“I’m fine with that.”
Exiting the building, she took Abel’s hand, and they started walking along the street. With it being so cold, not many people were venturing out.
“Do you have a lot of questions?” he asked.
“Why didn’t you tell me? You had so many chances. I wanted to know about you, and to learn everything.”
“I was afraid,” he said.
“You were afraid?”
“Yes.”
“Of what?”
“Losing you.”
She looked toward him. He wasn’t lying.
“I had only just found you.” He chuckled. “You thought I was a creep grabbing your ass, so we didn’t exactly get off to a really good start.”
“No, we didn’t.”
“You married me, and I knew we were struggling. I didn’t want it to be like that, but it was. Every time I got close to you, I just thought if you knew the truth, you’d run. I couldn’t stand the thought of you running from me.”
“So you pretended to be someone you’re not?”
“No. What you got, that was who I am. Abel, the man you know. He’s here. The guy you didn’t know, he’s the one that goes out hunting for people that cause trouble. I’m not going to lie to you. To the enemy, I’m the monster. I’m the kind of guy that people have nightmares about.”
“If I ask you questions, do you promise to be honest?” she asked.
“Yes. You know everything. I have nothing to hide.”
She took a deep breath and started asking him questions.
“Have you ever killed an innocent person?”
“No.”
“Not one?”
“I’ve only ever killed bad people. The night we were attacked, one of my friends, she was a whore who I used to fuck—she was killed by some bad guys. I’m going to hunt them down, and I’m going to kill them.”
“Oh.”
“I don’t kill good people. Just bad ones.”
She nodded. “Have you ever taken drugs?”
“No.”
“Really?”
“We’re not allowed. Dad, he’d be pissed. Like seriously pissed. We’d get pushed out onto the street. He doesn’t allow us to take that kind of shit.”
“Okay. Er, what about—er, do you traffic women?”
“No. The women who work for us, work for us willingly. We don’t force anyone. Anyone who is found to be forcing women gets killed, and we support the women who have been pulled into our world.”