The thought of working with a killer didn’t fill me with the confidence that it should have. Even though I had asked Ryder to kill a man, I’d appealed to his sense of justice. I hadn’t given any thought to the possibility of darkness inside the man.
Fool that I was, going around trusting people. That would get me hurt. I just knew it.
The bell over the door chimed, and I flinched. Shame hit me like a ton of bricks as Ryder stepped around Cerri and offered me a thick sandwich wrapped in brown paper. I eyed the medallion around his neck once again.
Ryder noticed and lifted it to hide it beneath his shirt. If he thought he was going to keep his deal a secret, then he was mistaken. I didn’t have the will to deal with it right now, though. I snatched the sandwich from him and tore into it. Hearty steak melted on my tongue. I groaned.
Ryder lifted a brow.
“Don’t watch me eat, you pervert.”
He rolled his eyes. While an uncomfortable silence settled between us, Cerri set about cleaning the mess that Alvin had made. She wiped blood from the outside of the coffee counter. I touched my cheek and flinched. A sliver of wood stuck out of my skin.
Ryder leaned in and reached for it. I stilled, my heart racing. He hovered close. If he was breathing, I couldn’t hear it. Gentle fingertips grazed my cheek without hitting the bruise. His lips twisted to the side as he focused.
This man could have been stunning. His eyes softened, losing that hardness that kept everyone around him at bay. The tip of his tongue poked out from between his lips and made me smile. My hound panted heavily in his presence.
I wished I could kick her. We couldn’t trust Ryder. He might be beautiful, but we didn’t know a damn thing about him. The fact that he wouldn’t tell me why he wanted help sat in the back of my mind like a flashing warning sign.
He plucked the splinter from my cheek and straightened. In the blink of an eye, his cold demeanor returned. He refused to even look in my direction. Whatever we’d had in that moment was gone, and I had no idea how to get it back.
Not that I wanted it back.
“So, what’s with the medallion?” I asked around a mouthful of sandwich, as if I could be repulsive and keep him from wanting me.
Yeah, that really helped me temper my own desire. I could have rolled my eyes at myself, but I didn’t want to be obvious.
Ryder ignored me. He paced, pausing at the front window long enough to look up and down the street. I wished he would stop and tell me what was going on. His silence said more, though.
The sandwich did the trick. I shoved the last bite into my mouth. The burning sensation in my thigh faded. Though the leggings were sticky with blood, the skin underneath had stitched back together again. I just had to eat a little more and take it easy for the rest of the day.
With Cerri’s healing potion and a sandwich in me, I gathered the courage to tell Ryder to leave.
He gave me an incredulous glare.
I shrugged. “I appreciate your help, but everything is fine now. You can go.”
“That asshole is going to come back the moment I leave. Are you sure you want to kick me out now?”
“I’m not kicking you out. I’m releasing you from your duties. You don’t have to stick around here. You can go on and do whatever it is that you came here to do.” I wished I could act like I didn’t have a stake in his presence here.
If I could make it seem like I didn’t care whether or not he stayed, then maybe I could have the advantage for once. The way he studied me made me feel like my desperation was obvious. I kept my face carefully blank.
His hand lifted to his chest before falling back down to his side. Good. He knew that the damned medallion had something to do with this.
Why did it feel like we were having our first fight as a couple? Ryder didn’t mean anything to me. My hound wanted to ride his bones, but that was it! This wasn’t anything more than a poorly formed deal that wasn’t going to go anywhere.
I had to figure this out on my own because I was the only one that I could count on.
I limped back behind the counter and bit the tip of my thumb while I studied Cerri’s potions. Maybe I could slip Alvin a potion that would make him sleep for the rest of eternity? Was that possible?
Ryder towered over the counter. “I know you’re upset, but your father told me to do this.”
My head snapped up. “Excuse me? What did you just say?”
“Your dad told me that I would need allies here. I went where he told me to go. I’m not happy about what I had to do to get this damned thing. If I could take it back, I would. I can’t, so I might as well stick this out.” He pressed his knuckles into the countertop until they turned white.
I could hear his teeth grinding together as he pinned me with his furious gaze. I pressed a finger to his chest.