Page 96 of Protect Me
“Is everything okay?”
He hesitates, which only puts me on alert. “Killian.”
He scowls. “All right, look, we never plan on lying to you, but we also can’t help but do anything necessary to protect you. Even if you don’t like it.”
“What won’t I like?”
“For starters, a video conference with the Chancellor of House of Earth and Emerald where we trade in a favor owed for permission to eliminate that fuckface Robert.”
I stare at him for a moment as his words sink in. “Seriously?”
“No lying,” he reminds me.
“You’re asking permission to kill someone?”
“Yeah. We’re trying to be good boys this time.”
I laugh. “This is you being good.”
His smirk returns. “Trust me, I’ve never asked permission to make a kill before. Only for you, gorgeous.”
That makes me laugh harder. “How romantic.”
“Damn, Duncan said you would think so, and I didn’t believe him.” He slides a plate of eggs at me. “I hate when that fucker’s right.”
I take a bite of eggs, contemplating everything he said. “When you say you’ve never asked permission to kill before...”
He looks over, one brow arched. “Yes?” he prompts.
“Duncan told me he met you while he was a, um, contractor.”
Killian chuckles. “That’s one way to put it.”
“I was just wondering if that’s what you did too. As a career.”
He stops moving dishes around and comes to stand in front of me on the other side of the bar. “Yeah, love, that’s what I did.”
He waits as if trying to see how I’ll react. Just like with Duncan and Bracken, I can feel my heart squeezing at how sweet it feels to witness them letting their guard down with me. To be vulnerable.
“Will you tell me about it?”
“You really want to know?”
“I want to know everything about you,” I tell him honestly.
His gaze softens as if he’s just torn down another wall. “My parents were from two families who didn’t get along. They fell in love anyway and ran away together.”
“Sounds romantic. Romeo and Juliet.”
“And just as fucked up.” He sighs. “My grandfather hunted them. He tracked them to every village in their world until they snuck through a portal. Finally, they settled in No Man’s Land. Growing up, my dad insisted I learn how to hunt and track and fight. He was from a line of warriors, and he wasn’t the type to just wait around and be found out. We’d do intruder drills in the middle of the night. Hunting and tracking exercises on the weekends. It was fucked up, but I kind of loved it. Spending time with my dad and all that.”
“Sounds like you guys bonded,” I say.
“Yeah.” His smile turns wistful. “My mom hated it, but she just liked to fuss over us is all.”
“So, what happened?” I almost hate to ask it, but I have a feeling this story takes a turn.
“My dad made some friends in interesting places. He and I ended up joining an organization kind of like the Crimson Hunters where we could put our skills to use. I got more training. He started traveling a lot. We stopped seeing each other as often. Then, after one of my missions, I came home and found out my mother had been attacked. Home invasion. My dad and I hadn’t been there to protect her.”