While she spoke, Kash moved closer, put himself where it was more of a conversation than an interrogation. He stopped when he was a little closer than arm's reach and watched her expressions shift and the way she didn't meet his gaze. Strangely, he didn't think she was lying, which he ordinarily would if someone avoided eye contact.

What he saw and heard, instead, was that she hurt and she felt deeply. It earned his respect and thawed some of his usual reserve. "No it doesn't," he said when she'd finished, voice whiskey-rich and a little gruff. "It makes you sound like someone who lost someone who matters to them. And it's worse, because for a few minutes, it probably felt like he was unkillable. You'd have to be a cold-hearted bitch not to hurt from that."