Page 199 of Unexpected Hero

A smile gradually settles on her face, growing brighter until it reaches her eyes. “You would get revenge for me?”

“Absolutely.”

“How would you do it? What does an IT analyst do to someone who wrongs their girl?”

It dawns on me how little I’ve shared with her about my skills. She has no idea what I’m capable of. The things I’ve done. That’s probably for the best.

But the desire to let her in rises inside me like the tides. I could wait for it to ebb again.

Only shielding myself isn’t as appealing as it once was.

I want — no — I need her to know me.

“For starters, I’d destroy their credit or have them audited by the IRS. Install malware on their devices to plant information, thus making it appear that they’re working with terrorist organizations. After that, I’d tip off Homeland Security and the CIA about their activities. Those are a few basic things off the top of my head. With some extra time, I’d come up with more creative justice.”

Her soft chuckles grow into deep guffaws.

It’s precioushow she thinks I’m kidding.

“I assumed you were gonna maybe send them a bunch of pizzas they didn’t order.”

“Nah. That’s amateur shit.” I narrow my eyes, pretending to be deep in thought. “For religious zealots, I’d sign them up for sex toy subscriptions, give them profiles on porn sites, and set them up with very robust Fetlife accounts. After that, I’d leak all that information to the local media, their employers, blast it out to all their contacts, and display it on the church’s website.”

“Holy shit. What an imagination you have. Remind me to never get on your bad side.”

When our laughter dies down, she offers her mouth to me for a chaste kiss, which I accept greedily.

“Lettie, thank you for sharing that with me. Although I’ve never felt guilt or shame over sexual pleasure before, there have been plenty of times when guilt hung over my head.”

Like every moment I spend with her without being my true self.

Maybe I can ease a bit of that.

Right fucking now.

“I want to tell you something about me.” My voice fails to mask my trepidation, my words sounding like sandpaper.

A dash of excitement lights up her face. “What?”

As she waits for my response, she licks her lips innocently, leaving a moist sheen on the pillowy pink flesh.

Before I tell her, I kiss her again.

Just in case it’s the last time.

“About those things I just said. The things I could do…”

Her expression pinches faintly, still coated in amusement. “The revenge stuff?”

“Yeah.” I gulp. “I could do those things. I would do them for you.” Her face blanches so I quickly amend, “I mean, I would if you wanted me to.”

Her intelligent gaze prods and pokes at me while she considers my confession. “Are you serious? You wouldn’t do that. You can’t. Right?”

Words die on my tongue, poisoned by the acid erupting from my gut.

Extricating herself from my arms, she shifts upright. Although she doesn’t pull far away, she does stiffen. Her eyelids crescent into a squint. “You’re not joking, are you?”

I can’t speak yet, frozen in fear.

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