Page 135 of Brutal
For a moment, I expect the big laugh again, but instead she smiles. “All right,” she says. “Let’s hear them.”
“First, you don’t leave this property alone.”
She rolls her eyes. “That’s not happening.”
“It is.”
“No, it’s not.”
“You don’t know what’s out there,” I say.
She thins her lips. “And you do?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not telling me everything.”
“No.”
“Then why would I trust that rule?”
I lean in. Close enough that her breath hits my bare chest. Close enough that I could take her again without trying.
“Because the alternative,” I say quietly, “is you walking into something you can’t control.”
I can feel her heartbeat now without touching her.
Too fast.
Mine isn’t much better.
“Second,” I say, voice lower now, “you don’t touch any system in this house without asking me first.”
“Define system.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I want to hear you say it.”
“Security,” I say. “Access points. Anything that keeps this place functioning.”
“And the door?” she asks.
“That’s included.”
She smirks. “Convenient.”
“Necessary.”
“For who?”
“For both of us.”
She rolls her eyes. Doesn’t matter.
“Third,” I say, “you don’t open anything that’s locked.”
She glances toward the hallway that leads to the chain, the lock. “That one’s going to be a problem.”
