Page 9 of Broken
“You can tell me all about that guy, and then I’m going to contact the Cobras, give them all the info, and have them search for the guy and deal with him. And you and I... We could give ourselves a second chance.”
“A second chance?” He snorted. “A chance at what, exactly?”
“Love.”
“Love? You know I’m not capable of it.”
I shook my head, taking a step toward him so we were onlyinches apart. “That’s not true.”
“What makes you think that? And don’t say it’s all about that innocent flirtation that happened while we were both bored out of our minds at the Rosa Nera’s hideout.”
A smile stretched across my lips. “Innocent flirtation? I’m not sure that’s what I’d call it.” I tipped my head a little, my lips hovering so close to his, and I could hear his sharp intakeof breath as he no doubt tried hard not to move.
“Call it whatever you want. I know who I am, but it looks like you still don’t.” His voice was a little deeper than usual. “In case you forgot, I kill people for a living.”
“But you don’t have to. I’m sure your skills were very valuable to Ingrid, but killing bad guys isn’t the only thing you can do with your life. You can start over. Leavethe Rosa Nera and all the gang crap behind. How old were you when you joined them?”
“Seventeen.”
Well, that explained why Ingrid had been able to dig her claws so deep into him. He’d been so young and he’d spent years by her side. “See? You didn’t even get a real chance at life.”
“You’re wrong. I chose my own path. You might not like it, but...”
“So, when you were seventeen, youjust woke up one day and decided it would be a great idea to become some gang’s hitman?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Of course not.”
“No? Then why did you join them? Did you really have a choice? Even if you did, was becoming a hitman the only way for you to climb up in the gang? Come on, you can tell me.”
He averted his gaze and turned away from me. “It doesn’t change anything.”
I sighed. “Fine, you won’t tell me. But what about Ingrid? You loved her in some way, didn’t you?”
He glanced at me. “That’s different. She saved my life. I owe everything to her. We respected each other.”
“Respected? Is that why she slapped you after you lost your phone? I’d call that the opposite of respect.” I still remembered when Ingrid had summoned Vix to her office and I’d taggedalong. I’d stolen Theo’s phone to find the information that Vix needed to save her boyfriend. Once we got to the office, Theo and Ingrid were already there, and when he told her he’d misplaced his phone somewhere in the house, she’d slapped him across the face so hard that I’d flinched. I wanted to break her hand right then and there. There had been a look of shock on his face, but I wasn’t sureif that had been because of what she’d done or because she’d done it in front of others.
“The phone was my fault. I deserved it. She was under a lot of stress because she had to rule over two cities and I added to it with my carelessness. I don’t know why you’re trying to manipulate me into turning against her, but it’s not going to work.” He gave me a long look.
Deserved it? Yeah, Ididn’t even want to tell him what I thought about that nonsense. But no matter what I said, he wouldn’t listen. I was sure of it. There was a lot about him and his life that I didn’t know, but talking to him wasn’t going to change his mind. I’d have to show him what I meant and prove him wrong. The only problem was that I didn’t know if he’d let me do that or if he’d shut me out because of what I’ddone and because he probably felt like he was betraying Ingrid’s memory every time he was around me.
“I was the one who took your phone,” I said in the end, because I didn’t want to keep that secret from him. He was already mad at me, and I didn’t want that piece of info to come back to bite me in the ass later in case I ever got through to him.
“You? Why?” His brow furrowed.
“Vixwanted to see if we could find something to help us save Seth.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have let you distract me.” The corners of his lips twitched.
“There’s one good thing that came out of all that,” I said, meeting his gaze. “I realized just how much I liked you.”
He only watched me for a moment, his chest barely moving, as if he really wanted to believe me but didn’t let himself doit, either because he didn’t trust me or because he thought it was wrong. Ingrid had kept telling Vix that love was weakness, and I couldn’t even imagine what effect those words would have on a seventeen-year-old who saw her as his hero.
“Enough of this. You’re wasting my time,” he said. “Will you call your guards and tell them to let me through the door, or do you want me to mess them up?It’s your choice.” His lips tilted upward.
“No, it’syourchoice. My guards are good men with families. I’m sure you can get yourself out of here the same way you got in—without hurting anyone.” If he wanted to leave, then there wasn’t much I could do to get him to stay and he wasn’t going to tell me who the guy who was after me was. I could pull a gun on him, but I didn’t think that wouldbe of much help. He wasn’t afraid to die. I just hoped he wasn’t too eager to get himself killed too.
Chapter 6