Page 77 of Vas

She covered half the distance that separated them and crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed things. That night I was attacked, you took that guy down in seconds. Seconds,” she stressed. “Not to mention, your reflexes are sharper than a ninja’s. There’s no way someone got that close to you unless they took you completely by surprise.” She threw him another glare. “And while walking to your car in broad daylight that’s unlikely.”

Vas looked as though he’d been turned to stone, mutely standing there, staring at her, not so much as a muscle twitching.

“What really happened to you today? What are you hiding? You know every part of my life, but when I think about it, what do I really know about you?”

Her shoulders dropped when he still didn't reply. Her only clue he was even paying attention to her was that his jaw was working and the hand not occupied with holding the towel was fisted in what looked like frustration.

That little tell-tale sign gave her the fortification to add, “What I do know is that when problems come up they mysteriously disappear. You have knife skills that rival classically trained chefs, yet you rarely cook. Some low life attacks me and then apparently falls off the face of the planet after. And let’s not forget about Marc. You remember him, don’t you?” She raised her browsalmost daring him to contradict her. “The guy who fired me? I ran into one of my old co-workers, and she informed me that he met the same fate not long after I told you that story.”

She waited for him to explain or deny and got nothing but silence. Heart breaking, Anna turned and stalked back to the coffee table, snagging her bag. Until Vas was willing to open up and stop the lies, they didn't have a relationship. Love couldn't prosper if it was founded on fairytales.

Her feet carried her halfway to the door before she stopped, turning back toward him, unable to let him go without trying one last time.

He still hadn’t moved.

“You’re hiding something from me.” She took a deep breath to fight back the tears. “Either you tell me the truth, right here, right now, about how you really got shot—about therealyou—or I’m walking out that door,” she pointed for emphasis, “and you’ll never see me again.”

She waited, breath held, as the seconds ticked by, her hope fading fast. Tears welled blurring her vision. He was really going to make her go through with it. Anna took the step to turn back around, her legs feeling like lead weights, and her soul shattering.

It was then, from the corner of her eye, she saw Vas move. A shifting of his body, jerking him forward like an invisible tether had just been cut.

She froze.

Then heard the last words she ever expected him to say.

“I’m a contract killer.”

Chapter 27

Seconds, that felt like hours, ticked by as Vas watched Anya’s face for the signs of horror and revulsion he was expecting, knowing all the while, her rejection would brutally destroy any hope of his life having a happy ending. She was it for him, there would never be anyone else who held his heart. How could there be when it belonged to his Anya.

Her expression gave nothing away as to how she was feeling and the worry in the pit of his stomach grew into fear—a living monster, chomping and scratching, demanding a way out to completely consume him. He’d give his soul to know what she was thinking in that moment. Had he destroyed her faith in him to the point she didn’t believe him? He supposed it would be poetic justice if shewalked out the door still believing him a liar, and he lost her anyway, despite the fact that for the first time in his miserable life he’d been completely honest.

As she'd listed his many sins, Vas had stood there and listened, frozen in place and incapable of uttering a single word in his own defense.

His worst nightmare had come to life.

She’d figured out… everything.

The chill inside of him had grown.

But when he saw her head for the door, the reality of what was happening had finally set in and the iciness inside of him had shattered.

He couldn’t let her go.

Not without a fight.

She wanted the truth and she deserved it, no matter the dread that overtook him at the prospect of telling her.

The truth, he knew, was worse than all his lies and the odds weren’t in his favor she wouldn’t walk out that door anyway. But even then he wouldn’t let her go. Not completely. He’d watch over her. Though he’d be an empty shell of a man, he’d spend his life, just out of sight, making certain Anya was safe and cared for.

As he watched her, just standing there, it was taking everything in his power not to go to her and take her into his arms, trapping her forever. But that would be selfish. He’d known from the start that his selfishness would end in heartbreak. He hadn’t listened then, but he sure as hell would now. Anya deserved that too.

Finally, she spoke. One way or another, things would either end well, or they’d end badly, but at least they would end, putting him out of his self-inflicted misery.

“You kill people… For money?”

“Yes.” What else could he say, that was his life in a nutshell. Vas had willingly chosen his path. And even with losing his sister from his life, he hadn't regretted it.

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