Page 100 of Passion and Payback

“You hated at least half the movies I had you watch with me.”

“I did not.”

“You’re a great soldier, perfect backup, an amazing friend, and are quickly proving to be a phenomenal boyfriend,” he said, turning toward me so he could press against my side and kiss myjaw. “But you’re an awful liar. You always made it seem like you didn’t hate the stuff I had you watch, but I could see you did. And I always appreciated that you were trying to spare my feelings, even if that wasn’t necessary, even back then.”

I sighed. “The musical.”

“That does narrow it down a little, but I showed you three.”

“Not the poor people singing about the dog and AIDS.”

“That’s Rent.”

“Or the weird one about cannibalism and drugs.”

“It was organ leasing and stealing. That was Repo.”

“The one with the women killing their husbands.”

“Ah, Chicago. Not a good choice to follow up with after how much you hated Rent.”

“Right, well, there was a line one of them said. Catherine...something or another, the actress.”

“Zeta Jones.”

“Right, that number they did, talking about why they killed their husbands.”

“I know the song by heart, yes.”

“It was a murder, but not a crime.”

He stared up at me for a moment, puzzled, before scoffing. “Now, I don’t know if I’m impressed or annoyed that you remember one lyric from a song in a musical that was like bamboo shoots under your nails. Doubly so because I hate that what you’re trying to say makes sense.”

“Oh, thank God,” I muttered, wrapping my arm around his waist and holding him close. “I thought I’d have to think of some other reference. And I honestly didn’t have any.”

He laughed, wiggling so he fit against my body, practically ‘making’ me push him against the counter. “Well, congratulations on your success, and for the record, it made me understand what you were trying to say and...reminded me how lucky I am to have you.”

“You’ve always had me,” I told him softly. “Not always in the way we might have wanted or dreamed of, but you’ve always had me. And nothing in my power will ever stop me from keeping it that way.”

“Nice qualifier,” he said in a sad voice, a small smile on his face. “If there’s one thing I had to learn two years ago, it’s that promises made by the ones you love can’t always be kept, and it won’t even be their fault.”

“There aren’t any guarantees in this world,” I agreed. “But so long as I can breathe, I’ll be yours. No matter what happens, whatever you do, or where you go, I’m going to be right there, helping you and standing by your side or at least having your back.”

“Mmm,” he hummed, closing his eyes. “If only I had a next step for you to follow.”

“I’m surprised you don’t,” I said with a chuckle. “You were pretty on the ball before.”

“That was before the boys in blue showed up, interrogating us as to why we were crashing a party we had no business being at,” he said in an annoyed voice. “Funny how they could check on that but not on all the shit I gave them over two years ago.”

“Well, we were the odd men out there,” I said. “And someone important died, along with part of his security team. If they looked into my history, I'm sure they’d guess someone like me could take down people who weren’t ready for me. And since you’re on record accusing them of what they did?—”

“I know,” he said, shaking his head. “But I can’t shake the feeling that it’s more than just basic police work.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

“Wait, really? You’ve been the one constantly telling me not to be paranoid.”

“I’m not paranoid. Of the four guys, three of them are dead, and two of those three were close friends, leaving only thethird friend alive. And from what we heard, they know about the dealer. Callum might be an arrogant shit, but I doubt he’s stupid.”

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