“Yes.” She glanced around the room. “What’s happening? What’s going on?”
“Don’t stress about it, baby. You don’t need to worry, okay?” He placed a hand on her chest, keeping her down. He moved so that he sat on the edge of the sofa, keeping her in place. “Everything has been taken care of.”
“My bakery?”
“Is fine. Everything has been scrubbed and cleaned. All of your products replaced. Boss is very thorough. You could eat off the floors.”
She nodded her head, and slowly lay back down.
“He also wants to reward you.”
“Reward me?”
“You killed that man. You’re going to get paid. It will help you.”
Riley closed her eyes. “I should be thrown in jail.”
For several seconds Shadow didn’t say anything. He held her hand, wondering what to say. Kissing her knuckles, he stared into her eyes. “He wasn’t the first man you killed, was he?”
Tears filled her eyes as she shook her head. She didn’t try to deny it. “No.”
“Tell me, Riley.”
There was so much she kept bottled up, and he hated seeing her like this.
She closed her eyes, and sighed. “Sixteen. I was sixteen, and finally getting by. I had a, erm, a fake ID. I got to work, and everything was fine. You know? Nothing going wrong. I worked late one night, finishing at two in the morning. I hadn’t been to school in a long time, and I passed this same alley for weeks, months even. They say your life can change in an instant. I was pulled into that alley.” She wiped under her nose as the tears fell. “I don’t even know who the guy was, I just know that he’d been waiting for me. That’s what he said. He’d seen me. He’d been waiting, and I struggled. He slammed me up against the wall, and threw me to the ground, knocking the wind right out of me. I fought, but he was stronger. I screamed for help. I yelled and screamed and begged. Nothing. He didn’t stop. He shoved up my skirt, and tore at my panties, and he had his … thing out. I don’t know what happened next, but I had the knife in my hand, and I just kept stabbing and stabbing until there was so much blood that all I could see was red.” She looked toward him.
“Is that why you wouldn’t let Boss have the knife?”
She nodded. “It’s kept me safe ever since.”
Chapter Nine
Riley had nodded on and off, but Shadow let her rest. When she pushed to sit up on the sofa, he bent down in front of her and held her hands in his.
“How you feeling?”
“Better. I’m sorry for making such a scene,” she said.
He couldn’t help but smile. “You’re allowed to be upset, Riley. Do you think the gossipy housewives on our street could handle what you’ve just been through?”
She chuckled. “I’d pay to see that.”
Shadow sat beside her on the sofa, putting his arm around her so she could rest her head on his chest. “Things are only going to get better. My contract’s been handled, and I’ll be sure to keep future projects far from home.”
“So, no more hitmen waiting to kill me?”
He couldn’t answer her without lying. Boss’s words rang in his head. The mark’s outer circle could still want Riley dead. Until he knew exactly what they were dealing with, he had to keep his woman close. “Let’s hope not.”
She held his hand. “You have a strong heartbeat,” she said.
“I take good care of it,” he said. “Now that I think of it, most of my life my biggest fear was dying of sickness. All that’s changed now.”
“How so?” she asked.
“Because none of that matters anymore. Now I’m only afraid of losing you, Riley.”
She tilted her head to kiss him, slowly, passionately.