Page 34 of Killing Emma

“Okay.” He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I was born broken. A child of the system since I was four years old. Parents died. I got taken in at eleven by a guy who was the closest thing to a father I ever had.”

“That sounds like a happy ending,” I say, taking another bite of my food.

“No one said he was a good dad,” he levels with me, his eyes holding mine. “He trained me to do bad things to people and accept payment for it.”

I nod, swallowing the bite. “What kind of bad things? Like what you did to me in the shower?”

He tilts his head. “Depends.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Explain.”

“I fucked you because I wanted to, Emma, and I tried to kill you because I’m supposed to.” The flatness in his voice made it almost eerie. “And that won’t change.”

“So, you’re going to kill me. Still.”

“Probably.”

“That’s not one hundred percent,” I reason, a glimmer of hope hitting me.

“I’ve never failed a job.”

“Of course, you haven’t,” I laugh dryly, setting the container down. “Because a man like you would never let someone innocent survive.”

“Who said you’re innocent?”

The accusation hits a nerve. “I’m not deserving of death. I might’ve been a shitty wife, but I got my karma. He found someone else. He found someone who cared about him, and he still comes begging me to take him back—when I don’t deserve it.”

“He fucked someone else, and you’re blaming yourself? I thought you were smarter than that, Emma.” His voice stays cool and collected while I feel like I’m losing my hold on my emotions.

“You don’t know—”

“I’m sitting here, trying to know you,” he barks back at me, cutting me off. “Clearly, something is fucked up between us. I don’t know if it’s the fact that I let you live longer than twenty-four hours after I caught you, or if it’s something else. But the way I see it at this point, is that we’re both royally fucked.”

“Just let me go,” I say stupidly. “It’s not that hard.”

“I can’t.”

My shoulders slump. “Because it’ll hurt your pride to let someone get away?”

He laughs, running his hands over his face. “If I fail this, someone else will pick it up and kill you.”

“Who hired you?”

“I don’t know.”

I bite down on my bottom lip with frustration. “How can you not know? How can you take someone’s life and not know the reason you’re doing it?”

He looks me dead in the eye, bearing a darkness that causes me to visibly shudder. “Because I don’t give a fuck.”

“And now you do?”

“Now things are complicated,” he says with a sigh. “Beyond my desire for you.”

I swallow hard, shifting on the bed. I don’t really know what to do with the information he’s suddenly offered up, but I have to admit, I feel weary. He could easily be playing me. He could be toying with my mind, playing games with me until I end up mentally insane.

I’m already on my way there, anyway.

I push the food away and look up at him. “Where’s your dad now?”

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