Vengeance Aside (Wanted Men 0.5)(20)

He slid his hands into the front pockets of his slacks. “Because I want you to know me. And, as I said, I want you to understand why I killed Nero for you.”

For her. Ah, no. And know him? Double no. “I don’t need to know you, Lukas. And you have no reason to explain yourself to me. I just need to leave. I promise I’ll never tell a soul what I saw. You have my word.”

He looked at her as if trying to determine if she was serious. When he saw she was, he still shook his head. “Out of the question. You’re mine, and your place is by my side. Now. May I finish my story?”

She was his? She didn’t think her nipples could get any tighter, but they did. Did he mean for the night? If so, she was on board. She’d never experienced anything like him before. And, yes, it was an experience just being in his presence, breathing in the arrogance he exuded. The confidence. The dark energy surrounding him oozed the type of masculinity that made her aware of being a woman with every move he made.

“Dale?”

She blinked and looked up from his chest. “Y-yes?”

His lip twitched. “May I finish my story?”

He patiently waited some more—endearing—while she studied him. But she could have done that for hours and not grown tired of it, so she nodded and made a duck quacking gesture with her hand that told him to talk away.

“When we found the sixth—an errand boy of sorts—who’d planted the bomb, my father handed me a gun and told me to shoot him for what he’d done to my mother. Her brother was the driver of the car that was targeted,” he explained, “and she never would get over the loss of him. Much like my father, my uncle Lukas was my hero. Yes, I was named after him,” he answered before she could ask. She wouldn’t have because her heart was breaking for his mother. “I pulled the trigger that night because the loss I was experiencing at the time felt permanent.”

And for him. So much so that she found herself rubbing at her chest, trying to ease the tightness there.

He let out a quiet sigh as he came back to sit on the bed, leaving a couple of feet between them. Grief was a murky cloud surrounding him.

“And it was permanent, because I still think about my uncle and wonder how things would have differed in our lives had he lived to share them with us.”

She wanted to hold him, she realized as his pain slithered over to wrap around her. But that was something she never did because it would mean she’d let someone else’s emotions touch her enough to garner a reaction. Confused, she forced herself to stay right where she was. “I’m sorry for your loss, Lukas, but—”

“The sixth had apparently been at a card game the night before the bombing.” He kept his eyes on the floor and placed his hand on her knee, almost as if he were apologizing for interrupting her. “My father and his men could hear him going on about a job he’d been given, one that was going to help him earn a better place in his organization. At one point, his eyes met my father’s, and the man asked what was so interesting. Realizing he was drunk and would likely get his ass kicked on the way home, my father ignored the idiot and went back to his game.”

His jaw tightened as he got up and went to put his watch on a rich walnut tallboy. Dale rose to her tingling knees and moved to the edge of the mattress because she was eager for the rest even though she was pretty sure she’d figured out the moral of the story already.

“Had my father dealt with the disrespect when it happened, the car bomb would never have been planted.” He turned to face her. “Second chances alter the future. In my world, that means someone could die. Had I merely broken Nero’s jaw for his appalling behavior, he could have come back tomorrow and shot you dead in the middle of Farah’s very loud dance floor. He could have found out where you live and waited for you. He’d have raped you before beating you to death.” His hand was rough as he massaged the back of his neck. “He might even have let things go for a few days before showing up while you were leaving work. What could I have done after he shoved a blade into your stomach and opened you up from navel to sternum?”

As ghost pain swept through her belly, Dale slowly rolled onto her hip. As far as explanations went, his was pretty damn solid. Which was the only reason she could think why she suddenly felt more relieved than upset that Nero was dead.

“Is this a regular thing for you?” She rubbed her palms on her thighs. “Hitting at them before they hit at you or your loved ones?”

“Not as much as you might think. There aren’t many with backing powerful enough to cross us.”

Oh. Well, that was egotistical, and kind of enticing. “You grew up in this life?” she asked, looking around for the first time.

Wealth. She saw wealth in the tiled ceiling and—

She nearly jumped out of her skin when Lukas came down on his knees in front of her.

“Shh.” He placed his hands on her thighs and stroked, soothing her. “My father’s father was Pakhan before him, so, yes. This is the only life I have ever known.”

“Explains why you’re so comfortable with it,” she murmured, watching his hands. She shouldn’t be letting him touch her. But couldn’t bring herself to stop him. “The shirt you were wearing earlier had a pinstripe in it.”

His eyes came up, and he gave her another of those half-smiles. “I changed in Samuel’s office before we left the club.”