Page 44 of Beautiful Killer

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Sunny

Holy hell.Zeke was an ex-Navy SEAL? A freaking sniper.

I grinned at him, trying to keep my racing pulse under control. The man had actually shared a part of himself with me. I was stunned, to say the least. “I had no idea, but it makes sense,” I said.

His brows rose.

“You’re kind of a badass.”

A chuckle rumbled from him.

Good lord.I’d never heard anything sexier in my life. And it was pretty obvious by the look on his face that he hadn’t just surprised me with that laugh. That kind of made me sad. When had he last felt joy? You can talk. I ignored the cynical bitch in my head and pulled my legs up, turning more toward Zeke. I wanted to hear him make that sexy chuckle again. “Wow, you can laugh?”

His lips twitched.

“Oh my God!” I cried. “That was almost a smile.”

He shook his head, eyes warm, showing me that he found me entertaining without having to say it. I relaxed back and decided to take advantage of his sudden willingness to talk.

“So that’s how you got your scars? While you were serving?” I’d seen them, felt them under my hands many times, but hadn’t wanted to ask.

He dipped his chin, eyes darting away then back. “Shrapnel.”

This man was definitely a badass. I’d known it from the moment I’d laid eyes on him, but I was picking up that he didn’t want to go into it in great depth. “So you were engaged?” I said. This probably wasn’t one of his favorite subjects, either, but I was curious as hell. What kind of woman was capable of catching a man like Zeke?

He cleared his throat. “Yeah.”

“Couldn’t she handle you being away all the time?” Being separated from the person you loved couldn’t be easy.

He made a rough sound and glanced back at the TV. “She found ways of coping.”

“Oh?” I pushed further, though I thought I had an idea of how she’d coped without him.

“I caught Diane sucking some other guy’s dick the day I got home.” He shook his head. “To think I’d almost been tied to that bitch forever . . . in a way . . .” He trailed off.

“In a way?” I knew I shouldn’t keep pushing, but this man was a mystery, and I wanted to know all I could—for reasons I chose not to think about just then.

He turned to me, eyes flat, dark. “I found out she was pregnant while I was away . . . she wasn’t when I got home. Diane decided she wasn’t ready to be a mom.”

That, I hadn’t been expecting. “I’m sorry,” I said, not sure what else to say.

He shrugged. “It was for the best. I know that now.” He took a sip of his beer. “I’m sure as fuck not father material.”

He paused, for so long I thought he’d finished talking, but then he added, “All that shit, a wife, kids, it’s not for me, not anymore.”

Not anymore.

He was looking down at his now empty beer bottle, fingers toying with the label. “I come from a tight family, folks that love each other. Just thought that was my future . . .”

“Diane put you off having a family of your own?” Stop talking, Sunny.

He rubbed one of his palms along his thigh, shoulders looking stiff, and shrugged again. “What about you?” he asked, not answering. “You been married?”

“No.” I didn’t call him out on the fact he’d changed the subject. He’d shared more than I thought he would. It was only fair I did the same. “I haven’t exactly had much luck with relationships . . . of any kind, really.”

He put his empty plate down on the coffee table.