Page 17 of Christmas Mafia Prince
“I’ll just have to always blow on your bare hand, so they don’t,” I reply and lead him through a tunnel of illuminated wiring.
He stays silent for a while. We’ve got everything and will soon be leaving, but he doesn’t ask where and lets me lead. “How does it feel to be a married man?” Killian asks. “Limited to only one guy for two weeks.”
I don’t expect that question and slow down in a part of the passage shaped like a stylized carriage. “You think I’m the kind of guy who hooks up with a new person every other day?” It’s cute how he’s fishing to find out more about me.
Killian laughs and squeezes my hand. “I don’t know. You’ve got the looks for it. Why would you get yourself a ball and chain?”
I shrug. “There was a time like that in the past, but I think everyone wants someone they can count on, who’s there to share things with,” I tell him and push a lock of green hair behind his ear. The lights mounted on the frame around us make his eyes glint like diamonds, and I find myself cupping his face. “My brother’s married to this woman, and he worships the ground she walks on. I mock him for it, but only because I’m jealous,because I know my family won’t be thrilled when I come over with a man at my side.”
“Is that why you’ve waited so long to tell them?”
I swallow, watching snow shimmer on Kill’s eyelashes and hair. “Yes. The offer I made you was spontaneous, but it’s time for them to know I’m not going to marry a woman. Theywillrecognize me as a married man and stop treating me like I’m somehow still a child.”
“So there was no one you wanted to bring home for real?”
I scowl, looking away when I remember my past dalliances, even those, which I for a time had high hopes for. “The frustrating thing about being me, about… being a part of my family is the secrecy. I would meet someone, fall for them, but they’d always start poking at me.What do you actually do for work? Why can’t I meet your parents? Why do you disappear for weeks at a time? Questions I couldn’t answer without pushing them away, or putting myself at risk. Then, at home, I couldn’t tell anyone about the private life I lead when I’m away. My whole life I’ve been plagued with always having to lie in one way or another.”
Killian is the first man, my firstloverto whom I can show the full picture. And soon enough, I’ll also introduce my family to him, closing the loop that has always had missing links.
“I hate lies, and always prefer the ugliest truth over them.” Kill says it with such conviction I know he means it.
“I know you’re younger than me, but do you have any strong feelings about marriage?”
His gaze drifts off to a shop window filled with boxes wrapped in red and green foil. “I’ve not actually expected it any time soon, but every time I fell for someone I felt we’d be together forever. When Ifeelthings, it’s deeply. Like I’d follow them to the bottom of the ocean. But then invariably… they’d cheat on me, lie, then act all shocked when I dumped them. I can’t accept dishonesty.”
I shake my head and pull him close, until his cheek flattens on my chest, and I keep him safe with my own body. I hate that his past has been so full of disappointment, but we can only move forward. “I’m sorry. You deserve better.”
“Damen?” Kill asks, wrapping his arms around my waist. “Can you promise to never lie to me in serious matters? Even if you actually intend to kill me after the holidays, I’d rather know and live life to the fullest than be lied to.”
“What?” I ask despite the ache in my lungs. I did assume our holidaysmightend with him dead, but now just thinking about it triggers a wave of nausea. I stroke his face, ignoring the unpleasant sensation in my chest, because he’s holding me by the heart, and nothing good can come from me telling him that now. He’ll assume I’m trying to appease him.
I want to reassure him that he’s going to be fine, but thatwouldbe a lie, and I couldn’t do that to him, so instead I say, “I hope it won’t come to that. All you need to do is to never reveal mine or my family’s secrets. That’s a promise. I will never lie.”
Instead of a growing tension at that looming threat I sense him relaxing in my arms. He looks up, serious and inquisitive. “And what is it that you do exactly?”
Smart little minx. I can’t break my promise now. “I kill people my family needs dead.”
I expect a gasp. I don’t blink, so I don’t miss even the tiniest expression passing through his face, but he frowns and nods, processing what I said. “That explains a lot.”
I’m stunned.
But also amazed. Enchanted. Relieved. Emotion wells up inside as I clear my throat, struggling to keep a clear head. “That promise about lies should apply to both of us. Will you go to the police?”
He keeps my gaze. “No. I won’t. Happy deserved it. And my husband’s family is now mine. I’d never betray that.”
I might be getting a little hot under the collar, and we still have a long way to go.
“Thank you. That… means a lot,” I say and clear my throat before pulling him farther along, my head full of messy thoughts. “I think it’s best if we hurry. We have a helicopter flight to catch. It’s the only way to reach the property in the winter.”
Kill smiles at me and winks. “Will you get jealous if I sit next to the pilot?”
I snort. “Not at all. You may even give him a blowjob,” I say, very satisfied with myself.
He walks in silence for a few seconds, then gives me the side eye. “You’rethe pilot, aren’t you?”
I don’t answer, just offer him a wide smirk, because yes, I hate putting my life in someone else’s hands.
And yes, I’m a certified helicopter pilot.
