Page 23 of Torn In Two

“I can do that for you,” she said awkwardly. “Truly. This is a woman’s work.”

I paused in the middle of cutting up a salami.

“That’s what I was taught,” she said quietly. “At the commune, women do all the cooking. We serve the men.”

I’d already heard enough about her commune and the people who lived there. The more I knew about them, the more I wanted to drive out there, find her goddamn husband, and put a bullet through his head.

Which was saying something because I’d vowed years ago when I got out of the gang life that I wasn’t going to be that sort of man anymore. I didn’t want to terrorize or kill people. I didn’t even own a gun these days.

But that didn’t make me want to hurt her husband any less. It would take me no more than thirty minutes to find someone in Saint View to sell me a gun. I could be at Ethereal Eden’s gates before sunrise.

But as appealing as that sounded, it all meant leaving Kara here alone, and I wasn’t doing that. “Your only job is to sit your sweet ass down on that couch and eat all of this food.”

A tiny smile lifted the corner of her mouth. “I can do that.”

Damn straight she could. “Remote is on one of the armchairs.”

She sat and picked it up, studying it for a second. “Don’t laugh at me, but I have no idea how to use these things. I haven’t watched TV in years.”

I brought the tray of food over to her, dragging a side table closer so I had somewhere to rest it. I took the remote from her and showed her which buttons to press. “I’m never going to laugh at you for not knowing something. There’s plenty of shit I don’t know.” I’d spent my entire life feeling dumb because my older brother was smart and good at everything. He’d never tried to make me feel bad, but I had anyway. I sure as hell never wanted to make Kara feel like that because she’d grown up sheltered from the real world. Her innocence only made me want to protect her more.

I flinched at a crash outside in the hallway, and Kara and I both looked to the door.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I assured her. “Walls are thin, and people around here aren’t super considerate of their neighbors. It can get noisy. Sorry.”

She shook her head. “Don’t be. There’s nothing wrong with where you live.”

But there was, and the crash outside the door had me jumpy. I’d never much worried about security, knowing I could take care of myself if the need ever arose.

But I’d never had something as precious as her to protect before.

I left her scrolling through romantic comedies on Netflix and got up to subtly check the lock on the door.

I’d buy another one tomorrow. Though no amount of deadlocks would stop someone if they tried kicking the door down. The thought left me cold. I moved to the windows and pulled on them all, making sure the locks were engaged. Why hadn’t I rented a place with bars? One well thrown rock or brick, and anybody could get in here. Why hadn’t I ever paid attention to this before?

Because I had no belongings of value, and I didn’t care half as much about my life as I did about hers.

“Movie is starting,” she said softly.

I jerked my head up from where I was inspecting a broken lock.

I hated the concern on her heart-shaped face.

“I’m safe here,” she told me firmly. Like she wanted it to be true.

I wasn’t one-hundred-percent sure I believed her. Hawk’s warnings about her people being out there searching for her played over in my mind. They’d gotten to her at the Slayers’ compound, where there were fences and state-of-the-art security. These people weren’t messing around. They had connections.

The memory of Hawk lifting her from the ground, not breathing, nearly buckled my knees.

She watched me carefully and then stood, crossing the room to me so she could take my hand. “Just come sit.”

Her fingers wrapped around mine was everything I’d thought about for years. Warm and sweet. I would have followed her anywhere.

I sank onto the couch, pulling her down next to me. She landed with an oof, and I wasted no time in closing the gap between us, putting my arm around her shoulders and drawing her into my side. Our thighs pressed together, and she settled into the crook of my arm, her head resting on my shoulder.

Like this was where she was always supposed to be.

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