There was a long silence, then, “I think you’re ready to hear the proposition I have for you.” He settled on the stool beside me and turned mine so that I faced him.

At first I kept my gaze on the open gape of his collar. I liked looking at him a whole lot more than I liked thinking about bad guys and evil plans. Against the stark black of Rome ’s shirt, his skin looked deeply tanned, worshipped by the sun. A thin smattering of black chest hair peeked through. Not enough to notice without staring, but enough to tantalize. What would it feel like if I traced my hands over his chest? Allowed my fingers to roam, explore… indulge?

What are you doing, you idiot? I could not let myself be attracted to him. Him, a man who had just admitted to killing someone. A man who’d been okay with knocking me out. No matter how sexy he was, I. Could. Not. Desire. Him. Right? Right. Even though he’d saved me from a murderer, I didn’t know if I could trust him fully.

“Belle?”

I blinked, snapping out of my internal conversation. “What?”

“I don’t think you’re listening.”

My gaze jerked up to Rome ’s face. He was watching me, a curious glint in his bright blue eyes. Several strands of inky hair had fallen onto his forehead. He should have looked boyish. He didn’t. Danger radiated from him too fiercely. Danger… and seduction. He looked like every woman’s most private fantasy, a god just roused from bed and eager to return.

We decided not to think that way, remember? “What were you saying?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes. “I was telling you that you were fired from the café, so you no longer have an income. You should have heard some of your phone messages from Ron.”

I sucked in an angry breath, not liking that Rome had listened to messages meant for my ears only. “Did my dad call?” I asked through gritted teeth.

“Yeah,” he answered, without hesitation and unapologetically. “We had a nice chat. He’s a little miffed at you for not mentioning me, but he’s glad you’ve finally found a man who will put up with your smart mouth. And he wanted me to know that you do have a sweet side, which I’ll apparently find if I stick around and search hard enough.”

A haze of red flashed over my eyes. “You talked to my dad?”

“Yes. Your friend Sherridan, too. She wanted to know why you haven’t called her in the last few days, and asked if you were mad at her about the twins. I told her you’ve been expending your energy trying to win me over, and she told me to tell you to wear black leather and carry a riding crop. Interesting girl. Is she single?”

Oh, this was too much! Did my childhood friend and the man responsible for my creation not think it was weird to chat with a strange man I’d never talked about or introduced them to? So what that Rome had been in my apartment and answered my phone. For all they knew, he could have sneaked inside with every intention of killing me. Wait…

“Anyway,” Rome said with a wave of his hand, “you might love them, and they might love you, but I’m all you’ve got right now. I’m the only one who can help you.”

The grim warning washed away my anger and brought fear. Cold, very real fear that froze the tips of my fingers. Since anger caused flames, it made sense that fear caused ice. Too quick on the emotional trigger, Rome had said. He was right. About everything. “What should I do? Hide?”

“No. You have no experience in that arena. You’d be caught before you reached the end of the block. No, what you need to do,” he said, tapping his finger against the counter, “is get OASS off your back. The best way to do that is to find the scientist who created the formula. Dr. Enrich Roberts.”

I stared at Rome, incredulous. “That sounds great, but how am I supposed to do that? I have trouble finding my keys.”

“I’ll help you. Maybe he can reverse what’s been done to you. If not, well, we can trade him-or pretend to trade him. His life for yours. I can’t actually let Vincent have him again. He convinced the good doctor once that working for him would benefit the world. I can’t take the chance of Vincent convincing him a second time.”

What I got out of Rome ’s speech: There was a chance I could be me again. Normal, average me. The thought was intoxicating. Wonderful. Heady. Except… a stray thought intruded upon my happiness, and I frowned. “What do you get out of all this, Rome? You had orders to take me in. If you’re telling the truth, you’ve disobeyed direct orders. You’ll be working against your boss. Why would you do that for me? A stranger.”

His jaw clenched and he shrugged, the action stiff. “Maybe my boss changed his mind. Maybe he now thinks you’re of better use in the field.”

“And maybe you’re full of shit,” I said. He probably expected me to accept his explanation without comment. Well, he could stuff his stupid maybes. “Maybe you aren’t really working against anyone but me. Maybe you plan to find and kill Dr. Roberts and blame it on me.”

Rome remained silent.

“Before your boss let me loose, he would want to see what I could do.”

More silence.

“Wouldn’t he?” I demanded. “Tell me the truth, Rome. Do you really want to help me? Or are you trying to trick me so that I’ll take the fall for something?”

Again, he kept his mouth closed and uttered not a sound.

Anger sparked inside me, but thankfully, I didn’t start a fire. I continued to work the rope at my wrists and ankles, my hands and feet becoming as hot as my rage. My life was at stake here, and I couldn’t risk my survival on the hope that Rome meant me no harm.

“You’ll get no help from me,” I declared.

“I don’t want to frame you for a crime,” Rome finally said. “And my employer doesn’t know that I have no intention of bringing you in. Satisfied?”

“No.” And I wasn’t. “Does this employer of yours have a name?”

Another heavy curtain of silence fell, then he said, “John Smith.”

Puh-lease. “Yeah, like a thousand other men. Fine. Don’t tell me. I wouldn’t know him, anyway. But why won’t you take me to him? Give me a good reason to believe you. Tell me why you’d suddenly want my help in saving my own life when you were so determined to hurt me before?”

His dark brows arched, and our gazes locked. “You won’t simply trust me?”

“No. Nein. Nay. Shall I say it in another language?”

He ran a hand over his face, pausing to pinch the bridge of his nose. “I’m not going to give you to my boss, and I’m not going to let you fall into Vincent’s hands,” he said. “Not now and not later. I give you my word. If we can’t find the doctor, I’ll find another way to get Vincent off your back.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because… ” He paused, as if confessing was a painful chore. “Because-damn it. This isn’t information you need right now.”

I stopped working at the rope, poised at the edge of my seat. “Tell me anyway,” I insisted.

“Because,” he repeated, glaring at me. The heat of that glare nearly singed my skin. “Because I need to take my daughter into hiding, and you’re the only one who can help me do that.”