Dark and Deadly

“Thank you for the flowers.”

“Ah, is that what the kiss was for?”

She nodded, adding, “It was supposed to be a friendly gesture.”

“Back to the Truce-with-Torie?”

She nodded, unable to read the intense look in his dark eyes.

“Good. We’ll talk about that. In the meantime,” he said, lowering his head and pressing his lips to hers in a clinging, gentle touch. “We should talk about the past.”

Her senses were so fired up, so mixed up, she nearly missed what he’d said.

“What? The past?”

Paul closed his eyes. When he opened them, he looked sober, and Torie could see the traces of a sleepless night in his pallor.

“What is it Paul? What happened?” She put her hands on his face, keeping his gaze on hers, forcing him to face her.

“I had a visitor last night,” he said, letting her go when she began to struggle in his grasp.

“What do you mean? What kind of visitor?”

Paul took her hand, led her to where a counter held a coffee area and several bottles of water. Handing her a bottle and several napkins, he said, “You wore the lipstick. Help me get it off, will you?”

He wouldn’t say anything until she’d completed the task. It surprised her slightly when he took the damp cloth and dabbed at her cheek. “I transferred some right back to you, it appears,” he said, smiling. The smile was warm, open. Different.

The way he was looking at her made her want to shiver. It was as if he were looking through her, seeing something no one else saw. It scared her.

“You said the past. And that you had a visitor. What’s going on?”

He led her back to the chairs and they sat down. He continued to hold her hand. “Tibbet decided that perhaps your stalker would come after me. Since the mystery shooter tried for me once, and failed, he decided to stake out my place, lie in wait.”

“Tibbet?”

“Not personally, but when shots were fired, he was on scene pretty quick.”

“You were shot at?” Torie squeaked. “Again? Last night?” Oh, my God. Would it never end?

“Yeah, but they didn’t catch the guy. Problem is, it put our two culprits who messed with the computer systems in the clear as your stalker.”

“But Paul, someone shot at you. Again. At your home.” She could hardly take it in. The shots at the restaurant were surreal, almost impossible to take in as gunfire. But the fact that someone had deliberately tried to shoot into his home, kill him that way, rocked her.

“Yeah. It scared the crap out of me, I can tell you. One more inch to the right…” He stopped short. “Well.”

“Oh, my God, Paul.” She gripped his hands. He’d nearly been killed. With horrible words between them. “I’m so sorry. So very sorry.” He was in trouble, getting shot at because of her.

“I’m okay, Torie.”

“No, no. You’re not. Nothing’s okay about this.” She wrenched her hands from his and rushed to her feet, pacing the floor. “I should do what Todd did, go away, get away so no one gets hurt. I don’t want to be the reason one more person gets hurt.”

“You’re not the reason,” Paul said, coming up behind her, his hands resting lightly on her shoulders. “This guy’s nuts, Torie. Whoever he is, he’s responsible. Not you. You may be a catalyst, but he’s responsible for his actions.”

“I need to go. You—I can’t have you hurt, not because of me.”

He turned her gently, taking her once more into his arms. Wrapped tight, she still resisted. He had to let her go. She had to leave, protect him.

“No,” he murmured, kissing her hair. “We started this together, we’ll finish it together.”

His words took her back. She froze into immobility.

Started it?

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about what happened at the party, eleven years ago.”

“Nothing happened, Paul,” she protested, but her voice was shaking.

“That’s not true, Torie, and you know it.”

“I’m okay.”

“That’s not the issue, not right now. I’m not sure it’s true, either, but we’ll have to get into that later. Right now, it’s about who did it.”

She wrenched away from him, going to the table, leaning against it, her arms wrapped around her middle. “No one did anything.”

Paul closed his eyes, sighed. “Yes, Torie, they did. Someone violated your human rights, your dignity, and your