Leo peeled his robe off, revealing nothing underneath. Faith quickly averted her gaze from his erection. It seemed a permanent fixture of his physique.

“I can sleep on the couch,” she said.

“You are sleeping in the bed. Get in. You can wear your pajamas. I already told you I’m not going to fuck you, but you aren’t going to be in my house sleeping on a damn couch.”

Had he lost interest? What a stupid question. Her gaze flitted briefly back to his hard on. Of course he hadn’t lost interest. And why should she care anyway? Didn’t she want to be safe from him? Wasn’t having her own space in this house the kindest thing he’d done for her? Maybe it was the adrenaline of fighting with his brother and no real outlet to release any of that pent up energy.

She took off the robe and slid into bed, tense and waiting for… anything.

But the bed was large, and it wasn’t difficult for him to sprawl comfortably on his side without touching her. She held her body rigid for several minutes before allowing herself to relax. He wasn’t going to touch her. She quickly buried the unexpected disappointment that accompanied that realization.

“Leo?”

He sighed. “Yes, Faith?”

“Do they want to kill me?”

“Nobody is killing anybody. Go to sleep.”

A few more minutes of silence passed. Then, “Leo?”

“Yes, Faith?”

“T-the stuff you do in the dungeon… is that why you were going to become a priest?” It was the only thing Faith could think of that Leo might have been trying to suppress.

“Yes. Go to sleep.”

She had more questions, but they were things she’d never ask him. Things about Emilio to convince herself that the death Leo had meted out wasn’t only deserved but had come from protective urges and nothing else. A kind of self-defense by proxy. She could cope with self-defense. Uncontrolled violence for its own sake, she couldn’t.

Gemma’s voice drifted into her mind. And I suspect he wasn’t quick about it. What made her suspect that? Had he tortured Emilio? Was that another flavor of whatever was inside him that he needed the priesthood to erase?

How long had he harbored the desire to hurt Gemma’s husband before he’d snapped? How long before he snapped with Faith in other ways?

11

Morning was heralded by kids running down the hallways banging on doors and shouting for everyone to get up. The cacophony resembled a frat house filled with unruly college boys. Faith glanced at the wall clock to find it was seven-thirty. A tiny strip of sunlight slipped between the heavy curtains at the far end of the room. The cat was already lying in the beam.

Squish twisted her head and yawned at Faith, then went back to sleep.

Leo rolled over and pressed a pillow over his head. “Goddamn kids. And my mother wants me to have a house full of them. If she likes them so much, they can live with her.”