Page 87 of When He Lies
“I’m a liar,” Ryan told her again.
“I think we’ve covered that part pretty thoroughly. No need to rehash.”
“I didn’t intend to fall for you, but I did.”
She’d misheard. Simone shook her head. “Quite sure you told Jezebel that you were not falling for me.”
“That part was the lie. And she called me on it.”
Her body tensed.
“I met you, I knew you’d be useful to me, so I asked you out that first day. It was never supposed to go past being a purely platonic, casual experience between us. But I went out with you, and I…liked you.” Gruff. A little awkward.
She’d liked him, too.
“Sometimes, you meet someone, and you realize that they know you. More than that, they get you. The more I learn about you, the more secrets that are revealed, I realize that you get me, Simone. You don’t flinch away from who I am or what I’ve done. You saw me kill a man, and you barely batted an eyelash.”
“You killed to protect me.” She’d been grateful to be alive. Besides, she only batted her lashes when she was trying to play innocent and throw someone off balance.
“I’d kill to protect you a million times over.”
Her gaze cut away from his. “That would be a lot of dead bodies. Totally unnecessary. Overkill, some would say.”
He eliminated even more of the distance between them. His hand slid under her chin, and, slowly, carefully, he turned her head so that she looked at him once more. “I lied when I said that I wasn’t falling for you. I lied to Jezebel, and, like I told you, she immediately called me on it. Jez always does that. Calls me out on my BS.”
Her heart raced far too fast. “You’re telling me what you think I want to hear. You’re trying to manipulate me. You want my help, so you’re attempting to smooth things over. Unnecessary. I already promised to cooperate with the CIA.”
“No, I’m not interested in manipulating you. I’m telling you what I need to say. Because I don’t want to be a liar with you. I want you to know me. All of me. Not just surface level.”
Her gaze drifted over him. “Your surface has some interesting tattoos.”
He’d mentioned that he’d gotten both real and fake tattoos. Kinda like the man himself. Real and fake. Real hero. Fake asshole billionaire?
But as she studied him, her gaze became caught on the dragon tattoo. Such an impressive beast. Every scale seemed to be alive with energy and dangerous intent.
“I got that one for my sister. Agnes…she lost someone very special to her a long time ago. His murder changed her life. She became someone different, and all she wanted was for the killer to be brought to justice. I was helping to hunt him. But when you hunt monsters for too long, you can become one, far too easily. You can become something that other people fear.”
Her arms stopped hugging her body. They fell to her sides. “I am not afraid of you.”
“I know. Maybe you should be, though, because where you are concerned, I can’t compartmentalize. I can’t shut down my emotions. I can’t keep my control, no matter how hard I try.”
They were hours from dawn. From the promised meeting with Frederick. For an end to the mission.
When they parted ways, she’d never again get to do the things she wanted to do with Ryan. With him. To him. “Did you help your sister? Did you stop the monster?”
“Her monster is gone.”
“That’s good.” She rocked forward onto the balls of her feet. “Why are you sharing so much with me?”
“Because I never told anyone else all of this. Because I want you to be the one who carries my secrets. Because I will not betray you again.”
Her lower lip trembled. “It’s easy to make promises. Not so easy to keep them.”
“I want you.”
I want you, too.
“I’m not just talking about right now, right here, though, hell, yes, I do.” His stare was so focused. So hot. Scorching. “I’m talking about forever.”
