“But back to the story.  Tony G. had a rap sheet a mile long.  That’s why the feds happened upon the crime Heath was committing.  They were actually going after the other guy.

Her eyes were on my shaking hands, clasped in front of me, and I knew I was giving her exactly the reaction she had hoped for.

Her smile turned more vicious as she continued, “Tony didn’t live long.  He bled out while Heath was arrested.  So they had him on murder one and a slew of other awful things.  Caught in the act.  Life in prison, easy.”

I felt faint.  I’d known, absolutely known, that Heath had a violent past, and being that violence had never been a part of my life, I’d known that past was something I could not fully comprehend or relate to, but I’d never imagined anything like this.

“Want to know how old Heath was when this happened?”

I nodded.

“Fifteen.  He was fifteen and a cold-blooded killer.  For a crime like that, with the proof they had that not only was he a killer, but that he had talent with a blade, the kind of talent that you only get with a lot of practice.  It was a given he’d be tried as an adult.  The feds that found him were shaken up by what they’d seen.  He was always big for his age, but he was still fucking fifteen.  It freaked them out, seeing a kid doing a thing like that.  Freaked them out, and got their attention.”

“I think it was the control he displayed, the utter calmness of the way he operated, that made them realize he was not just your average mobster psychopath.  I heard one of the agent’s version of the story later.  To hear him tell it, it was like they’d walked in on Heath reading a newspaper.  That was how calm he was in the middle of the act.

“Long story short, he got a full pardon, well, more like a new life, a new identity, but of course it wasn’t free.  He just had to serve his time in a different way, though it wasn’t all that different for him than what he was used to.  Murder and torture for a more honorable cause, I think is what Heath would call it.”

“What about you?” I asked her, when I could find my voice again.

“Heath got me in, told them about me, that I was like him, that we worked well together.  It was all true, and he knew I wanted out of that life.  The way they treat women in there who aren’t family, even ones working for them, well, let’s just say I was more than happy to defect.  I’m sure he saved my life.  I wouldn’t have lasted long.”

“I’m not sure why you’re telling me all of this.”

Her unpleasant smile came back in full force, and her voice sharpened until each word was a piercing nail.  “Heath is the only person in this world that means anything to me.  Anything at all.  He’s more than my partner.”

“You’re sleeping with him,” I told her, trying and failing not to make it an accusation.

Her mouth twisted until I couldn’t tell if she was trying to grin or scowl.  “You’ve met him.  You see how he operates.  Did you imagine that you were the only one?”

I hadn’t imagined that.

I’d hoped for it.

Wished for it, but clearly that had been foolish.

“Would you like to know why he slept with you in the first place?  I mean, a woman twice his age?  He can take his pick.  Haven’t you ever wondered why he picked you?”

I badly wanted to correct that.  The twice his age part.  It was an exaggeration when the actual truth was bad enough.

And that entire train of thought was just a distraction for myself and the way that I felt in that moment, which was awful.

“Why are you here?  What do you want?”  I was done, and I wanted her to leave before she told me another awful thing.

“I want you to know what’s been going on.  How in the dark you’ve been from the moment you met him.”

“Why?  Why are you so worried about me?”  I asked this knowing the answer, but hoping she’d give me another option.

She was involved with him.  It was obvious.  Sleeping with him.  She’d as much as admitted it.  The only question was, how heavily involved?  How deep did his betrayal run?

“Do you know that he’s spied on you?  Extensively.”

My eyes narrowed on her, studying her face as though it would tell me what this new angle of hers was.  It did not.  “He already told me that he did a background check on me,” I explained, begrudgingly.  “He said he had to do that with anyone he was seeing because of his job, and I believed him.”

She laughed.  It was much too bitter for her years.  “Do you want to know just how much he’s spied on you and the real reason for it?”

I didn’t answer, just folded my arms across my chest and watched her.  I figured she was going to tell me, regardless of how I responded.

“He swept this place, top to bottom.  I guarantee it.  Went through everything, from your filing cabinets to your underwear drawer.”

My mind shot immediately to the time we’d cooked a meal together, to how he’d known every inch of my kitchen, every ingredient in my spice cupboard.

Then it shot to the first time I’d had him over.  He’d known exactly where I kept my vibrator, but I’d been too distracted by him to wonder or care at the time.

Considering all of that, I was certain then that she wasn’t lying.