“Yeah, I do. I have family here.” She pointed the light ahead of her.
“You don’t think to come during the day, when it’s safer?”
I’m standing with a complete stranger right now and it’s not awkward.
“I don’t come during the day.” She loved the darkness. When she came during the day, people watched her. She hated that. The stares. The way they were constantly trying to figure her out, as if they could. None of them had a clue about her. “I like being here at night.”
“It’s creepy.”
“Coming from the strange man who is here with me?” she asked. “That’s not creepy? Why are you here?”
“Because I want to be here. It’s quiet, peaceful even.”
A moment of silence passed.
“Who are they to you?” he asked.
Constance frowned and looked at him. She didn’t answer right away.
“I’m curious, and nosy as hell.”
She smiled. He smelled of oil and leather, and it was a strange scent, yet comforting, pleasant.
“They’re my family.” She pointed the flashlight to the headstones as she spoke. “Mom. Dad. Fiancé.”
“Damn.”
Yeah, that pretty much summed it up.
2
He shouldn’t have said anything to her, but dammit if Vengeance didn’t feel this sadness, darkness coming from her.
Vengeance knew he should have kept walking, given her the space, the privacy. But shit, even a gated cemetery wasn’t safe. He’d gotten in just fine, and that meant anyone else could too.
“What’s your name?”
She didn’t say anything for long seconds, and for a moment he thought maybe she wouldn’t. It wasn’t his fucking business anyway. Finally, she turned and faced him.
“Constance. You?”
“Vengeance.” He stared at her, the glow from the flashlight allowing him to see her face. And she had a beautiful one. There was a jagged scar along one of her eyes, and he could see it was blind by the cloudy color, but Goddamn, she was gorgeous.
Her long dark hair moved along her shoulders, the wind teasing it, kissing it. Her bone structure was delicate, sharp even. She stared at him in the way he was watching her. Maybe she was taking stock of him, as well? Maybe she was wondering why in the fuck this biker was watching her.
They sat there for long moments, neither speaking. She had him curious, made him want to ask questions, get to know her more. He didn’t even know her, but fuck, he wanted to change that.
“How’d you get a name like that?”
He glanced at her and saw her already watching. Normally he would have just told her, would have just fucking spouted off the truth because he didn’t give a fuck. But a part of him wanted to lie, to make her see he wasn’t this bad guy. In the end he didn’t want to lie to her.
“Because I’m the first brother in my club to go after a fuck who had wronged someone I care about.” He looked at her, wondering what she thought, how far she’d delve into what he’d just said.
“Your club, the MC?” She gestured to his cut.
He nodded. “Yeah, my family. The Soldiers of Wrath.”
She was silent after that, looking at his cut, the patches, everything that made him part of the brotherhood.
“So what do you do to people you hunt down? Beat them? Worse?” There was no accusation in her tone, no judgment. She sounded genuinely curious.
Again, he wasn’t going to lie, even if trying to be the “good guy” might not have had her running in the other fucking direction.
“If it comes down to it, yeah.” He stared at her, but her expression showed no emotion.
“They deserved it?”
He nodded, not missing a beat.
“And you’ve killed men?” Again, no emotion, just curiosity.
“Yeah,” he said, not sure if admitting that had just scared the fuck out of her.
She didn’t know if she should run as fast as she could from this biker or give him credit for being honest. In the end she found herself still sitting beside him, curious as to what kind of man he was.
He admitted to being a killer, yet she didn’t feel fear for him, didn’t even feel like he’d hurt her. There was a lot of comfort being in his presence, admitting what and who she lost, and not shying away from him.
“What does it feel like, killing someone?” She was curious, her life so confused, so broken after what she’d lost, that touching darkness seemed like the perfect thing, the right thing.
He stayed silent for long seconds, and she wondered if he’d answer her at all.
“Don’t I scare the fuck out of you?”
She shrugged. “You should, I know that, but I don’t feel any fear with you. It’s weird, I know.”