Page 20 of Leo, My Partner

So instead of attempting to burrow into his head to see where he’s at, I continue to meet his gaze, not shying away from his scrutiny.

After a few more beats, Ty breaks eye contact and studies the scenery around him. I do the same, trying to look at the place with fresh eyes. It’s a nice stretch of cleared land in the middle of a thick forest. The man I took it from was a survivalist, ranting and raving about how Armageddon was upon us and he’d be one of the only people to survive. He would have been if I wasn’t hired by his daughter after she found out he killed her mother. Before he was relieved of his life, he signed the place over to one of my lesser-known aliases, and it became mine. He’s somewhere on the property, his body being used as fertilizer.

The surrounding woods are bonus. The quiet and seclusion reminds me of Ivan’s two room cabin I was raised in while in Russia. Our nearest neighbor was twenty miles away. It made his training easy. We never had to worry about anyone hearing any screams, and there were plenty of places to bury bodies.

A chuckle escapes my mouth as I think back to all the times Ivan made me bury a body we’d just finished with in the dead of winter. Some days I wasn’t sure I’d survive, my hands frozen stiff. But I was able to push through, getting done what needed to be done. Plenty of bodies litter the land around my grandfather’s shitty cabin.

Ty glances over at me, his expression inscrutable. “What’s funny?”

I meet his eyes, wondering if I can tell him the truth. He’s already afraid of me because I said I’m a psychopath and a hitman. Telling him my grandfather made me bury bodies of people we tortured and killed won’t endear me to him.

But lying to him would do more damage than that. Instead, I try to give him an out. “Do you really want to know?”

Searching my face, Ty nods slowly. “I asked, didn’t I? Or do you not want to tell me? If you don’t, that’s fine. Unless it’s something that you can’t tell me. Well, I guess that doesn’t matter because I don’t think you’re supposed to tell people you’re a hitman, but you told me. So yeah, I want to know.”

My lips tip up as Ty babbles. It’s like words rush out of his mouth, each wanting to be heard right after the one before it.

Fuck it. He asked. Hopefully, he can handle the answer. “When I was in Russia, we lived in an area similar to this. With much more snow of course.” I tack on. “During my training, my grandfather made me cart all the bodies into the woods and bury them. We stayed in a large stretch of woods, so we had plenty of places to pick.”

Ty releases a rough breath but nods. “I see. Anyone buried here?”

“Just the previous owner of this place. His daughter hired me to kill him after he slaughtered her mom.” I thumb behind us. “I buried him about two miles that way.”

I watch his throat convulse as he swallows. “This is all so weird, talking about you killing people. I should be more frightened than I am, right? Who sits around and discusses murders?”

“Do you want me to stop?”

He shrugs with an almost pained expression on his face. “I’m not sure. June said you don’t always kill innocent people. But you sometimes do?”

“I can’t tell you for sure. I kill the people I’m hired to kill, besides kids. If some of those people were innocent, I wasn’t privy to that information. Most of the time, all I get is a name, location, picture, and price. Does that make it better for you?”

When June found out about Blu, he wrestled with Blu dispatching innocents. Now, Blu only kills those June has vetted as guilty monsters, his beast wanting to do anything to keep June happy.

One of Ty’s shoulders lifts. “I don’t know. It’s all a lot to take in.”

I stare at him for a few beats, then ask, “Are you afraid of me?”

“No.”

His answer is so quick and sure. A small breath puffs out of me, and I realize for probably the first time in my life I was nervous. Butterflies danced in my belly before I asked. I think those were nerves. I can’t be too sure though.

Like most psychopaths, I have feelings and emotions, but for me, they’re very rare. But when I do feel, it’s deeply. My obsession with Ty, for example. It’s risky to tell him everything he wants to know. It could all end up backfiring in my face.

“Does that make me a fool?” he asks in a small voice.

“No,” I reassure him. “You don’t have to overanalyze it. But know this: I’d cut off my own arm before I hurt you .You don’t ever have to fear me.”

A slight smile tugs at his lips. “Can we skip the self-mutilation?”

I dip my head, making Ty shake his and look back out over the forested landscape.

“If I ask, would you only kill people who deserve it?”

“Yes,” I answer. He looks at me quickly, his eyes bouncing around my face. “It’s not even that hard. June and Blu have a system they use, and it’s been successful for almost a year now. June picks, and Blu kills. Some people deserve to die, and June and Blu are their executioners.”

“Are you expensive?”

With a smirk, I turn to him. “Why? You want to hire me?”

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