Savage shook his head. It was now or never. “That nightmare you kept having about Arnold? You asked the wrong question, baby. You asked me if I killed him. I didn’t. You saw those images because they were real. I told you I question our prisoners to find out who has the children or who are the ones taking them. I don’t do it nicely. I torture them.”
She was very still, her fingers digging into his thighs. They’d told her straight up that he’d questioned Tawny and that pain had been involved, but it had been different with Joseph Arnold. She’d seen images, and they’d been gruesome.
Savage kept his gaze fixed on her face while she processed. It was her way to take her time. When Reaper started to say something, Savage shook his head. They waited. The wind blew, touched his face, ruffled her hair. She took a deep breath. At least she wasn’t running.
“I’m not certain why Arnold would have to be questioned, but if all of you believed he needed to be, then I would want to trust your judgment.”
He forced himself to keep looking at her, not taking his eyes from hers. “I told you I was raised to be an assassin. I still do that work. I take out our enemies. I’ll be doing it here.”
She didn’t look away from him, nor did she say anything. No one did. There was absolute silence. Her fingers bit harder into his thighs. She touched her tongue to her lower lip, and then her chin went up. “You knew before we came here, all of you knew, that you would be killing someone.”
He nodded. His hand covered hers, his thumb moving over the back of it. “More than one person. Several.”
“Just you, or will the others be doing this kind of work as well?”
“That will depend on the situation. Usually, it’s me. Sometimes one of the others has no choice.” He wasn’t going to incriminate any of his brothers or sisters.
She inhaled deeply and then stepped back, pulling her hands away from his thighs. “I have to think about this for a minute. Give me a minute. You know how I am.”
He did. She needed to process. At least she wasn’t telling him to go to hell and demanding Czar get her a ride home. She was surprisingly cool about Arnold now that she had time to think about it. He had to learn to give her the time she needed, and if he wasn’t always able to protect her from the things he did, he needed to man up and talk to her about them so she didn’t have nightmares like she had with Arnold.
Czar glanced at his watch several times but refrained from breaking the silence. Maestro and Reaper assessed Savage and how close he was to the edge. They’d been through it with him many times and knew every single sign.
Seychelle came back to him faster than he’d thought she would. “You aren’t going to name names because you aren’t going to incriminate anyone but you.” She looked at Maestro and Reaper. “You came here with the intent to kill some people who I presume are an actual threat to you, or you wouldn’t want them dead. Can you give me your word that anyone you kill deserves it, Savage?”
“Would you take my word, Seychelle?” He pushed stray strands of hair from her face with gentle fingers, his heart turning over. She was such a gift, and he had come so close to blowing his chances with her.
“As far as I know, you’ve never lied to me, so yes, I would believe you.”
“I would never kill an innocent. They would have to be a threat to you, me or the club, and that isn’t an innocent in my eyes. Anyone else is someone we’re after because they’re involved in human trafficking or a pedophile ring. I neutralize any threat to any member of the club or anything such as this mess we’re in now.”
“The one I tried to talk to you about before you went off with Czar.”
“That’s the one,” he confirmed.
“How long are you going to be the one doing this for the club?”
“Indefinitely.” He made that a firm statement.
“I see.”
He didn’t like the quiet acceptance in her voice.
“What do you mean, you tried to talk to Savage about it before he left?” Czar said. “Why would that be what you were upset about? Why was that in any way affecting you, Seychelle?”
“Brandon Campbell, as you know, is related to four of the Diamondbacks,” Seychelle said.
She moved away from Savage again. He couldn’t tell if she did it because she needed to pace or if she was suddenly upset again that he had left her in a highly emotional situation. She pressed one hand to her temple as if it hurt.