The Mercenary and the Mortician (The Silent Hollow, #1)

by Alexandra St. Pierre

I have to say, this was the first time someone had ever gotten hard for me while I tried to kill them, but I wasn’t complaining.

“He’s not going to even want to talk to me after what I did.” I pouted, and she shrugged. “Probably not, but from what you’ve told me so far, I’m not sure how that’s any different from all your other interactions. Seems to me like he hasn’t wanted to talk to you since you met him.”

He shrugged. “Honestly, if you were anyone else, I probably would have just killed you. I think I did that because, if you haven’t noticed, I have a huge crush on you.”

“You’ve been in danger from the moment I laid eyes on you, Ryan Fairview.”

I put on my best show, laughing and grinning and whipping out all my best jokes. Each time the corner of his mouth tilted up, I felt a bleating beat of success shoot through my chest. Keep ‘em laughing. I loved it when the people around me were smiling and laughing. Sad people made me anxious.

“You’re kind, Cal. You’re selfless, and you always put everyone’s needs before your own. You’ve spent your entire life giving up everything to keep your sisters safe.

He couldn’t bully his way into my life, make me feel all these things for him, then just disappear. I may not be as outgoing as him, but I wasn’t a fucking doormat.

“Do what you need to do for now, Callum, but I’m not giving up on you. I’ll be right fucking here, waiting for you to come back to me when you’re ready,” I promised.

I was in love with this beautiful, dark, broken angel that had forced his way into my life, and there was no going back now. The only thing I could do was try to keep him alive. And that was what I was going to fucking do.

I didn’t need him to love me. I’d accepted the fact that no one would ever really love me. It sucked, but it was something I’d come to terms with.

I didn’t want to force him. I wanted him to want me, and when he kissed me like this, it almost felt like someone loved me, and I needed that more desperately than I ever had before.