Page 45 of Marked

“Probably because they trust you.” I push back from her and open the fridge, grabbing the half-and-half for her. “Just like you trust me.”

“I do.” She nods. “It’s weird, right? Feeling this connected to someone this fast? It’s not normal. Maybe I am sick, like Artie said.”

“The world is a sick and fucked up place, Harley. You’re not the sickness.” I hand her the half-and-half as the coffee sputters the last bit of brew into her mug. “You’re going to be part of thecure.”

“You killed Dustin. Is that what brought you to town? Him?”

“Yes.” I nod.

“Why’d you kill him?” She pours the cream into her coffee while stirring in a heaping spoon of sugar.

“He was a bad man doing bad things.”

“Why won’t you tell me?” She drops her spoon into the sink.

“Because I like it when you sleep without nightmares.”

She looks over her shoulder at me. “Don’t start acting like I’m a fragile piece of glass. Not after what I did yesterday.”

My eyebrows shoot up. “Fragile glass? You? Never.”

“Isn’t that why you call me your little bird? You think I’m a little innocent creature that needs to be protected in a cage?” She brings the mug to her lips and takes a small sip.

“No. I call you my little bird because you’ve just found your wings and are learning to fly.”

She smiles. “I think I like that.” She pauses. “But I still want to know what he did.”

“If I tell you that it’s better you don’t know, you need to trust me.”

She levels me with a stare, like she’s considering what I’m saying.

“I do trust you, Zack.” She nods. “But I’m tired of having things hidden from me.”

“I get that.” And I do. I spent over a decade serving in one of the top-tier special operations battalions in the Marines. I’ve seen things that would make Harley never sleep again, but I always believed we were the heroes. We were the good guys. But in the end, it was just bullshit.

We were fed lies to keep us going on missions, while the corrupt bastards back in their tents provided those that were considered trusted allies with innocents to abuse. All the while, we were made to stand guard, to hear their cries and do nothing.

Some fucking heroes we were.

“So you’ll tell me?” She edges toward me with a coy smile.

I chuckle.

“I’ll tell you this. He hurt a girl. He did things to her that were unforgivable, and for no other reason than he enjoyed it. I killed him because he was a monster.”

“And all monsters need to be slain,” she says.

“Yes.”

“But we’re not monsters?”

“No.” I rest my hands on her hips, pulling her closer to me, and kissing her softly. “We get rid of the monsters.”

She smiles after I pull back.

“So now we find Vince? What about Special Agent Laurens? She’s going to realize Artie messed up, and she might send more guys.” She takes another sip of her coffee and puts the mug down on the counter.

“I sent her a text from Artie’s phone, telling her all went as planned. I’ll watch for any messages from her on his phone, make sure she’s not looking for him.”

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