Rio could only stare in silence. Her admission made him feel helpless and vulnerable. No one worried about him. No one cared that much if he made it back to his house at night. He fully expected to die in a fight someday and he doubted if more than a handful of men would mourn his passing, and that would be a brief salute to his marksman abilities. Rachael looked at him with the world shining in her eyes. A gift. A treasure. And he was certain she was completely unaware of it.

“I’m sorry I frightened you, Rachael,” he murmured softly and shut the door on the night—closed the door on his freedom. “I had some things to think about. I went for a run.”

“Yes, well, while you were gone, we had a little visit from your friendly neighborhood leopard. Fortunately it was on its best behavior so I didn’t shoot it. You may notice I’m choosing humor and bravado rather than classic hysteria. Although I thought long and hard about the hysteria.”

He could feel the grin forming. It started in his gut and spread warmth through his body. “I appreciate the sacrifice. I’m not certain what I’d do with hysteria. It may be beyond my coping abilities.”

“I seriously doubt anything is beyond your coping abilities. Did I upset you earlier? Is that why you couldn’t sleep?”

Rio crossed to the basin as he always did after his nightly disappearances, his muscles flowing like water as he moved through the house without a whisper of sound. He remembered to light a candle, knowing she liked the scent of it. The flame flickered and set shadows dancing on the wall. “I thought a lot about what you said, that I wasn’t willing to tell you about myself. Maybe you were right. I love the way you look at me. I haven’t ever had anyone look at me the way that you do. It’s hard to think of giving that up, or taking a chance of never seeing it again because you won’t look at me the same way after I talk to you about who and what I really am.”

She always did the unexpected. Rachael laughed softly. “And you must have forgotten who you’re talking to, Rio. The woman with the million-dollar price on her head. Has it occurred to you, I’m a pariah in society?”

“I know exactly whom I’m talking to,” he said.

Rachael stretched her leg out in front of her, careful not to jar it. She had to use both hands, even the broken one, in order to ease her leg fully off the bed. Blood rushed, causing pins and needles to add to the throbbing pain. That immediately drew his attention. Rio half turned, a small frown on his face. “Are you going somewhere?”