Page 25 of In the Cover of Darkness

Ace is now pacing, arms flailing as he rants about everything he got. I have seen this man hunt a target for weeks, sometimes months at a time, and he never stopped laughing and smiling. Who knew periods were what would bring him crumbling down.Mila is still smiling, taking her focus off Ace for a second to whisper across the table to me chuckling, “I'm just going to let him tire himself out, and then I'll talk about this stuff.” Nodding, we let Ace go off on his rant before he gets a beer from the fridge and Mila gives us the most informative talk about periods and period products that I never knew I needed.

???

Getting into bed, I pull her toward me so she's nestled into my side.

“I have a few questions that I thought of today,” she says softly, her head on my chest with her arm resting across my stomach.

“You can ask me anything, sunshine.”

“I've been thinking about your job, or what you said you and Ace would be doing. Mercenaries, right? Well, I've been thinking about it and I guess mercenaries are not … it's not a good thing, being a gun for hire.”

I think I've stopped breathing, my whole body waiting for her next words. Is this going to be the end of us before we have even started? I know I said I was joining Ace as a mercenary but it's a lot more than that. Yes, in its most basic sense, I'm a gun for hire, but we don't do just any old job. I will not go blindly into a crappy situation to hurt innocent people. The idea is to be like a ghost, identify a threat and take out the target without anyone knowing you were ever there. We're more like private contractors who just happen to kill bad people. We will do our own research, determine if the threat should be eliminated and act on our own intel. I never overly explained any of this to her and I know she's not ignorant to the things I've done, especially after what her dad has taught her. I guess whatever she says next might make or break us.

"I just need to know … it's only bad people. That you will hurt. You won't hurt anyone good will you?”

Letting out the breath I didn't realise I was holding, pulling her so she is laying completely on top of me, her beautiful dark honey coloured eyes looking down at me, glistening in the moonlight shining through the window.

“No, baby, I would never hurt good people.”

Nodding her head, taking her hand and running it through my hair, I can't help but shut my eyes and bask in the sensation of her.

“Just don't get hurt, alright? I need you to always come back to me.”

My mind goes blank with her words, if there was any doubt over what this woman does to me there isn't anymore, she's mine, I just need to take it slow, wait for my time to tell her how I feel, and put all my cards on the table. Leaning down slightly, I kiss her forehead as she rests her head back on my chest.

“Always,” I say, my voice thick with how much love I have for this woman. “I'll always come back to you.”

Chapter 22 - Mila

"I'm going to go and talk with him,” I softly say to Nova. “He said he wouldn't do this again,” I mumble, shaking my head at her.

"Look, I get it. Lord knows I get it because Ace pulled some of the same shit when I first opened up Beans, and again with Pages. You are 100% safe here, but he doesn't know the town well enough to trust that. I don't know how to explain it other than Hidden Valley isn't like other small towns, or at least any that I know of. We are so far away from most places that we operate on a kind of small town justice system. You fuck with one of us, you fuck with all of us. Hell, even the sheriff is in on it, crime is practically zero and if something happens there's either an old fashioned fistfight or a simple explanation. The tourist season starts early spring and goes till the end of autumn so you have a couple of months still to get adjusted before you start noticing strangers in town. The tourists bring a little drama, but that's usually because they're entitled and think we owe them something for existing,” Nova says, rolling her eyes.

“No, I'm going to go say something. I mean, what happens when he goes on their first mission? I'll be surviving without himwhile he's away. He just has to get used to it. We both do,” I say, as I start my short walk to where Dante is sitting in the corner booth.

I feel more determined in what I'm saying because realistically, I know it's the truth. I can't rely on Dante to be there all the time. He's agreed to start teaching me self defence when my cast comes off soon, the only condition was that the doctor has to approve it. But this, whatever this is that he's doing is not sustainable. We agreed he was going to stay for one cup of coffee and then leave until my shift at Beans was over.

Yesterday went far better than I expected, but Dante didn't leave for my whole shift. On my first day in a new job, he just took a seat in the corner and sat there all day like a glorified bodyguard, growling if anyone came too close. He is not doing it two days in a row, or any other days for that matter. Thank gods Nova is understanding about what he can be like, because I'm under no illusions Ace is exactly the same.

“Dante,” I say sternly, standing at the edge of the table and staring at him. He doesn't look ashamed at all, just locks his jaw and slightly grimaces at me. I climb into the booth next to him but instead of sitting, I'm kneeling on the bench seat, facing him so we are at eye level.

“Dante, you promised,” I say again, pointing my finger into his chest. After a minute passes with no movement from either of us he deadpans, “You said I could stay for one cup of coffee,” nodding his head toward the full, but completely cold cup of coffee in front of him.

I look at the coffee and back at him, now giving him a death glare while a small smirk forms on his face.

“Oh, is this yours?” I gesture toward the coffee, still looking at him. Without breaking eye contact I pick up the cup, slowlybring it to my mouth and drink it in its entirety, before gently putting it back on the table. “It looks empty to me,” I say to him, a big smile on my face as I try not to laugh.

“Sunshine, it's not safe. What if something happens and I'm not here?” he growls.

Picking up his hand, placing it gently on my lap, holding it tightly, looking down at our intertwined hands, I softly say, "I have to do this myself, Dante. I have to be able to stand on my own at some point."

I can see the internal war happening behind his bright blue eyes. It's the only part of him that gives away what he's thinking. Every other part of his body is as hard as stone, a soldier ready for battle, but his eyes tell me everything I need to know. Guilt and what could happen, have won the battle of wills today and I'm going to have to play dirty to get him to see through the fog that's currently blinding him. Guilt over me getting hurt at some point in the future, and him not being there to stop it, as well as all the unknown possibilities of how that hurt could be inflicted. But, I cannot live in the shadows anymore, I need to start living a life for myself and for right now that means keeping this job at Beans and Pages. A job that will allow me the freedom of earning a paycheck that I keep, but also one in a safe environment. Even if Nova is turning out to be an incredibly understanding boss, I still don't need to bring this alpha male tantrum into her business. One day was bad enough, so he's not staying here for two days.

Sighing, I look back up at him, “I didn't want to have to do this but you've left me no choice.” I can feel him tense over what I've just said, over all the worst case scenarios that he could conjure.

“You have five minutes to leave here, Dante. Five minutes to make a decision about what's more important to you. If youleave in the agreed five minutes then nothing has to change. We continue to go about establishing our new lives together.”

“And if I don't?” he growls, his hand tightening in mine, his body leaning closer to me. He's not hurting me in any way, far from it, but I can tell I've put him on edge. I don't like playing dirty, but I’ve also come to learn that sometimes Dante and probably Ace too, need a little nudge from time to time.

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