Page 27 of White Wings of Desire

"Of course, what do you need?" He raises an eyebrow, lines creasing his forehead.

"Plan B," I reply, not daring to look at him again. His hand start to shake in mine, his palm quickly turning sweaty.

"Do you mean Plan B, as in, not getting pregnant?"

"Yes," I answer with a straight face.

"You're not on birth control?" I hear the panic in his voice.

"No, I'm surprised you don't know that already."

He takes a long breath and squeezes my hand so hard my blood can't reach the tips of my fingers. "We're going to change that as soon as possible, because I'm not going to start using condoms now."

"What about STDs?" I raise my eyebrows.

"I'm clean. I get tested regularly for all kinds of diseases because of all the blood I come in contact with."

"Maybe I have something." Even though I'm healthy, I'm curious about his reaction.

"You don't. I saw your latest results," he says, "and I'm the only one you've had sex with since you got tested."

A flush of warmth rises from the back of my neck all the way across my face. I don't really care if he looks at my medical records. I have nothing to hide. But how does he know I haven't had sex with anyone else in the last year? Did he hack into my phone?

He really knows everything about me, but I know nothing about him. I stare down at our hands again and nervously pick at one of the raised scars. I know at least a dozen hitwomen who would spread their legs for him without even knowing what he looks like. He has plenty of options, more than enough. My stomach twists into a knot as a pang of jealousy burns inside me. "When was the last time you had sex with someone other than me?" I ask, more flustered than I would like to sound.

"About a week before the wedding." He answers without a second thought.

"With or without a condom?"

"With. I don't sleep with escorts without using protection."

My eyes widen and I look at him. "Escorts?"

"Yeah, I'm not a very physical person in general. I hire one every six or eight months," he says. "What did you think, that I was hooking up with other killers on a regular basis?"

"For a person who is apparently not very physical, you seem to have a hard time keeping your hands off me." His hand twitches in mine at the comment, and I gently squeeze it to prevent him from pulling away. "But yeah, I thought you had other hitwomen lined up."

"Oh, sweetheart, you know about my reputation, right?" he asks, ignoring my first comment, and I only respond to his question with a nod. "Good, I don't mess around with other killers, not even women."

The car comes to a complete stop. I hadn't even noticed that he had taken an exit and left the highway. Looking around, I see that he is parked in front of a pharmacy in a small town. His fingers sneak around the back of my neck, pulling me over the center console before planting a kiss on my lips.

"You're the first and the only Ms. Hitwoman I want." Stunned, I watch him pull back and grab his keys and phone. He unbuckles his seat belt and gets out of the car. "I'll be right back," he says, slamming the door shut.

Chapter 25

Evelyn

As soon as I get out of the car, my eyes land on the house at the end of the driveway. It's an old European-style brick house in an expensive neighborhood, obviously well-loved and recently completely renovated. The front yard is well kept, the trees and shrubs neatly trimmed.

Noah shuts the passenger side door behind me before he walks around the car and opens the trunk to get our bags and his gun cases. Instead of waiting for him, I make my way to the front of the house, climbing the two steps of the front porch. I spin around and take a quick look around the neighborhood. Despite the sunny weather, no one is out. There isn’t even the sound of a dog barking, which I would expect in a neighborhood like this. Noah climbs the stairs shortly after me and walks past me towards the solid black front door. He puts his gun case down, fishes for his keys in his jacket pocket, and unlocks the door, shoving it wide open.

"Ladies first."

I thank him as I walk into the dark house. He follows close behind, dropping our bags at the entrance and setting down his guns. With a soft click, the lights in the entryway come on, lighting up the space. I look around the hallway, taking in every detail. The place is rather gloomy. The polished wood floor is a deep brown, and the wood panels on the wall are painted a dark gray. The few pieces of furniture I can see are also stained dark. The only bright thing in the whole room is the grayish rug on the floor. "Do you live here alone?" I ask.

"Yes, but I have a housekeeper who comes by every other day." I jump when I feel his hand come to rest on the small of my back, gently nudging me further into the house. "Would you like something to drink, or would you like me to show you around?"

"I want to see the house," I say, and take a look at him.

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