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And by doing so, he’d made a mistake Gave in to a du their secrets, surviving trauether in a way he couldn’t allow DarkOps would always feel he owed the, at any time Not to mention the number of enemies he’d racked up over the years Yes, he’d been careful with identities and aliases, but none of it ured out who he was Bringing a woman into that kind of risk wasn’t just stupid, it was cruel
Had nothing to do with punishing himself or whatever bullshit Copper wanted to spew It was just logic
Easiest way to break the hold Chloe had on him was to shatter her illusions of what kind of man he was What kind of man she’d allowed inside her He wouldn’t even have to pretend to be an asshole to push her away Sharing the story of his life would be enough to hostthe ones in his head
“You want to knohat my life was like before I nized his hostile tone was over-the-top, but he couldn’t ste with his head day and night Soht would be the swiftest rip of the band aid
“Yes,” she said, gorgeous green eyes shining with sincerity “I want to know”
He backed an extended step away fro to pound would have been perfect right about then That’s who he was A violent bastard Born to it Trained for it Excelled at it Not the kind ofterm
“I separated from the Marines at twenty-three when I was recruited by DarkOps They scouted un, bombs, sniper rifle, you name it, I made it my bitch”
“Okay,” she said folding her arh she didn’t knohat else to do with them The move closed her off, and he immediately missed the open and warm connection from earlier
“Spent five years working directly under Esposito All rid classified, no back up, solo missions”
She blinked, waiting for the punch line
Fuck it Beating around the bush would take too da Wasn’t his style anyway
“I’ killer, Chloe Best assassin in the company You know, I don’t even keep a kill count anyh”
Her naked lips pressed together so hard they turned white at the same time a deep furrow appeared between her eyebrows
He turned and paced the length of the roo at the back of his neck First time he’d said those words out loud in over six years Why did experts recouts supposed to be cathartic? Because it fucking wasn’t With each word, Chloe’s light had di her despise hie in the process
Turning to face her, he let the frustration and self-loathing take control of his tongue “Esposito wouldn’t hesitate to grab you, or Toni, or Shell and dangle you like a fucking carrot to get what he wants And what he wants isto the table, babe That’s what I tossed on your doorstep and brought to er Don’t you think you’ve been through enough in the last few months?”
He’d expected the sharp crack of her palm to connect with his face The least of what he deserved for who he was
“Why’d you walk away?” Chloe asked instead, voice cal hands-off vibe with her crossed ar the people Esposito sent you to…uh…eliminate were pretty bad people Terrorists? Murderers? Evil dictators?”
This conversation needed to end He had to walk out of the room and away from Chloe before he lost his resolve But he opened his mouth instead “At first, I vetted the ets Yeah, they were the worst of the fucking worst Did shit you couldn’t dreahtave ations” He turned away, staring at the cold, unlit fireplace Having Chloe in his private space felt nice Too nice Iiant sofa with her head in his lap while a fire roared a few feet aas too easy a picture to paint Ridiculous fantasies for a different type ofday old grounds in the coffee pot, and ould never bring psychotic mercenaries to her world