Accidentally in Love with…a God?(Accidentally Yours #1)(48)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

The door swung open. Guy entered, smiling like he’d just come back from the best night of his life.

Of course. Having seven hundred people groveling all night, worshiping him for being a ruthless killer…what glorious fun.

Guy’s eyes met mine, and his bright white smile melted away.

“Is it true?” I asked, standing at the farthest end of the room at the foot of the bed.

“Is what true?” He removed his jacket.

“What do you think?”

“Honestly, Emma, I’m not one for games.” He sat down on the couch in the small sitting area with his back to me and started removing his shoes.

“Are you really the God of Death? Is that your special talent? Killing people?”

Guy glanced over his shoulder at me. “And don’t forget War.”

“No. Who could forget that?”

“Oh, come on, Emma. You can’t define me by that silly title. You of all people should know better.”

“How many people have you killed?” Just looking at him now made me imagine battlefields littered with bloody masses while Guy hovered over them in his flaming chariot, laughing. A bit dramatic. I know. But that’s what my imagination came up with.

He stood up and took a few steps toward me. I noticed he’d removed his socks. Even his perfect toes looked powerful and lethal. Could he throw star-darts with them?

“Emma, please don’t look at me that way. It’s not like that.” Was that disappointment I saw in his eyes? Mr. Arrogant Killer was bothered that I didn’t approve of his profession?

“How many?” I said, chewing my thumbnail.

“What difference does it make, woman?”

“It just does. I want to know.”

“If I tell you ten-thousand or a million, you’ll still see it the same way, and it doesn’t address the fact that every time I take a life, it’s the right thing to do. It’s what I must do. Even if I don’t want to.” He slowly unbuttoned his shirt, leaving on just the plain white tee underneath.

I tried not to notice the swell of his biceps, or the rise of his pecks, which created two crescent shaped shadows beneath them. I tried not to notice how the line of his body started at his broad shoulders, tapered down into a tight waist, then flowed out into two powerful thighs. I tried not to notice when he ran his fingers through his thick blue-black waves and how they fell around his wickedly handsome face.

Nope. Wasn’t looking. I was going to cup my hands over my lust and sing, “lalala-can’t-hear-you,” because I knew better now. I simply needed to remind myself of the night before and the unforgettable humiliation of being rejected, not to mention he was death personified.

“How do you know you’re not killing good people?” I argued. “And what about redemption? What about people making mistakes and deserving second chances?”

“That’s a very altruistic perspective, and sweetly naïve, Emma, but the difference between good and evil is easier to determine than you think. Sadly, you would never understand such a thing because you’re just a human. You can’t see into their souls like I can.”

“I’m not just a human. Remember? But I guess you’re right—the numbers don’t really matter, it’s simply what you are that disgusts me.”

“Disgusts you?” His face lit up with resentment, and for once I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea to push his buttons. Oh—wait. Yes, it was. It would be easier to get him to let me go.

“Yes. I can’t be around a killer. I want out, Guy. I want my life back, and you have no right to continue hijacking it under the guise of protecting me. You have no right to make me share your sick little world!”

He crossed the room and stood boldly in front of me, glowering down. “Don’t I? Don’t I have every right if it’s for the greater good?” The air around us radiated with his energy.

“Holding me hostage and keeping the truth from me, is that for the greater good? Or controlling me with fear to feed that gargantuan ego of yours?”

“I’d never do that. I always put my responsibilities first. I’ve always put you first,” he growled.

“Is trying to remove Tommaso from my life for the greater good, too? Is it!? Because I’m pretty damned sure that falls into the category of just plain old jealously.”

“Oh. I see. This is all about him, isn’t it?” he scathed.

“Did you get Tommaso assigned to Siberia?”

“Maybe.” Guy crossed his arms.

“Afraid of a little competition?”

Guy’s eyes narrowed. “I simply didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“You arrogant, bloated—the only one who’s hurt me is you!”

“You know, Emma, I didn’t create you, or the Maaskab. I’m not the bad guy, and this victim-of-Guy crap is getting pretty old.”

“I’m glad you agree because there’s nothing more pathetic than an ancient, blood-thirsty deity who feels the need to control a scared young woman whose only flaw is being born with the wrong bloodline—”

“You’re just bitter because of last night,” he said with a raised voice. “But, you never let me explain—”

“You’re right,” I snapped. “I am bitter. Someone I love very much was taken from me, and I still don’t know why!” Did I mean Grandma, Tommaso, or…Guy who’d rejected me? All three? I was so confused! “Now those psychos want to hurt me and the rest of my family. You—you keep me in the dark about everything, even though you promised me answers. Even after I endured years of being branded a freak, because of you! And now, well, stupid me! I’m bitter because I’d started to believe in you. That you had a heart and even, call me crazy, genuinely cared about me. But now I see it clearly. You don’t care about anyone.”

Guy’s jaw muscles tightened, his bright turquoise eyes undulated with ripples of black. “That’s not true, I’ve given you my oath to look after you—“

“Really?” I screamed. “That’s what you call it? Well, then why am I still sitting here, heartbroken and wondering what happened to my grandmother? Why can’t you tell me what you know? And why are sending away Tommaso, the one person I trust?”

His eye ticked.

That made him mad. Good.

“Sometimes,” he growled, “withholding information is for your own good. Why make you suffer for that which you cannot change?”