Page 50 of Secret Weapon

17

NINE

How long did we sit there?Ten minutes?Twenty?Alex just kept stroking my hair, except it wasn’t really my hair, it was a wig, but it looked like my old hair before I dyed it brown and grew it long.And after what seemed like forever, I ran out of tears and got my breathing back under control.

I wanted to apologise.I wanted to tell him how sorry I was for acting like a weak-willed fool, but what came out was, “If you tell anyone about this, I’ll cut off your balls while you sleep.”

And what did he do?He kissed me on the forehead.

“From you, I wouldn’t expect anything less.Want me to drive?”

“I’m not incapable.”

“I know that.Let’s trade seats.”

“I can—”

But Alex was already out of the car and walking around to my side.And I just… I just didn’t have the energy to fight tonight.So we traded, and he set off slightly quicker than I’d been going but not fast enough to attract the attention of the highway patrol.And I sat there in silence because there really wasn’t anything I could do or say to fix this, was there?

When the lights of Baldwin’s Shore came into view, I expected Alex to head straight for the Peninsula, but instead, he slowed when we hit the town limits.

“Where do you live?”

“Why does that matter?”

“Because in order to drive you home, I need to know where your house is.”

“I can drive myself home.”

“Da, you could, but I need to know you’re safe.”

“What, you think there might be an assassin hiding in my house?”I brought my hands to my cheeks in mock horror.“Whatever will I do?”

“Dasha, just give me this, okay?”

Was this another “regular people” thing?Where the guy had to check there were no bogeymen hiding in the shadows, even though the girl was arguably more qualified to do the job?

“Fine.Fine, take the next left.”

My home wasn’t flashy, but it wasn’t shitty either.I’d spent two years caring for East Baldwin, and when he realised he didn’t have long left, he’d made sure I was looked after.The Baldwin family were the area’s biggest landowners—yes, the town was named after one of their ancestors—and East had offered me an empty property from their rental portfolio.Choice of four, just pick my favourite.I had, of course, selected the place with the largest basement.The majority of his family had been far from happy about me getting a minuscule piece of their inheritance, but the will was watertight, and East said I’d spent more time with him than any of those miscreants, anyway.Only Sara had bothered to visit.The daughter of East’s dead son rather than the living one.I didn’t mind her.The rest of the family were assholes, although the worst of them were in jail now.Rarely had I enjoyed my job in the past, but last month, I’d taken great delight in ensuring one of that clan got charged with murder.

So I had my house, and the upstairs rooms were comfy and homey and chintzy and frilly and everything a visitor would expect from a woman like Darla.The doormat saidWelcome!and a framed cross-stitch in the hallway saidCome as a guest, leave as a friend.The shotgun hidden behind the coat rack saidget the hell away from me.

I opened the door for Alex so he could do whatever safety checks he felt were necessary before I drowned myself in alcohol.Who cared about the painkillers I’d taken?Tonight, I needed sweet oblivion.

“Please don’t judge me from the decor.”

He read the quote on the mirror ahead of us.“Don’t worry, be happy?”

“So I don’t take my own advice.Get over it.”

“And Emmy accuses me of being the grumpy one.”

“Grumpy?”

“I spent a long time being angry at the world, and my knee hurt constantly.So, yes, I grouched a lot.”He rolled his eyes.“Plus I have to train Emmy.”

“Okay, I get it.But you used the past tense—what changed?”

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