Free The Talented Mr. Rivers by Helenkay Dimon Page B

next person to take a shot at me.”
    Hunter unloaded the food. A container of something and what looked like a wrapped sandwich. “I don’t care if you sit or stand, but right now we’re going to eat.”
    He retrieved silverware and napkins. The crinkle of paper and thud of the drawer played as background noise.
    “This isn’t going to work.” Will knew from experience that staying cooped up like this wouldn’t do anything to clear his thinking. Every time his family had tried to lock him down “for his own protection” before he escaped to the United States for college, his fight-or-flight instinct kicked in. He’d been hurt more than once trying to escape a locked space or jump from a high window.
    In a way, he’d been on the run all his life. His mistake had been in coming home for what his father insisted would be his last request. Will had let blood rule. Gave in to the last stray feelings of loyalty to a father who deserved none.
    Now he was paying the price. Being hunted was part of it. So was being trapped in a room with a man who could turn his attraction on and off between heartbeats.
    Hunter grabbed the food container and sandwich and took them with him to the small couch. He pointed at the chair opposite him with his fork, then started eating. “Sit.”
    “The alpha dog act is getting a little old.” Never mind that being ordered around by Hunter made Will hot.
    Hunter sat there eating while studying Will. “Is this about the sex?”
    It was as if Hunter had read his mind. “It’s nice to know talking about it doesn’t scare you. I guess it’s just doing it that makes you bolt.”
    Another forkful of lettuce disappeared. “I didn’t get all touchy-feely and now you’re whining.”
    Will was done with this conversation. He needed a break, so right now he was done with Hunter, too. “Or maybe the sex wasn’t that good.”
    Hunter put the food container down and leaned back on the cushions. Didn’t get angry. Looked more on the verge of smiling. “You really think you can sell that?”
    “You can’t be good at everything. Maybe stick to beating people up.” Will dropped the duffel and shoved it away from the door with the side of his sneaker. Getting out would need to wait until tomorrow, or at least until Hunter fell asleep.
    “Is this your fucked-up way of asking for a second round?”
    “You’re a dick.” Will moved across the room and stopped near the window. He leaned against the curtains and the trim underneath. Didn’t bother to give Hunter eye contact.
    “Probably true, but you still should eat.”
    “Not interested.”
    Hunter stood up and went to the sink, taking the container with him. “We need to let the heat die down.”
    The comment sounded just ominous enough to pull Will’s attention from the lights on the street below and back to Hunter. “What are we talking about?”
    “The danger you’re in.”
    The topic guaranteed to shut down any sex talk and take them racing back to the you-work-for-me/no-I-don’t discussion. “No one tried to kill me in Paris before you showed up.”
    “Because you didn’t go outside.” The fork clanked against the inside of the sink. “I’m impressed, by the way. You don’t strike me as a hang-around-the-house guy.”
    Will was starting to miss the time alone. “You know that almost everything you say makes you sound like a bigger asshole, right?”
    “Are you unclear about the meaning of the words ‘I’m impressed’?” Hunter planted his palms on the edge of the counter. His amused expression didn’t change. “I thought I was clear.”
    He was. Crystal. “I’ll get my plan together, then disappear.”
    “You’re saying you’ll leave everything—the money, all of it—behind?” Hunter snorted as he shook his head. “Not likely.”
    Sex or no, Hunter still didn’t get it and Will had run out of the patience to explain it again. “Because the money has done such great things for my family.”
    Yeah, it was