Page 87 of The Duplicity of Thieves

“I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to.” I grin.

She groans. “I don’t like it.”

“Do you want me to leave? You can stay here.” I don’t want to go, but I will if it means that I know where she is, and that she gets the safety she seeks.

“Yes. No. I don’t think so. I just want to be. Everyone wants something from me. I don’t want to think. I don’t want to be alone.” A tear slips from her eye, but she brushes it away before it can fall far.

“I won’t leave you alone. Ever. I’ve been consumed by you, Jos, and there’s no coming back from it. You won’t get away from me,” I promise. Her eyes are wild and scared, but as she looks into mine she registers my sincerity. “I’ll stay. You can do whatever you want, and I’ll just be here.”

“It sounds weird when you put it like that,” she winces.

“To want the presence of another is not weird. You want to exist in the same space as someone else.” I shrug.

“Not someone. You.” She says it like it’s poison; the sweetest kind.

“I want the same thing. I have no expectations of you. Your presence is enough.” I tap her knee and hoist myself up. I offer her a hand and she takes it, letting me pull her to her feet.

“I know what you need.” I sweep her into my arms and hold her tight to my chest.

She fights and tries to punch me. “What are you fucking doing!?”

I carry her into the bathroom depositing her in the large stone shower. I start the water, and it rains down from the ceiling. I saw the tiny, cramped bathroom she's been using for years. This is infinitely better.

“This is the best place to forget the world. You’ll feel better after a hot shower, love.”

She rolls her eyes.

“Can’t you just enjoy something?” I chide. Silence descends between us, the sound of the water splattering against the tile taking up the space.

She lifts her chin defiantly. “I can.”

Josie looks up at the water with appreciation. The way to a girl’s heart is a good shower. I motion for her to raise her arms and proceed to undress her, like a doll. Then I take her hands in mine as gently as I can manage, pulling her with me underneath the water while I’m fully clothed. Her eyes close, and she sighs with relief. I bite the inside of my cheek trying not to smile. She’s liable to attack me.

“There you go,” I tell her.

“Mmm,” she moans. My dick twitches, threatening to get hard again. Once she’s basking in the heat, I head toward the exit and shake my head free of the excess water.

Her head snaps to attention. “Where are you going?”

“You wanted to be away from me not even five minutes ago,” I point out.

Josie is clearly a solitary creature. The more space I give her, the longer she’ll stay. I’m sure of it. I need her to seek me out, even though I want to crush her against me for eternity. She rolls it around in her head, chewing on her lip.

“Take as long as you want.” I shoot her a grin and fetch her a towel, hanging it on the wall of the steaming room. Then I place fresh clothes for her onto the counter.

Once I’m out of the bathroom, I try to deal with my possessive thoughts. Now I’m wide awake. I want to outline each scar and compare them to mine. I want to taste her cherry mouth every chance I get. But I want to know more than her body. I want to know her mind. She’s a master at deflection, but I didn’t get this far without a little determination. She doesn’t want to be alone, and I can do that for her.

I try to busy myself by flipping through the mail on the counter. It’s all junk. Once I’ve tossed that in the trash, I realize she probably hasn’t eaten since I made her dinner the other night. I open the fridge and pull out some ingredients, whipping up some more pasta like the kind she inhaled in her kitchen. I have too many questions about these killers, about where she’s from, but it'll have to wait for another day.

When I finish, I wander past the door. The shower is still running. I enter my office across the hall and sit at the desk, drumming my fingers on the edge. Papers are scattered across it in varying degrees of urgency. I force myself to sort through and organize them by priority.

The invitation to Eris’ stupid engagement party sits at the bottom of the pile. Thank the Universe I didn’t have to see her stupid fucking face tonight. I wouldn’t have made it home for hours and maybe Josie would have been gone by then.

Hades swore Eris stole the box from him, but now we know that isn’t true. She just skimmed money. If she had, she wouldn’t have put it on exhibit. I shuffle through the papers reading over reports. I’m so engrossed that I don’t hear the shower stop, I don’t hear Josie get food, and I don’t feel her presence until the scent of pears and jasmine wafts in.

I set the papers down and turn to watch her. She comes in and trails her fingers over the spines of the books that line the walls with a bottle of whiskey in her hand. Seeing her in my clothes again does something to me.

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