“No.” He swallowed hard. “You shouldn’t.”
“I’m a nurse. I took a vow to save lives, and you’re a—”
Adrian’s entire body stiffened, the heat in his eyes cooling instantly. “A what?”
“A killer.”
There. She’d said it out loud.
“Yes.” His voice was flat, now. “I am.”
He started to drop his hand and step away, but Jenna grabbed his thick wrist and held it there. “If I hadn’t been in the way, you would’ve killed that man trying to take me.”
“Yes.” His chest began rising and falling at a more rapid pace.
She knew what he was thinking, but he was wrong. So, so wrong.
“Why would you do that?” Jenna searched his eyes for the truth. “Why do you even care about what happens to me?”
His lips parted. “Because.”
“Because?” She snorted. “I deserve more of an answer than that.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched. “What do you want from me, Jenna?”
“I want to know why.”Come on, big guy. Just. Say. It.“Tell me why it matters to you, Adrian.”
“Because, damn it!”
“Because why?”
His nostrils flared, and when he finallydidsay it, his words sounded like they were being torn free from somewhere deep inside.
“Because I care!” Adrian bellowed, his words echoing off the room’s thin walls. He blinked, clearly surprised by his own admission, but then, “It matters becauseyoumatter. And I didn’t want to lose you like I lost…” He cut himself short. Brought his other hand up to frame her face. He leaned in, his lips brushing against hers as he whispered, “It matters because…I fuckingcare.”
He lost someone. Someone very important to him.
Her heart ached for him. Jenna wanted to ask who it was he’d lost but decided to hold off. For now.
In the meantime…
She smiled. Feeling triumphant, she rose onto her tiptoes, her mouth nearly touching his. “Good. Because I care about you, too, Adrian.”
She was going to kiss him. Hadplannedto kiss him. But it was too late.
He was already kissing her.
Chapter 6
I shouldn’t want you.
Jenna was spot fucking on when she’d said those words. Of course, he’d known that shit from the start.
Sheshouldn’twant a man like him. She should be with someone who was safe. Trustworthy. A banker or a doctor. An accountant, maybe.
Someone whose life didn’t revolve around death and deceit.
But by some miracle, she’d chosen him. And God help her, he was too weak to walk away a second time.