Page 65 of Mountain Daddy

"You followed me."

"I've been watching you, Lilly. Your address was never a secret."

Watching me.

The words settle in my stomach like lead. "You've been stalking me."

"I've been protecting you."

I laugh bitterly. "Protecting me? From what?"

"From men like the one in that alley."

He stands slowly, and I take an instinctive step back. Even casual, even sitting, he radiates danger. Standing? He's a predator uncoiled.

"You mean men like you?"

His mouth curves into something that might be a smile on anyone else. On Nikolai, it’s something else. A threat. Amusement.

"No, Lilly. Not like me. Men like me don't hurt innocent women. We hurt men who try to."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"It's supposed to make you understand."

I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly cold despite the sweat cooling on my skin. "Understand what?"

"That I'm not the monster you think I am."

"I saw you nearly kill a man."

“That man was dangerous. The things he had in mind, I wouldn’t upset you with them.”

The conviction in his voice makes me want to believe him. Makes me want to think there was a reason for the violence. A justification.

But I've seen enough of the world to know how this works. The dangerous man always has an excuse. Always has a reason why his violence was necessary.

"Even if that's true?—"

"It is true."

"—you can't just decide to be judge, jury, and executioner."

"Can't I?"

The quiet question hangs between us like a loaded gun. Because the answer is obvious, isn't it?

He can.

He did.

And he'd do it again without hesitation.

"Who are you?" I whisper. "Really?"

"You know who I am."

"No. I know you sit at Table 9. I know you’re dangerous." My voice rises despite my efforts to stay calm. "But I don't know who you really are."

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