Primal Pursuit - Page 156

“Emotions are complicated. Especially yours. I got that when you brightened my fucking day in the confessional.” He looks me up and down. “Has he told you about his family?”

I stare at him, and I open then close my mouth. Is there more, or does he mean what Davian told me? “Some. All? I don’t know. He had a brother and a sister and he…killed his father.”

“So, he told you.” He nods. “Davian is very, very private, little bunny.”

“You’re saying because he had Daddy issues, I should forgive him?”

“I’m saying if you’re gonna do it, don’t take the coward’s way. A bullet is kinder.” He smiles and raises a brow, but the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “Not everything is what it is on the surface. Everything has layers.”

“Are you trying to say, Father, that things aren’t what they seem?”

“No. I’m saying things are exactly what they seem, but there are also layers, and those layers matter.”

Then he lets me go.

“Aren’t you going to tell me to go with God?”

Father Tobias shakes his head. “I’m afraid now that Davian has you all tied up, nothing can save you.”

Davian puts me in Kevlar, and he takes me into a room that’s probably a survivalist’s wet dream. Weapons-wise.

There’s a black leather bag he picks up and puts things into. Rope, a Taser, zip ties, knives, guns, and magazine clips. Then he selects a gun and hands it to me. It’s slender, lighter than mine, and it’s a dream to hold.

“This one’s pretty fucking easy. Point and pull the trigger.I’m guessing since you have a penchant for carrying a gun you know how to use it?”

“Expert markswoman,” I say.

“I grabbed these from Gabriel.” He hands me two scrunchies. “His wife’s, and no I didn’t fucking ask why he’s carrying them. I just think it’s a good idea for you to put your hair back. Just in case.”

“In case what?”

“Long hair, Rabbit, could mean life or death. It’s time to think like the hunter and not the prey. Don’t give anyone a chance to grab you if things go south.”

Suddenly, a surge of excited fear hits me. “Do you think that’ll happen?”

“Rabbit, I always prep for all scenarios. Let’s go.”

The drive’s long, but I weirdly like sitting with him. There’s also this gnawing inside me. Things I shouldn’t feel. Like this growing thing in my chest, something that’s terrible and beautiful and shouldn’t be there. Something I think is love. Because I really think I’m falling for him. I keep going there and veering away, but I can’t help it.

I know it doesn’t change anything. I still don’t know what I’m going to do.

Kill him.

The words whisper through me.

How can I even think to let him live?

He’ll help me take out the other players, and then I’ll take him out.

That was part of what Tobias was saying. If I must kill him, not to take the coward’s way. I get it. Tobias doesn’t want me to shoot him, obviously, but if I’m going to kill Davian, then I need to do it cleanly. And not in the back.

Right?

It doesn’t matter about the softness that’s spreading. It’s nothing more than a fallacy.

“Can you stop planning my murder?” he mutters. “At least until we’re done?”

“I’m not.”