Page 22 of Kill for a Kiss

I should know. I’ve inflicted it more times than I care to count. I’ve become familiar with the snap of bone, the drag of breath too shallow to scream, and the moment a man realizes there’s still more to lose. Pain is a science. Breaking someone is an art.

And yet nothing I’ve done compares to this. Watching him. My own damn brother,Stanley, sitting so close to Elle.MyElle.

I’ve been trailing her since last night. Since Clo stripped Elle of her clothes and dressed her like a doll while she slept. I felt the fury ignite in my chest then—hot and useless—because I couldn’t touch her. Couldn’t stop it. Not without blowing what little cover I still have.

Clo’s empire is still too intact. She’s too strong. And I can’t bring it all down until I’m ready to burn everything with her in it.

So I didn’t sleep. I stood guard in a dark corner of Elle’s room, watching her chest rise and fall, memorizing the rhythm of her breath. I followed her when she walked the grounds with Kayla. When she sat in the sunroom with Clo and Stanley.

I haven’t taken my eyes off her since the moment I saw her. Butnow, I’m stuck watching this nightmare.

I scowl so hard, it hurts. My eyes trace over Elle’s beautiful features. But then my glare goes to the way Stanley’s leaning in and smiling at her. I hate that he gets to be close. That he gets to speak her name while I’m still keeping hers in my chest like a secret.

Elle. I didn’t even get to learn her name from her own lips. And here he is, grinning like he’s already won her.

I dig my fingers into the brick wall beside me to keep from storming into that bakery and tearing the smile off his face. Because she’s not his.When she’s mine.Only mine.

I press my fingers hard against the rough brick, keeping to the shadows. Close enough to watch her, far enough that she won’t see me. Even though that’s all I want—for Elle to look at me again.

I can’t stop staring at her right now. But I should be working out how to take her back, how to get close enough to touch her again, to feel her against me. But all I can do iswatch. Her face. Her mouth. Those eyes.

She’s laughing at something Stanley said. The sound’s inaudible from here, but I can see her smile reaching her eyes. It’s like seeing something rare. It makes my chest ache.

Watching her smile at Stanley and letting him in, it’s unbearable. It twists something inside me, something I don’t understand.

My heartbeat’s usually steady, even with death in my hands. But my heart’s been anything but steady since I chased her into Clo’s arms. And now, into Stanley’s.Fuck.

I know what kind of man Stanley is. Charming, effortless. He doesn’t have to try. He doesn’t have to take. He makes you give. That’s what’s worse. And Elle… She’s too unguarded around him. Letting him get too close.

I breathe out slowly, trying to calm the fire roaring inside me. I could walk in there now. A word, a look. That’s all it’d take to remindher. To pull her back to where she belongs. With me.

But not yet.

I turn on my heel, every step away from them heavy.

I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to let that image of them together be the last thing in my mind. But if I stay…

I shove my hands into my pockets, killing that thought. Instead, I focus on the rhythm of my shoes against the pavement, trying to drown out the phantom echoes of her laughter.

I deserve this. The torment. The ache. The jealousy. I know that. I put her in this position. But knowing doesn’t make it easier.

Inhaling sharply, I try to steady myself. I need to think. I need to be smart. Stanley’s a problem, but he’s nottheproblem. The real danger is Clo. She’s the reason I left home. The reason I ran, carved my way into a life of blood and survival. I knew whatever she was planning would only end in destruction. And I was sick and tired of it. So I ran and took the first job I could without her corrupt connections. For years, I’ve harnessed my skills to kill and got even better at being invisible.

But I went back. Just for a day. Back to that cursed estate. And now I know about Elle, who smiles sweet and speaks soft. Even when Clo’s wrapping her in silk meant to strangle.

I should’ve known. Ididknow. And still, I walked Elle right into it.

Now I’m stuck watching, silent and complicit, as Clo spins her web. I see it tightening. And I swear, I won’t let it close around Elle, even if I have to burn the whole thing down to stop it. But I have to figure out how to free her soon, or else I’ll lose Elle again before I even have the chance to claim her back.

The thought claws at me as I reach my car and slide in. It’s my Aston Martin Valkyrie. Dark, lethal, built for precision, mirroring me. I drag my hand along the carbon fiber hood, every line whispering control I don’t completely have yet. But the faint scent of burntrubber and black leather fills my lungs, helping me focus.

I earned this machine. Every damn inch of it. Paid for with blood on my hands, with choices I’ve made, a life most men wouldn’t survive. But as my hands tighten on the wheel, my mind drifts to her. To the way Elle looked at me when she saw the bodies, half-buried in the vineyard.

My fingers wrap around the wheel, the leather groaning under the pressure. That damn feeling I can’t shake from last night rises again. I’ve seen fear before. I know what it looks like. But with Elle, it wasn’t just fear. It was something worse. Disgust.Horror.

A sharp exhale leaves my lips as I slam the key into the ignition, the Valkyrie roaring to life. The sound rumbles through my chest, but it doesn’t drown out the dread dragging me down.

I don’t regret a lot of what I’ve done. But now, the weight of my past presses harder than it should. Because of Elle. Because I made an irrevocable mistake, just like years ago when—