Page 18 of Unstable

He held up the chicken. “Will you eat this?”

“As long as it’s not fried.”

“Good enough for me.” He pulled a knife from the butcher’s block and gestured toward the table situated in the breakfast nook. “Sit.”

Her lips turned down at his command, but she seemed too emotionally drained to do anything other than follow his directive.

He worked in silence, searing the chicken then tossing it with the salad. He slid a plate in front of Rina and handed her a fork before taking the seat across from her. She twirled the fork in her hand, then finally speared a piece of lettuce and lifted it to her lips.

She was never this quiet. She avoided him most of the time, yes, but she was never afraid to talk back or challenge him in some way. Tonight, she was pensive, deep in thought.

He lifted a brow. “You good?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “Just thinking.”

Probably about the situation at hand. He opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it.

“I was wondering…” She rolled her lips together. “If there might be a way to… deter him.”

He speared her with a glance. “If you’re thinking of doing something stupid, like using yourself for bait, you can throw that out the window right now.”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I was thinking.”

“Good, because it’s not gonna happen.”

She ran her tongue over the front of her teeth in agitation, then set her fork down and leaned forward in her seat. “So… this guy’s obsessed with me.”

“It would appear that way. Why? What are you thinking?”

“What if I was no longer available?”

He lifted a brow. “That may not deter him. That might piss him off even more and make him lash out.”

“Maybe, but at least he’d be doing something instead of silently watching,” she pointed out. “Like you said, he’ll eventually slip up and get caught.”

“All right, I’ll bite.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “So, let’s say you spin this story that you have a boyfriend. You’d have to go public with it to make sure he sees the two of you together. Who are you going to use? One of your musician buddies? The person writing these letters threatened to kill anyone in his way. Are you gonna put him in jeopardy?”

She flinched at his words and her face fell, but knowing he’d made his point brought no satisfaction. “Listen,” he said more softly. “Just let the police do their job. They’ll catch him. It’ll just take some time.”

Her wide blue eyes clashed with his, full of desperation. “What if it was more permanent? Like… a serious relationship?”

He dropped his hands to rest in his lap. “Same boat. You’re still putting someone else in danger. Or, even if it did scare this guy off, the relationship would have to last long enough that the guy would forget all about you and fixate on something—someone—else.”

She licked her lips. “How long?”

“I don’t know. Six months? A year?”

To that, she said nothing. After a long moment, he picked up his fork and resumed eating. He was almost done with his salad before she spoke again.

“Roman? I mean… Ink.”

“Yeah?” The nickname seemed strange coming from her. She was one of the few people who called him Roman, and he actually preferred the sound of his real name falling from her pretty lips.

Her gaze was pinned to the glass of water beside her plate, and it slowly rose to his. “Um…”

He lifted his brows in question, and her cheeks flared bright pink. She looked shy and almost… guilty?

“Do people call you Ink because of your last name or tattoos?”