Page 76 of When He Hunts

“Semper Fi,” she murmured.

“Uncle Sam taught me to be a better killer. When my service was up, the government was already recruiting me for…other things.”

“I knew you worked for the government.” What she’d suspected after the very first call with Grayson in the bayou. “There was no way you were some cold-blooded hitman.”

His eyelids flickered. “You are not listening to me. That isexactlywhat I am. What I became. I’ve taken out killers?—”

“Killers,” she pounced on that word, and she pounced on him, too. She jumped toward him. Grabbed both of his arms, and, yes, her sheet slithered to the floor. She’d worry about the sheet later. “You stopped bad people. You weren’t out there killing innocents.”

“A life is a life.”

“Were the people you stopped getting ready to hurt others? Getting ready to hurt you?”

He didn’t speak.

“I’ve been on the receiving end,” she said. Been there, done that. “They wanted to kill me in New Orleans and again in the bayou. When that guy with the gun tracked us to the cabin, you had to make a split-second decision. You made a decision that saved Kane and that saved me. You fired your weapon to stop him. Without you, I would be dead. So don’t expect me to jump on the Ronan-is-evil parade, because I won’t. Ever. You saved me. I’m betting you’ve saved plenty of innocent people in your life, too.”

“My life is soaked with blood.”

“Then let’s change that. You’ve given the darkness enough of your soul.” Her grip tightened on him. “You have shouldered enough pain. Let’s see what happens if you try for a different life.”

His gaze searched hers.

Hope stirred in?—

“There is no different life for me. Soon enough, Tyler will take you away.Youwill have a different life, and I’ll be sent on another hit.”

Ice skated over her skin. “Is that what you want? For me to get a life that’s far away from you?”

“You’ll be safe. I want you safe.” An inhale. Then his gaze darted down. “You lost your sheet.”

“Fuck the sheet.”

He blinked. “Such naughty language from you. Shocking, drama teacher.”

“You just bared your soul to me, and now you’re trying to shut down and block me out. That’s not going to work. I’m not scared of you, Ronan.”

“I didn’t think you were or else you wouldn’t come for me so easily.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re not going to piss me off.”

“Are you sure? I’ve been told I have a talent for pissing off plenty of people. That I can do it pretty effortlessly.”

“You’re trying to put up a wall between us because you think you just revealed too much about yourself to me.”

“You’re naked, princess. There is no wall. And you’re revealing everything to me.” Lust heated his stare.

“Stop it. Be real with me again. Let me inagain.” She stood on her toes. “I can handle your secrets. I’m not going to turn away in horror.” But, maybe… “Is that what you wanted? Did you think I’d be horrified, and it would make me leaving you easier?”

His lips thinned.

Oh, adorable Ronan. One of her hands rose, and her finger skimmed over his faint scar. “Nothing is going to make leaving you easier. Didn’t you hear me before? I’m falling for you. I’ve never been in love, not until you came along. I’m pretty sure it will break my heart when I lose you.”Shatter it into a million pieces. “I’m not asking for you to love me back.”

“Ineverget personally involved in jobs. You can’t get involved in this line of work.” His gaze seemed to burn. “People die. They leave. They vanish. There is no room for a personal connection. People don’t get to know the real me?—”

“I do,” she interrupted. “I have. I know the real you.”

“I can’t love you, Luna.” Stark. “I’m not capable of it. I hunt, I kill, and I wait for the next target. There is nothing more in my life.”

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