Primal Pursuit - Page 147

Weak. I know that’s how a man like Davian would see me.

I shouldn’t care.

Swiping at my eyes, I get up on wobbly, weak legs and pick up the gun and the knife.

I place the gun on the bench and sit, not sure I can make it back to the chair, and I flick the knife open and closed, over and over.

Outside the door, the conversation partially filters in. Davian’s talking to someone called Gabriel. I can hear them say Harry, my dad’s name, and…Frank? My stomach turns hard and greasy. That’s my fuckwit uncle. Frank Parish.

And…did I hear them say Fowler? Wasn’t that the name of the company Dad worked for? Fowler Industries? I think they were into construction or something deathly boring.

The door opens, and Davian comes in. He has clothes in his hands, and as he closes the door, he looks at me with the knife and the gun.

He comes to stand in front of me, his stare ice, and he holds out the clothes to me.

“Well, Rabbit? You want to get dressed, or do you prefer to just kill me now?”

Chapter

Twenty-Nine

DAVIAN

Poppy looksat me and then returns her attention to the knife.

I sigh and take it from her, fold it down, and sit on the bench next to her, placing it between us.

“Not killing me tonight?”

She slides me a look, and I tuck a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. “Not in the mood.”

I get up and go back to the door and pick up the warm water and washcloth Gabriel left. Taking it back in, I tend to her face, cleaning it, and she lets me. I’m both shocked and relieved that she allows me to do this.

She takes the cloth from me and gently rubs my cheek with it. “Blood,” she says.

“Comes with our territory, I guess.”

I take back the cloth and toss it in the bowl, then rub the heels of my hands against my eyes.

“I need you to tell me, Davian.”

“Jesus, rabbit, you can’t go off and kill people.You’re?—”

“If you say too good, I’m going to scream.”

“Fuck, no. You’re not there yet. And you’ll get very, very dead if you go off on your own.”

“What? Are you going to assuage your sins by helping me get revenge?”

Ignoring her sarcasm, I wonder. Am I? Is that what I’m doing? Beyond the fact that Alexius isn’t happy with Fowler Industries. It’s the remnants of the mafia family behind it he wants taught a lesson. That he wants something from. And me? Do I want to try to assuage guilt?

I never feel fucking guilt.

Except for the pain she’s endured.

Not the hits—work is work—but the pain that shaped her.

So…Do I?