He raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“You can’t tell me that you haven’t had time for girls, now. Not when you kiss like that.”

Jared’s expression was ecstatic, and then he made a poor attempt to disguise it. “I beg to differ. I’m not an idiot…it’s not a difficult concept.”

“I have kissed boys, some of those boys more than once, that never kissed like that.”

Jared closed in and kissed my neck—from collar bone to the line of my jaw—stopping to whisper in my ear. “That’s because you kissed boys, sweetheart.”

My heart pounded so loudly that I was sure he could hear it. I let out a long sigh. “Okay, you’ve got to tell me the rest. The suspense is killing me.”

Jared shifted to the couch, turning to face me. His face returned to the worried frown he had before.

“Jared, thus far it’s my understanding that you’ve been raised by a family of assassins. You’ve spied on me, stalked me, installed microphones in my bedroom, and confessed to falling in love with me before I could drive. If I haven’t left by now, I don’t think I’m going to.”

His face screwed into disgust. “We’re not assassins.”

“Have you ever killed anyone?"

Jared raised his eyebrows, shocked at my pointed question.

“I…er…yeah. But it was to keep you safe,” he explained.

“You killed people for me?” I asked, my mood immediately shifting.

“Don’t feel a second of guilt for those people, Nina. They wouldn’t have lost a single night’s sleep over taking your life.”

I swallowed. “Do you regret it?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Never. It’s who I am.”

“What does that mean? You’re a killer?”

Jared rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I don’t think of it that way. We’re protectors. Though there are those that disagree.”

“Like who?” I shook my head, thoroughly confused.

“You’re getting ahead of me.”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself.”

“I know.” He rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger and sighed.

“You’re making me nervous.” I laughed without humor. He looked up at me; the hardness of his eyes didn’t relieve my trepidation. “Is it that bad?”

“It’s just…implausible. It will be your first inclination to be skeptical, and I don’t blame you. But it’s the truth.”

I nodded and then took his hand in mine. “I’m ready.”

“Gabe,” Jared paused for a long time and then cringed, “isn’t from here. He’s known your father since Jack was an infant, but it wasn’t until Jack was a bit older that they met.