Page 70 of The Hitman and the Psychic

“Is there something wrong with it?”

“The basement’s kind of a mess, that’s all.”

“Oh. I don’t mind.”

She shrugged and led me to the basement staircase. Boxes were stacked in the main room, and she turned the corner to the room with the workout system. It wasn’t much, but it included an arm press, a high-and-low pulley system, and a four-roll leg developer. It was just enough to give me the workout I craved. “You use it much?”

“Yeah. I got it to help with my rehab after the accident. You’re welcome to use it if you want. I guess we have time.”

“I just need half an hour, and I can start right now.” I pulled off my t-shirt. “You can watch if you want.”

Her eyes widened, and her gaze flew to my bare chest. A flush spread up her neck, and her mouth dropped open. I held back a smile and began to change the settings on the pulley.

Her jaw snapped shut and she shook her head. “I’ll be upstairs.”

She turned to leave, but I caught her looking over her shoulder, and smiled. I settled into a quick routine of weight lifting and used the time to think about my plan to draw my stalker out. By the time I got done, I had a rough idea, but I didn’t think Serenity would like it.

∞∞∞

An hour later, I had showered and dressed for the day. I found Serenity in her office and sat down in the chair opposite her desk. She hardly glanced at me. “Have a nice workout?”

“Yeah. It was great. What are you working on?”

She sighed. “Just paying the bills. What’s the plan for today, anyway?”

“Well, besides going with you to visit your lawyer, we have your niece’s birthday party. When is that?”

She raised her brow. “Uh… it’s at five. But what about finding your stalker? That comes first, especially after yesterday.”

“I think we’ll be okay for an hour.”

“But why would you want to go to my niece’s party?”

I crossed my arms. “Isn’t she counting on you? You really want to let her down?”

“Well, no, of course not. But why would you care?”

I glanced at a picture of her family on the wall above her desk. It had to be recent, since there was no sign of Brandon, and a small twist of pleasure rolled over me. “Family’s important. If you let work get in the way of that, you’ll regret it.”

Her gaze settled on mine. “You must be talking from experience.”

I shrugged. “My dad and I haven’t spoken in years. I don’t think I quite lived up to his expectations.”

“What about your mom?”

“She died when I was in high school.” I swallowed. It had been a long time since I’d spoken about her. “I think that’s why I got into so much trouble back then. My dad was lost in his grief, and he didn’t want to deal with me.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Why had I opened up? I didn’t tell anyone my personal history, but I felt a connection with her that was undeniable. It dawned on me that being with her had opened a part of my heart that I’d always kept closed.

Her lips twisted. “Life has a way of grinding us up and spitting us out. We’re never put back together the same, and sometimes it feels like parts of us are missing.”

She gave me a wry smile. “I used to think that everything happened for a reason, but now I’m not so sure. Sometimes things just happen, and we’re left to pick up the pieces. We can always make up a reason, or find someone to blame if we want, but it never changes what happened. Like… why a bullet kills one person, and the person right next to them is fine. Most of the time it’s just dumb luck.”

At my raised brow, she took a deep breath and shook her head. “Sorry. I went off on a tangent. I didn’t mean to say all that.”

“No. It makes perfect sense. When I was deployed, you’ll never believe it, but my nickname was Lucky Stone.”

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