Page 80 of Vas

“I thought this dark web and encrypted message thing kept your real identity a secret. How does this guy know it was you?”

“We use code names. It's an open secret who takes which jobs so my code name would've been easy enough to access. He contacted Veles to go after the real me.”

“Veles? That’s your code name?”

“Yes.”

Her brow scrunched. “Why that name?”

Vas groaned under his breath. Why did she have to ask him that. He’d picked the name as a punk teen and at the time thought it’d been cool, but he was a tad embarrassed to reveal the meaning to Anya now. “Veles was the Slavic god of the underworld. The king of departed souls.”

“Fitting.” Her tone was dry but he saw a small quirk of her lips for a fleeting instant before her expression cleared. In that few seconds Vas saw a glimpse ofhisAnya. A small spark of hope flared in his chest.

“Anyway, the whole job here in Vegas was a setup. I'd already turned the job down once, but the supposed client had done his homework and knew the right buttons to push to get me to bite. The target was a sex offender and his victims, young innocents.”

Vas then briefly recounted the events that led to his being shot, leaving out everything that wasn’t absolutely necessary.

Anya's face paled and she leaned forward on what looked like pure instinct, grabbing his hand. “You’re lucky you weren’t killed!”

Shit, Vas probably should've sugar coated it some more, but he still gripped her hand like a lifeline. “As you’ve pointed out, I have quick reflexes.”

Her expression morphed from appalled to annoyed. “This isn’t a joke.”

Fuck. Gain an inch, lose two. Sighing, he said, “I know.” He gave her hand a squeeze, mostly so she didn't take it back. “I didn’t mean to sound like it was.”

“Did you even think about me? What would’ve happened if you'd been killed? Would I even know? Or would I have to live out the rest of my life thinking you left me?”

That ticked him off. His jaw hardened and he gritted, “Of course, I thought about you. You’re all I ever think about. I've made arrangements with my attorney for you to be taken care of if something happens to me. I would never leave you wondering something like that.”

She ducked her head, looking contrite, and his anger vanished as quick as it came. “I’m sorry. I know you would never do anything to intentionally hurt me.”

He squeezed her hand again and she looked up. Her features had softened. “So what do we do now? What’s your plan?”

“We?” he raised a brow.

“Yes,we. I guess we’re in this together now.”

“And you’re okay with all this. With what I’ve done?”

“Okay is a relative term, and I’ll probably drive you crazy with questions, and you'll have to walk me through that. But, coincidentally enough, we’ve had this discussion. You already know my feelings on the subject.”

“Real life and a fictional scenario are two different things. I’m not a hero.”Vas needed Anya toseehim. To accept that he'd always be a man that could and would kill, if necessary. He wasn't a monster but did walk a shadowed, morally-gray path. It would do neither of them any good if she built him up to be something that he wasn’t.

“You were my heroand I’m guessing I’m not the only one who probably thinks that way. Listen, I get what you’re saying, but I believe in justice no matter who doles out the punishment—the law or otherwise.”

He shook his head. “How are you taking this so well?”

“Maybe I'm just happy you trusted me enough to tell me. I don't know and I don't have all the answers.” She squeezed his hand this time and he took it as a good omen. “Honestly, it’s a relief to finally have all of you… to know the whole truth.”

“Even if the truth paints me as the bad guy?” He swore under his breath. His conscience needed to shut the fuck up.

“Agoodbad guy not abadbad guy. There’s a difference.”

“Not many people see it that way.”

“Does that matter as long as I’m not one of them?”

“No.” He brought their clasped hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “I do love you, Anya. That was never a lie.”

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