mind.
“You strike me as a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them,” Chloe said. “But what do I know? I’m just a PA.”
“You are certainly not just a PA . Just because I boss you around all day, doesn’t mean you’re any less important than me. Never forget that.”
“Stop being nice. It freaks me out.”
It freaked me out too. What the hell was I doing? Dad would go apeshit if he saw me acting like this with a girl. He was the complete opposite of Mom in that respect. Mom wanted me to find a nice girl, settle down, and pop out little grandkids for her. She’d never said much about my womanizing ways, but recently she’d started making it clear, with the sort of disapproving looks that only a mom can give, that she wanted me to grow out of it.
I had no idea how long the silence had lasted but finally Chloe spoke up. “Are all the tattoos covering up scars?”
I smiled at her. I kept doing that. I’d smiled more in the last week than I had in the months since Kara had died.
“I swear you’re just desperate for any excuse to look at my body. Do you have any tattoos I can look at? This seems rather one-sided so far.”
“Sorry, no tattoos. No scars. Nothing physical anyway. I’ve lived a rather uneventful life compared to you.”
“Uneventful is good,” I replied. “I’d take uneventful right now.” I turned my right side towards Chloe to show her my right bicep, making sure to tense it as I did so. “There’s a scar on my arm as well, but that happened after the tattoo. I also have one just below my ribs, but you can barely see that.”
Kara reached out and lightly touched the scar on my arm with a finger, before pulling it back quickly as if my skin were hot to the touch. She did the same with the scar below my ribs, and--not for the first time--I was seriously wishing I had scars in more interesting places to show her.
“How did you get these?” she asked.
“Went through a window,” I replied.
“That’s why most people use doors, I guess.”
I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help my laugh at her bad joke. “I don’t remember you including ‘funny and witty,’ as one of the skills on your résumé.”
“And I don’t remember you mentioning ‘cleaning stab wounds’ as one of the job requirements. We all leave things out from time to time. Sometimes it’s more fun to discover things naturally.”
She couldn’t have been more right. If someone had described Chloe and tried to set me up with her, then I wouldn’t have believed how special she was. I would have ignored it as another attempt to get me away from one night stands.
But every minute I spent with Chloe revealed something new about her. She probably wasn’t perfect--no one was--but I’d have to look damn hard to find any flaws.
Chloe once again took it upon herself to end the silence. “You’re going to kill them, aren’t you? The people who killed Kara. You’re going to get revenge.”
“Yes,” I replied without hesitation.
“That won’t bring her back. It won’t make you feel any better.”
“I know. But they deserve it anyway.”
“You know who killed her?”
“Yes. But I don’t know where he is. He’s a rather illusive figure; I don’t even know what he looks like. But I know he killed her. And I’ll find him. He’ll slip up, and when he does, I’m going to kill him.”
Chloe nodded silently, as if what I’d just said was the most normal thing in the world. I must be misreading her. Every instinct told me she was a sweet, but tough, young woman, who wouldn’t hurt a fly.
“Okay,” Chloe said, seemingly reaching a decision about something.
“Okay, what?”
“Okay, I’ll help you.”
“You fucking well won’t,” I snapped far more aggressively than I’d intended. “You’re not helping me kill him.”
“No, I won’t. But I’ll help you find him. On one condition.”
“And what would that be?”
“Up until the
“You strike me as a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them,” Chloe said. “But what do I know? I’m just a PA.”
“You are certainly not just a PA . Just because I boss you around all day, doesn’t mean you’re any less important than me. Never forget that.”
“Stop being nice. It freaks me out.”
It freaked me out too. What the hell was I doing? Dad would go apeshit if he saw me acting like this with a girl. He was the complete opposite of Mom in that respect. Mom wanted me to find a nice girl, settle down, and pop out little grandkids for her. She’d never said much about my womanizing ways, but recently she’d started making it clear, with the sort of disapproving looks that only a mom can give, that she wanted me to grow out of it.
I had no idea how long the silence had lasted but finally Chloe spoke up. “Are all the tattoos covering up scars?”
I smiled at her. I kept doing that. I’d smiled more in the last week than I had in the months since Kara had died.
“I swear you’re just desperate for any excuse to look at my body. Do you have any tattoos I can look at? This seems rather one-sided so far.”
“Sorry, no tattoos. No scars. Nothing physical anyway. I’ve lived a rather uneventful life compared to you.”
“Uneventful is good,” I replied. “I’d take uneventful right now.” I turned my right side towards Chloe to show her my right bicep, making sure to tense it as I did so. “There’s a scar on my arm as well, but that happened after the tattoo. I also have one just below my ribs, but you can barely see that.”
Kara reached out and lightly touched the scar on my arm with a finger, before pulling it back quickly as if my skin were hot to the touch. She did the same with the scar below my ribs, and--not for the first time--I was seriously wishing I had scars in more interesting places to show her.
“How did you get these?” she asked.
“Went through a window,” I replied.
“That’s why most people use doors, I guess.”
I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help my laugh at her bad joke. “I don’t remember you including ‘funny and witty,’ as one of the skills on your résumé.”
“And I don’t remember you mentioning ‘cleaning stab wounds’ as one of the job requirements. We all leave things out from time to time. Sometimes it’s more fun to discover things naturally.”
She couldn’t have been more right. If someone had described Chloe and tried to set me up with her, then I wouldn’t have believed how special she was. I would have ignored it as another attempt to get me away from one night stands.
But every minute I spent with Chloe revealed something new about her. She probably wasn’t perfect--no one was--but I’d have to look damn hard to find any flaws.
Chloe once again took it upon herself to end the silence. “You’re going to kill them, aren’t you? The people who killed Kara. You’re going to get revenge.”
“Yes,” I replied without hesitation.
“That won’t bring her back. It won’t make you feel any better.”
“I know. But they deserve it anyway.”
“You know who killed her?”
“Yes. But I don’t know where he is. He’s a rather illusive figure; I don’t even know what he looks like. But I know he killed her. And I’ll find him. He’ll slip up, and when he does, I’m going to kill him.”
Chloe nodded silently, as if what I’d just said was the most normal thing in the world. I must be misreading her. Every instinct told me she was a sweet, but tough, young woman, who wouldn’t hurt a fly.
“Okay,” Chloe said, seemingly reaching a decision about something.
“Okay, what?”
“Okay, I’ll help you.”
“You fucking well won’t,” I snapped far more aggressively than I’d intended. “You’re not helping me kill him.”
“No, I won’t. But I’ll help you find him. On one condition.”
“And what would that be?”
“Up until the
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