His strides were long, and Evie rushed to catch up as they began their ascent. “Work for you?” The idea was too ridiculous. “I can’t do that. You’re…you’re…bad.”
He froze on the second flight, leaning against a stained glass window. “I am,” he said, not even attempting to deny it. He walked toward her, looming. She knew he was trying to intimidate her. “But you said you needed employment.”
She had? Oh yes, she had, when she was in a ramble-induced state. Evie was used to people tuning out those musings, not marking them as job applications. “I do,” she admitted wearily. “But why would you possibly offer me a job? What about today has told you I’m qualified for any of the kind of work you do?”
“You have a cutthroat way of thinking I find valuable, and you helped me, despite all you’ve heard about my reputation.” He looked down at the blood-soaked scarf around his waist.
“Your injuries!” Evie reeled back, looking at him with disbelief. “I completely forgot. Are you in a lot of pain?”
He grimaced but didn’t pull the scarf from his waist. “I heal quickly. What of your injuries?”
The bruise on her hip was going to be ugly and purple. As for the bite of the arrow that had nearly flayed the skin off her back, it was stinging, but the worst of it had subsided.
“I’ll live.” She shrugged, neglecting to mention the additional knife wound on her left shoulder. Put there by her last employer.
That still hurt like a bitch.
He nodded, holding his hand out, and said, “What do you say, Sage?”
Evie paused, knowing admitting this could get her killed, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie. “Would you still be offering me this position…whatever it is…if you knew that my father was once a knight for the king?”
His face remained impassive; in fact, he looked bored. “Is he still?”
“No no! It was well before I was born. It was just a way for him to save money for his butcher’s shop. He retired after he married my mother.” The next part was painful, so she said it quickly. “He’s far too ill to work anymore anyway, and his only loyalties are to his family.”
The Villain shrugged. “Then I do not see why that would be any sort of issue.”
Well, that one aside, she was certain she could still find quite a few.
“What would working for you entail?” she asked, eyeing his hand like both a lifeline and a death sentence. “I have no interest in hurting people or helping you to hurt people. Or being one of your…lady friends.”
Hand dropping back to his side, his lips twisted upward, almost as if he were attempting to…smile? “You’re hardly the kind of woman I’d take to my bed.”
Evie’s face burned, and the sting on her shoulder was suddenly no comparison for the burn of rejection she felt in her chest. Which was ridiculous, because she hardly wanted to be desired by this man, but for goodness’ sake, she had a little pride.
Putting his hand before her once more, his beautiful face becoming an impassive wall, void of emotion save for the slight softness around his eyes, he said, “I will be frank. I will not force you, but you know where ‘Massacre Manor,’ as you so eloquently called it, is located now. You know that I am not immune to the slice of a blade and, the worst of all your offenses, you’ve seen my face.”
He stared hard at a curl lying against her forehead. She must have looked a wreck after running through the forest like a criminal.
“You are a liability, and I do not have the time to allow Tatianna to weave through your mind, removing the memories of this day. I am bleeding on my favorite shirt. You need work, and I’m willing to give you a generous position with an even more generous salary.” When she didn’t move, he sighed and added, “And I can assure you I have never harmed an innocent.”
“But what of my village?” she blurted out before she could think better of it. “What if I help you harm someone I know?”
“That would be very awkward for you,” he said unsympathetically.
She narrowed her eyes at him until he relented.
“I will spare the villagers from my truly murderous intents.” His tone was agreeable, but she couldn’t shake the feeling he was saying more than she was guessing.
She couldn’t believe she was actually considering it, but the thought of being able to provide for her family had her heart racing in her chest. Before she knew what she was doing, her hand was clasped in his.