Chapter Seven

Keres stared at the red brick building and frowned. “Why did you bring me back here? I have to get home.”

Ronin gently took hold of her arm and guided her to the front door. “I want some answers.”

“And I want world peace, but we can’t all get what we want.”

He punched in a code and then placed his thumb on the pad. The door clicked open a second later. She dragged her feet, but he simply picked her up and brought her inside.

“This is cheating,” she complained.

“Not my fault you weigh nothing.”

Unable to do much, she stuck her tongue out at him. He held her as they rode the elevator up, and when it opened on his floor, there was another scanner with another keypad.

“Is this place secretly Fort Knox?”

He ignored that. Once they were inside, he let go of her and backed away, folding his arms across his chest.

“Do you realize what you did tonight?” he demanded.

“I’m fully aware of what happened and my part in it.”

“Davorin has eyes everywhere. It won’t take him long to find out who blew up his production line, and when he does, you’ll be in danger.”

“That’s why Darby and I took precautions. No one knew of our plans. No one saw us leave our apartment.”

“What explosive did you use? And don’t you dare say it’s not my business.”

“C-4.”

“Fucking hell. How’d you get C-4?”

Her chin lifted in defiance. “Darby has connections, and that’s all I’m going to tell you.”

Ronin stalked closer, and when she backed up, he followed. He didn’t touch her, didn’t restrain her, and allowed her enough room to escape if she wished. Strangely enough, though, was that she didn’t want to retreat. Her heart pounded and her breath grew shallow, but it wasn’t from panic. It was from something far more dangerous. It was sexual temptation.

The wonder of that froze her for a moment because she never thought she’d feel that again. At least not with another human. He must have recognized it shining in her eyes, or perhaps in her body language. His sharp intake of air echoed through the room, and he cupped her face with his large hands. For a long moment, neither moved a muscle. Tension electrified between them as he rubbed his thumb over her lower lip, and he seemed to focus on the movement. Slowly, he leaned forward, giving her enough time to either pull away or tell him to stop, neither of which she did.

Then he placed a feather-like kiss on her mouth. A touch so fleeting she wondered if he had kissed her at all. His warm breath met her own, and before she could overthink anything, she leaned forward and pressed her lips on his.

Emotion bubbled upward, filling her chest and making her heart race. She welcomed the sensation because it thawed the frozen part of her that she feared had been forever broken. Still, that didn’t mean the kiss didn’t terrify her.

Ronin pulled back, and they stared at one another for a long moment, neither saying a word. Wondering if he had felt just as raw and conflicted as she. Then he took a step back, cleared his throat, and let his arms fall to his side.

“I’m sorry I got into your space,” he murmured.

“It’s, uh, okay.”

“Why did you put yourself in danger tonight?”

The question snapped her out of the delicate haze of the kiss. She blinked, like she was coming out of a fog, and moved away from him.

“It’s dangerous just walking down the street,” she said dryly. “Dealing Davorin a blow sent a message that he’s not all powerful. He can be vulnerable, and I plan to do everything I can to make sure his kingdom falls.”

“He’ll kill you.”

She shrugged. “We all die. Some quicker than others.”

Ronin frowned. “That’s cynical.”

“You’re a hitman. You know these things.”

“There’s a purpose to my work.”

She cocked her head. “Are you saying if Davorin offered you a million dollars to kill me, you wouldn’t?”

“I feel if I say no, you won’t believe me.”

“You’d be right. Listen, I need to go. Darby is going to be freaking out again , and it’s been too soon since my last disappearing trick.”

He shook his head in exasperation. “You don’t care if you die?”

She shouldn’t say anything else. He had no business being in her business, but she had a feeling he was a stubborn son of a bitch.

“I died some time ago,” she replied honestly. “Just another statistic that the cops won’t do a damn thing about. They’re worthless. Davorin has them dancing to his tune, so I took justice into my own hands. Three scums of the Earth are dead, and I’ll take as many with me to hell as I can.”

“One day you’ll tell me what that means.”

“There’s no need to ever see one another again. Thank you for helping me, Ronin. And goodbye.”

She waited by the door, raising her eyebrows until he relented and lowered the perimeter alerts. Right before she slipped past him, he grabbed her hand and halted her retreat. Keres looked at him, and something shifted inside her. A fraction of the pain in her destroyed heart didn’t hurt quite so much, and part of her hated that he made her feel something once more.

****

Acutely aware that he may be following her, Keres hid in the shadows of Ronin’s home, waiting. Sure enough, he came out a few minutes after her, but instead of trying to tail her, he got on his motorcycle and roared away. The monstrous growl of the bike bounced between the buildings like a Ping-Pong ball. Breathing a sigh of relief, she headed home.

The gym was dark as she let herself in through the back staircase. As soon as she opened the door to the loft, Darby yanked her into his arms and squeezed tight.

“Can’t … breathe…” she gasped.

Darby instantly released, and the abrupt gesture had her nearly falling to her knees. She threw out a hand to the wall to help steady herself.

“What the fuck, Keres!” he snapped. He held up his first two fingers. “Two times you’ve disappeared, leaving me wondering if you were dead somewhere. What if I had blown you up tonight?”

“I texted you that I was clear.”

“And then didn’t answer any of my follow-up texts!” He ran an agitated hand through his hair. “No more. I won’t risk yo u— ”

“Not your choice to make, Darby,” she said softly. “And if you happen to blow me up, I absolve you of any guilt.”

She smiled, hoping he’d return it, but he didn’t. Instead, he put his hands on his hips and lowered his head.

“Don’t do that to me,” he muttered so low she barely heard him. “Don’t make light of you dying. I didn’t save you to have you kill yourself.”

Tears welled up in her eyes and she threw her arms around his stiff posture and hugged him. “None of us gets out of here alive. Doesn’t matter when. If I happen to die bringing justice to Davorin’s victims, then I’ve fulfilled the promise I made to myself. I don’t fear death, Darby. I’ve already seen it.”

He hugged her back. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said, smiling up at him. “I know you care, and I love you for that. You taught me I could feel something other than hate.”

“Love you too,” he said gruffly. “For Abigail.”

She nodded. “For Jonathan.”