Page 11 of To Keep

There was no way she would throw up, but then he heard it.

“A waste of good food. You know, people are starving.”

“Shut up. It’s not like I can help it. That is so gross. I don’t…” She stopped and he heard her vomiting again.

“A weak stomach. Does it help that it’s just a rumor?”

“And you were willing to accept money from this monster to kill me?” she asked, peering at him from her place at the sink.

“Money makes the world go around.”

“You’re horrible. I can’t believe I worked for him.” She shuddered. “Do you think … no, forget it.”

Galen frowned.

He didn’t care one bit, but there was something in her tone that got to him. Gritting his teeth, he tried to ignore it as he finished off his second burger. “What?”

“Nothing. It’s nothing.” She ran the water, and he stared up at the ceiling, hoping he could let it go.

Yeah, he had to let it go. Only, he didn’t let it go.

“Do I think what? Don’t forget, I’ve told you to shut up and now I’m talking to you, so stop giving me the fucking runaround. Do I think what?” He repeated the last part and felt his anger building. Asking questions didn’t mean he cared.

Skye finished cleaning his sink and returned to the table, holding a towel over her mouth. She was pale. Who knew a basic description of a monster would make her feel so rotten.

“That he planned to do … what you described to me?”

Galen frowned. “Why do you think that?”

“When I first started to work for him, I rarely saw him. I had to do a job. Not even to be seen or heard. I expected that. I’ve had a lot of jobs where people don’t even want to acknowledge they have children.” She shrugged. “In the past few weeks, before I saw what he did, he’d been more attentive. He started to open doors for me. When I was trying to hide, he made himself very visible to me.”

Galen didn’t like how that sounded. His hands clenched into fists.

“Forget about it. I know it’s silly.”

“Why is it fucking silly?” he asked. This woman was getting on his last nerve. He wasn’t used to a job fucking up like this, and then having to deal with the consequences. When he was sent on a mission, he completed it. No babysitting involved. This was a huge problem.

“Well, look at me and think about the women Mr. Petrov always has around. It makes no sense. Maybe he just wanted to kill me?”

Galen stared at her. She was right, she wasn’t the slender blonde Petrov usually went for, but she was incredibly beautiful. She also had that air of innocence that would fool many men into thinking she was a virgin. To a man like Petrov, even to a man like him, her virginity would be a fucking calling card. Any man, in fact, would like to be the one to finally break her in.

“No, you’re not wrong, Skye,” he said. “You were probably his next target.”

“But I’m his nanny. Why would he do that to me?” she asked. “I took care of his kids and I’m not just saying it, I really did an amazing job.”

He couldn’t believe he was having this conversation. He was used to the people who walked in his circles—fellow killers, evil bastards, and horrible bitches. Not innocent little nannies who didn’t know what the fuck was going on. Certainly not a woman who couldn’t seem to tell that her boss was preying on her.

“Power. Greed. Lust. You name it.”

Skye frowned. “That makes absolutely no sense. No sense at all.”

“Does it even need to make sense?” he asked. “That’s all that’s at play here. Nothing needs to make sense.” He shrugged. “Are you going to eat that?”

“No, I don’t even know howyoucan eat that.”

“Easy.” He picked up her burger and took a large bite. “Yum.”

She rolled her eyes. “At least it’s getting eaten.” She rested her hand on her stomach.

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