Page 63 of Shadow Man

“Because I fucking pay for it,” he says, shutting me up. “Now sit the fuck down, before I glue your ass to the seat.”

Shooting evil glances at him, I do as he says.

Sitting down opposite, he swings the medical tray in between us like a mediator and grabs my arm, holding it out to inspect the wound. His touch is like ice and I shrink away from it, which earns me another glare.

“You and Eve are too similar with this defiant shit.”

“Ihateyou for what you did to her. You kidnapped her, raped her…” My voice starts escalating again as his grip on my arm tightens.

“I have never forced a woman. It may come as a surprise to you, but I am not my fucking father.”

For one wild and crazy moment I find myself believing him.

“Do you love her?”

He stops inspecting my arm and slams his dark eyes into mine. He doesn't say the words out loud, he’ll never admit to it, but I see it.I see it.The devil has a heart after all.

I drop my gaze to hide my shock, watching as he unscrews a brown glass bottle of iodine and pours it all over my arm like water.

“Holy shit!”

He tuts as I writhe and hiss in pain, making me even more mad at him. “Hold still.”

“I can’t! I know you and Joseph are used to bleeding for a living, but some of us aren’t, okay?”

“Then let that be a lesson to you. Stop killingsicariosand stay out of trouble.”

“Trouble’s a hell of a lot more fun than rehab. I get to balance up the world a little… Kill some rapist assholes while I’m at it.” I glance across at Joseph, silently begging him to wake up and save me from this interrogation.

“Next, you’ll be asking me for a job.”

“Why? Are you offering?”

He grunts in amusement. “I suggest you increase your pain threshold first. Plus, I doubt your shadow will agree to it.”

“Our shadow,” I grit out.

He picks up a swab and starts cleaning the wound. “I lost those exclusive rights when you strolled on the scene.”

This shuts me up for a beat or two. “How’s Ella?”

“Give your so-called best friend a call and ask her. She hasn't spoken to you since the birth.”

“You can’t help yourself, can you?” I say, wincing as his words hurt me more than the iodine. “In addition to being a heartless dickhead, you’re also a complete asshole.”

“So they tell me,” he says wryly. “I believe ‘murdering motherfucker’ is somewhere in the mix as well.”

A gasp of surprised laughter escapes my lips. “My God, the devil has a sense of humor, too.”

“He also knows how to dismember a corpse and bury it.”

I swear he dumps more iodine on my wound then just to spite me.

“Your other daughter—?”

“Isabella.”

“Isabella…What happened to her?”