Impossible Attraction (Deadly, #1)

Chapter 5 - Anna

Blake turns to me, looking like he's seeing a ghost. He stands up from the bench and stares at me some more. Then his jaw goes slack and his muscled arms tense up. He inspects me from top to bottom. "Anna?" he asks slowly.

I smile loosely and nod a quick nod.

He looks as if he's about to have a heart attack or something. "What? How?"

I can't tell him the truth. I can't tell him I was sent to Orlando to kill him. "I was passing through. I stopped at a bar for supper after getting my hair done down the street, and, well, you know the rest, I suppose," I ramble off. I've taken my time telling him who I am because I didn't know if there would be a trace of the old Blake left in this man, but I've seen enough to know now that there is. I don't know if I can trust him, but I know my Blake is still in there. I have so many damn questions. The biggest one being, why the hell is he in a gang? Why was he on my hit list? "I asked you a question, Blake. What the hell happened to you?" I ask again. "For the last eight years, I thought you were dead."

He looks surprised by my words but doesn't give anything away. He crosses his arms and gets ahold of his jaw. Instead of it hanging slack, his jaw is clenched and tense. He turns away from me and kicks a decorative boulder on the other side of the walking path from the bench I sit on. He cusses. "What the fuck did that guy give me?!" he shouts and pulls a small, empty bag from his pocket. "I'm fucking hallucinating."

Confused, I stare at him. What is he doing? It takes me a moment to realize that he thinks he's hallucinating because of a drug. "You're not hallucinating. It's really me," I try to convince him.

He looks at me, comes closer as if inspecting me again, then his hand flies up to my cheek and he looks straight into my eyes. "No, no way. I thought I'd never fucking see you again, Anna May. I never thought I'd see these pretty blue eyes again." He grins and moves his hand from my cheek to my hand. He grips it strongly and continues to stare me in the eyes. This is my Blake.

Warmth overwhelms my body and for some reason I feel like crying. I can't help what I do next, it comes naturally. I wrap my arms around him like I haven't in too long. I hold him tightly, not willing to let him go, and he hugs me back.

When I finally pull away, I pray to god that it's still him, that he hasn't somehow magically disappeared. He's smiling when he stares back at me.

"You still haven't answered my question," I remind him.

His grin fades. "You can't be here," he says as if realizing something. "It's not safe. Your life is in danger."

I don't know what he means. I know he won't hurt me. I know it. My heart tells me this, but my common-sense screams at me to get out of here. It tells me that coming outside with him for a walk was a terrible idea, a completely reckless and dangerous idea. My common sense is probably right, but for some reason I find myself wanting so badly to listen to my heart. "I'm fine, just tell me what's happened to you."

He hesitates before glancing around the park. "Not here." He hesitates. "Follow me," he decides finally and leads me through the winding paths of the park, back to the bar, and into the same blue SUV he was driving when I almost shot him. I should probably think twice about getting into this SUV. I mean, this Blake is clearly not the exact same one I knew years ago. I watched this version of him shoot a man's car, and kill a man only last night.

The thought sends a chill down my spine and I shiver.

"You cold?" he asks, turning up the heat.

I don't answer. What am I doing getting in this car alone with him? He's obviously into some bad shit. Drugs, drinking, murder, a gang! I mean seriously! He needs help, that much is clear. I don't need myself getting wrapped up in this, especially knowing what this gang does to women, how they feel about women. I've read the files on the CCs. They're not people you mess with. I find that I'm shaking, and I try to gather myself.