✓10 - Conversations.

"For starters, I want to know how you got wounded," Ryder stated, moving over to the sink and dumping the empty plates into the dishwasher, returning to find Jacob gazing out the window intently at something only he could see. "Take your time thinking. I want the details as they are."

"There's anything more to discuss about Sophie." The fugitive began, repeatedly wringing his fingers over and over again. "She was the biggest decision I'd ever made and also the most stupid,"

"How exactly?" Ryder rearranged the glassware and settled down to a plate of doughnuts for dessert. "You told me you only cared for her."

"I did. But the problems I battled were not funny. Apart from being Sophie's caregiver, I was also her brother's lover. We both hid our relationship quite well until Sophie became suspicious, I mean who'd blame her? He'd come over to visit her and the two of us would end up having sex whenever I saw him off. Be it at a neighbour's place, a garden, the backyard...we always had a way to do it without her knowing,"

Ryder shifted uneasily on his seat. "So this kept on till when?"

"It kept on till last month when I decided to end stuff. Jasper grew too demanding and possessive of me that he fell out with Sophie. She told me to have nothing to do with him because he was dangerous... I've never been taught to follow orders but I began understanding things from her perspective and learnt to fear Jasper more than the police when he broke in, shot Sophie and stabbed — "

"But you told me you were the one who killed her,"

"Understand two of things Ryder, there's a difference between what I tell and what is on my mind."

Ryder nodded. "Go on,"

"It was never his intention to do these as I later found out he'd been sent by his father. It turned out Sophie was an illegitimate child from her mother's previous marriage to a driver. Jasper's father wished her death but at my expense,"

"I never knew you were rich, I mean you did strike off as someone great but I hadn't envisioned it to be wealth."

"I never told you my parents died. I was their only child and heir, so in a way that makes me rich."

The silence built up within them, making it seem as if they spoke from afar, not at all the same two people who brought themselves pleasure beyond words a scant hour ago.

"Do you hope to get married?" Ryder heard himself ask aloud. It'd be good to make some plans.

"At the very least, yes," Jacob served him the pain by looking straight at him, at the blush that crept up his cheeks. "But it's as soon as this shit goes down,"

"I found the right man in Pete. But fate chose better than my choices,"

The fugitive's expression darkened. "There was someone else before me? You looked like a virgin."

"You forgot that appearances lie. Pete and I met at a banging street club back at southside Denver where I lived after my parents died two years ago. He'd graduated college and found a job while I belonged to the troop that never completed high school. He was wiser and incredibly handsome and of course the red roses kinda man. We went out for a few dates then came back here to this very cabin." He took a deep breath. "He was my whole world and when he died, a part of me died with him. There was no need for living in a world where all the people I ever loved died before I even knew them. A lot of his friends came around more often, then I figured out they were just hitting on me and asked them to stop."

"Damn, it's not their fault. You're so innocent and beautiful and —"

"You don't have to say that," Ryder looked away, embarrassed. "I was determined to keep away from the outer world but you looked different, it was hard for me to walk past, leaving you bleeding and halfway gone."

"I have a knack for making people pity me, One of my qualities."

"It's not pity. You're just too... handsome? You're way too good looking to ignore or look past," he blurted, bringing his palm up to meet his face.

Jacob chuckled. "Oh boy, you fell way harder than I imagined."

Damn him, Ryder thought. Here he was trying to put some space between them and Jacob was making him want to seek comfort in his arms.