can call it that if it makes you feel better.”

“It doesn't make me feel better.”

“Then why split hairs over it?”

Poppy walked by my side, her eyes on the ground. “Because the truth matters, Vega,” she said.

“I remember the name of every single person I've been hired to deal with. Did you know that?” I asked.

“Is that supposed to mean something to me? What do you want me to say? You want me to tell you how proud I am of you?” She let out a condescending chuckle. “Give me a fucking break. As if knowing their names lessens your guilt.”

“I'm not ignoring my guilt, Poppy. I know what I've done. What I'm telling you is I haven't forgotten them. They live inside me in some sick way I can't explain or understand.”

“The lives you stole. And you're right, it is sick.”

I cocked a brow as I reached out and grabbed her wrist. I swiveled her around so she was facing me. “Poppy, I know you don't understand it, but this was my life. It's all I've ever known. It's who I was.”

“Was?”she asked, her tone full of disbelief.

“Yes. I'm not that person anymore. I can't be. Something changed inside me.”

“You had an epiphany? Was there some sort of miracle that woke you up? Was it killing Dylan in a bathroom at a very prominent function? Or was it being able to shoot a guy from hundreds of feet away? Hm? Was it something else?” Poppy's hand fell to her hip as she tilted her head, waiting for an answer.

“I see what you're doing here, and you need to stop. I know this has been a lot on you, but don't talk to me like that,” I snapped.

“Like what?”

“Like I'm some stupid piece of shit. Like you're better than me. Because you're not. If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead right now.”

“If it wasn't for you?” she asked as her jaw cocked to one side. “So, I need to thank you now?”

“Yeah, you should be thanking me.” I was getting angry. Poppy kept going from warm to cold. She'd seem to appreciate what I'd done one moment, then hate me the next. She wasn't listening to me at all.

I put my life on the line for her. I destroyed my reputation and everything my father built to save her. I don't know what else I can do to prove to her that I'm not who she thinks I am.

“Fuck you,” she barked. “I can take care of myself. You should know that by now.”

“I know that if your father hadn't come to me first, you would absolutely be dead right now.”

“I thought you said something changed you? You sound like you could still kill me if you got mad enough.”

“Yeah. You. You changed me, Poppy.” I grabbed my hair and yanked as I said, “I tried. I tried so fucking hard to do what I was hired for. I tried to kill you, I really did, but I just couldn't pull the trigger.”

Poppy tilted her head as her lips tightened. “I don't think it works that way. You can't spend your entire life being trained for something, do it for years, and then suddenly just wake up thinking it's wrong because you met a girl.”

“I never said I didn't know it was wrong. But I never felt anything before you. You woke up something inside me, whether you want to believe it or not. Things are different now. If I kill anyone, it's only going to be to protect you.”

Poppy blinked a few times. She was thinking cautiously about what to say, what to believe, what to do. There was nothing I could do to make her see that I wasn't the same man anymore. She knew me as a killer, and she might always see me that way.

But I would die for her. I would gladly take my last breath so long as she was safe and no one was left to harm her. That was my goal. I wanted to ensure that she never had to fear for her life again.

She licked her lips and said, “And when this is over, what then? What will you do?”