Page 36 of Shadow Of Sin

“You don’t get to tell me what I’m not doing.” Her eyes are dark and hot. “Those men are threatening my brother. My brother. The only person in the world I have left. And you sat there and did nothing and now you’re standing between me and the door like you have some kind of right⁠—”

She stops talking and shoves me with both hands. Hard.

I don’t move.

She shoves again. Harder. Shock flickers in her eyes. I guess she figures a guy like me will crumble when a little force is applied.

She doesn’t know me. Neither did my father.

“Get out of my way.”

She tries to go around me, and I catch her by the wrist.

Her pulse races under my thumb, fast and angry.

Three seconds. My brain counts them because that’s what my brain does, except it’s not doing anything else right now, which is very wrong. No analysis. No next move. Just her pulse and the warmth of her skin and a full system meltdown.

“Let go,” she says through clenched teeth.

I let go.

But she doesn’t step back. She stays right where she is, close enough that I can smell her soap. She stares at me with an expression that reflects no less than six things at once.

“Don’t ever grab me like that again.”

“I won’t.”

“You don’t get to put your hands on me because you think you know better.”

“I know.”

“I hope so because the last man who thought he could control me is the reason I spent fourteen months in a jail cell.”

“I’m not controlling you,” I say. “I’m asking you not to get yourself killed.”

“Nobody asked you to care whether I live or die.”

“You’re right. Nobody asked.”

We stand there. Not moving. Barely breathing.

Maybe that’s just me. But somehow, I don’t think so.

“I’m going to take care of the debt,” I say.

“How?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s what I’ve got.”

Eva clutches the sides of her head. “Jesus, you’ve got secrets stacked on top of secrets. You won’t tell me your last name. You won’t tell me how you found me. You broke into my computer system and nosed around. And now you’re going to take care of a debt you found out about ten minutes ago?” She shakes her head. “Who the hell are you?”

“Someone who doesn’t want Sal to get hurt.”

“That’s not enough.”