Page 66 of Assassin's Mark
“Okay?” Levi asked, breaking the silence that pressed on me like a fifty-pound wet blanket. I caught the tensing of his hands, the aborted movement towardme, and felt my heart soften. For a man that raised himself to be invulnerable to emotions, to risk, Levi still had good instincts. What kind of man would he have been if his parents had lived?
“I’m okay.” I sat next to him on the couch and reached for his hand, closing the distance between us. Levi’s fingers immediately tangled with my own. Strong. Steady. Deadly when necessary. Peace flickeredinside me.
“We ordered pizzas. Eli’s going to help me pack some equipment to take with us.” His fingers tightened on mine the slightest bit, then softened. “I don’t want to be caught off guard again.”
“Of course.” I didn’t want him to be caught off guard either. Well, by anyone coming after us, anyway. A plan was forming in my head. If I knew anything, it was that Levi would never agree to letme go anywhere alone, unprotected. But the answers I needed were at the one place he couldn’t go; I knew it deep in my gut. Derrick was an arrogant, self-righteous bastard—and that was going to be his downfall.
“I’ll get a shower, we can eat, then we’ll go,” Levi said. He hesitated, his fingers coming up to lift my chin until our gazes locked. “Abby—”
I wished he’d call melittle bird. Birdswere fragile, they lived in cages, but in the wild they soared, free and strong, high above all threats. I wanted to be like that right now.
“What?”
Levi didn’t answer, just stared into me, delving deep into my soul. What was he looking for?
His fingers tightened on my chin, and he leaned close. “Keep Remi company?” he asked, breath warm on my lips.
What else was I supposed to do? “Sure.”
“Good.” He held me a moment longer, then settled his lips on mine. I closed my eyes and opened to him—his warmth, his confidence, his tenderness. If someone had asked me if a hit man could be tender, I’d have answered no without hesitation. But Levi had shown tenderness to me from that very first night. He’d taken care of me in my inexperience, in my fear, in my pain. He talked tough, but his actionshad revealed the true man, the one he kept locked away so no one could sense that he was vulnerable.
But I’d found the tender underbelly, and I do anything to protect him like he’d protected me.
“He’s not going off to war. Just to pack up some AKs. Give it a rest.”
Trust Eli to break into the moment. Levi smiled against my lips.
“Right. Let’s go,” he said, drawing away. Reluctantly, maybe?My heart hoped so; my head said it might be better, when this was all over, if he wasn’t as attached as I was. What kind of future did we have, after all, the society girl dethroned and the assassin with a well-protected heart?
I glanced at Remi as his brothers headed down the hall. Those amber eyes were fixed on me, dark, searching.
“May I get you anything?” I asked, the hostess in me rising.
“Yeah, some water?”
Had his voice always been this gruff, or was it lack of use during his injury that had caused it? I hadn’t known him before, so… “Sure.”
It was in the kitchen, pouring Remi’s drink, that the plan snapped together in my mind. I was so focused on the thoughts racing through my brain that I didn’t notice the too-full glass until water spilled over my hand and soaked the sleeveof my sweatshirt. “Damn it!”
“Everything all right?” Remi called from the living room.
“Yes, just making a mess.” I mopped up the water with a paper towel, but my gaze was locked on the delivery menu sitting on the counter. Pizza was coming. A car… The door…
“Here you go.” I passed Remi his water and took a seat on the corner of the couch closest to him.
Remi sipped for a moment. I could feelhis scrutiny. I’d gotten used to Levi’s intense gaze, but Remi, not so much. When he spoke, I startled.
“I’m sorry about all this. I—” He cleared his throat. “I never meant for anyone to drag you into this…mess.”
My life was a mess all right. I shrugged. “If they hadn’t, I might never have known about my mother. Maybe getting drugged and kidnapped and used was worth it for that.”
Guilt flashedacross his face. Exactly what I wanted to see.
“Remi…” I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. I’d never been the manipulative type—only the manipulated type—but I needed him to hear me, needed the truth to somehow convince him to help me. “I want Derrick to pay for what he’s done. Do you understand?” This time I stared him down, praying, hoping. “If we are right, he’s taken everything from me—mymother, my uncle, my life. He’s used me in a way that far surpasses anything Levi ever did. He tried to have me murdered, his own daughter. And I’m going to prove it. I think I know how.”
Remi set his glass on the coffee table. “How?”
“If there’s anything that ties Derrick to Caroline, anything at all, it will be in his safe at the house.”
